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TITLE Figurines as further Indicators for the Existence of a Minoan Peak Sanctuary Network
AUTHOR Murphy Céline
SECTION a
LANGUAGE Αγγλικά / English
PUBLISH DATE 11.07.2019
KEYWORDS peak sanctuaries, figurines, production, consumption, adoption, adaptation
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Abstract


The connection maintained between the Minoan peak sanctuaries of Crete is usually examined in the light of geographical and topographical features. Rarely are close material analyses of peak sanctuary ceramic datasets considered relevant where this inter-site network is concerned. In this paper, therefore, drawing upon existing published evidence and direct engagement with the Philioremos assemblage, it is proposed that the manufacture and consumption processes through which peak sanctuary figurines went further point to the existence of a connection between these very characteristic sites. The similarities between these processes here confirm the fact that a form of communication took place between peak sanctuaries, but also suggest some new possibilities about what kind of relationship the sites maintained and its dynamics. Although the exact way in which information travelled remains difficult to assess, the existence of a network in which the adoption and adaptation of certain practices took place appears more likely than the existence of a hierarchically pyramidal pattern in which information was transmitted intact. It is here proposed that while each peak sanctuary adhered to certain standards in the production and consumption of figurines, the artefacts’ makers and users were also allowed a degree of freedom of expression within their adherence to these standards.