In: Claeys, Thérèse ; Dautais, Louis ; Dubois, Roxane ; Regnier, Killian ; Tsafou, Evgenia ; Vendramin, Daniele ; Wolf, Diana (Hrsgg.): ScapeCon 2022: Towards an Archaeology of Fragmentation in the Aegean Bronze Age. Louvain-la-Neuve, Presses universitaires de Louvain 2024, pp. 65-87 (Aegis ; 29) . ISBN 978-2-39061-528-6

Preview

PDF, English - main document Download (12MB) | Terms of use

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the concept of human body fragmentation in Bronze Age miniature iconography. The analysis incorporates body and gender theory to examine miniature body fragments depicted in Bronze Age Aegean seal images. While seals and sealings are often preserved in fragmentary states, body fragmentation can also be discerned in purposeful depictions of specific body parts intertwined with other iconographic motifs. Body parts are portrayed in hieroglyphic seals, so-called ‘portrait heads’, and are also incorporated into hybrid bodies. In addition to depicting fragmented bodies, miniature iconography presents numerous seemingly whole bodies. However,the depiction of the human body was neither uniform throughout the Bronze Age nor a consolidated entity. Even when portrayed as complete, its representation remains fragmentary due to the presence of multiple identities, e.g. gender or social status. This analysis seeks to explore the role of multiple representations of the human body as well as the viewing process in the constitution of a seemingly whole but at the same time fragmented body.