Old Deities for New Men? The Social, Cultural and Political Role of Religion and Ritual Practices during the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Transitional Period on Crete

Summary

It is generally assumed that the Minoan Goddess remained venerated on Crete after the destruction of the Minoan and Mycenaean Palaces. In the Late Bronze Age, in the aftermath of the collapse of the palatial system, freestanding bench sanctuaries housing large terra-cotta female figures with uplifted arms and their ritual vessels appeared in a series of newly founded Cretan sites. Since their typical gesture recalls Minoan scenes allegedly representing the epiphany of a female divinity, these figures have traditionally been interpreted as a survival of Minoan cult practices and labelled "Goddesses with Upraised Hands". However epigraphic, iconographic, technological, and archaeological evidence makes this assumption questionable. This paper aims showing that they most likely represented votive offerings emblematic of emerging social groups. On the basis of this hypothesis, the reference to ancient cult motives in a new religious system is considered. In a more general sense, the Cretan case is used here to evaluate the role of religion in shaping a new social order and political organisation during a period of transition.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Ritual during Periods of Decline, Collapse, and Regeneration in Archaic States

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 12154