Wild Nature? Human-Animal Relations on Neopalatial Crete

Abstract

The Neopalatial period of Middle to Late Bronze Age Crete is marked by a dramatic increase in the depiction of non-human animals. In contrast to the domesticates listed in the Linear A documents, the animals which appear on frescoes and seals are largely wild or supernatural, or in non-domestic scenes (particularly bull-leaping). This article seeks to explore the quantitative differences between the types of animals displayed on different media, and ask why non-domestic animals appear in such significant proportions. Arthur Evans and subsequent scholars have explained this phenomenon as an expression of interest in the natural world. Instead of this modernist view, it will be argued here that it is by trying to approach these depictions as expressing specifically Bronze Age human-animal relations that the role of such animals in Cretan society can be understood. From a relational perspective, the animals depicted can be seen as active participants in prestige activities such as hunting or bull-leaping rather than the passive motifs of artistic naturalists. This perspective might also provide a more illuminating answer to the question: why depict animals?

Like a Duck to Water – Birds and Liquids in the Aegean Bronze Age

“…In recent years, ontologies/worldviews in general and human–animal relationships in particular have increasingly been discussed by scholars studying the Aegean Bronze Age. The topic has been approached from various different angles, focusing either on iconography (Herva 2006a; 2006b; Shapland 2009; 2010; 2013; Goodison 2012; Tully and Crooks 2015), animal remains in funerary contexts (Goodison 2011), or studying both iconographical sources and material remains such as figurines (Morris and Peatfield 2004; 2012; Crooks, Tully and Hitchcock 2016). Most studies have concentrated on the evidence from Minoan Crete, and scholars have identified a strong animist element in Cretan ontology.…”

“…Some scholars have also emphasised the importance of performance, action and movement observable in Minoan iconography, both in scenes involving humans and non-humans (Herva 2006b, 224; Goodison 2012, 218–19). In this context, Shapland's (2009, 230) observation about the way naturalism in Minoan art often aims to make an animal directly present during ritual performance is revealing. He mentions the bull's head rhyta, where the opening at the snout allows liquid (blood?)…”

“… 11 Despite this observation, Shapland (2009, 31–2; 2013, 193–7) hesitated to label Cretan ontology animist due to the complexity of Minoan society, something which in his opinion does not fit most animist societies which are traditional hunter-gatherers. For a similar reluctance by other scholars to call some Cretan cult practices ‘shamanic’, see Morris and Peatfield 2012, 236.…”

A painful matter: the sandal as a hitting implement in Athenian iconography

“…Verbal and visual representations are a primary source for the understanding of the interaction between humans and objects and of the potential actions they afford. Recently, Andrew Shapland applied the term affordance to Minoan art objects, especially in interpreting human-animal relationships (Shapland, 2010a(Shapland, , 2010b. Continuing this pioneering application of the concept to ancient images, I will now proceed to apply the term affordance to the usage of the sandal as a hitting object, as depicted on Athenian vases-and thereby to determine why the sandal, rather than other objects, was the painters' choice for depiction in violent, seemingly non-normative usage in this context.…”

Jumping to Conclusions: Bull-Leaping in Minoan Crete

“…The naturalism, or realism, of the bull and leaper is significant, and it is most closely associated with depictions of the Neopalatial period (Shapland, 2010). Certainly it captures the moment when bull and human are in perfect harmony.…”