Susan Sherratt. Catalogue of Cycladic Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum: the Captive Spirit.

Susan Sherratt. Catalogue of Cycladic Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum: the Captive Spirit. xlviii+738 pages, 288 figures, 642 b&w photographs, 13 colourplates. 2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 0-19-951375-9 hardback150 [pounds sterling]. The Ashmolean Cycladic Collection is marvellously varied andrepresentative. It consists of more than 1000 objects of variouscategories and kinds of material, which date from the Late Neolithic tothe Late Cycladic/Late Helladic periods (c. 5000-1100 BC). It alsocontains a number of unusual or rare objects, particularly among theEarly Cycladic material. Despite the fact that a part of the Collectionhas been previously published, and some of the more unusual objects haverepeatedly been illustrated in various books, Susan Sherratt'spublication of it as a whole in two volumes--one for the text and theother for the illustrations--is particularly welcome for all scholarsand students interested not only in the prehistoric Cyclades but in theprehistoric Aegean in general. This is primarily due to the fact thatthis book is both a scholarly and accessible survey of the Aegean LateNeolithic and Bronze Age Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the . Susan Sherratt's undertaking was no easy task. She had tocover four millennia of momentous changes and developments in the Aegeanarea, to look through an enormous volume of bibliography, and to dealwith almost all categories and kinds of material. Moreover, she did notconfine herself to illustrating the evolution of the Cycladic culturewithin the framework of the contemporary Aegean cultures, but linked thedevelopments seen at this time in the Aegean with those taking place inthe neighbouring cultures of Anatolia, the Balkans and the Near East. The first volume is divided into four parts. In the first, thereader is informed about the contents of the Collection and the time andmanner in which it was formed. The second part is a brief outline of theearliest history of the Cyclades, from the later part of the Neolithicto about the end of the Bronze Age. The third part is devoted to theCatalogue, which constitutes the main body of the book. The material,ordered by category, is discussed in 18 chapters. The detaileddiscussion of the objects of each category is preceded by anintroductory chapter and accompanied by all the available recordedresults of scientific examination and a thorough listing of parallels.The fourth and smallest part refers to objects the whereabouts of whichare unknown. The book ends with three Concordances concordances,n.pl 1. items that are in harmony.2. homeopathic medicines with affinity to one another and therefore can be used serially during the sequence of treating an illness. This interaction was initially noted by Boenninghausen. and an Index. The author has managed to compress the lots of information thatsuch an extensive survey of necessity involves into relatively brief andcomprehensive discussions, relegating to the footnotes all secondarydata regarding archival details and long-standing debates on the dateand interpretation of certain matters. The full presentation of all theavailable archival material relating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +accthe circumstances of acquisitionof the objects belonging to the Collection is a major asset. Fullyresearched, up-to-date, well-organized, clearly written and richlyillustrated with a series of drawings, photographs, maps andchronological charts of good quality, this is going to be a usefulsource of reference for those interested in Aegean prehistory prehistory,period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some records but must still rely largely on archaeological evidence to . There are, however, certain points which need further discussion. Regarding the contacts of the Cyclades and the activities of theirinhabitants during the Late Neolithic period Neolithic periodor New Stone Age.The term neolithic is used, especially in archaeology and anthropology, to designate a stage of cultural evolution or technological development characterized by the use of stone tools, the existence of , the similarities inpottery to both the Dodecanese and Euboia, the presence of Melianobsidian in these areas from the very beginning of this period, thenorthern affinities of the gold strip from the Neolithic stratum of theZas cave on Naxos, and the occurrence in Thasos of Late Neolithicpottery evocative of the southern Aegean, all suggest that the seafarers For Seafarers International Union and affiliates, see Seafarers International Union of North America. ''Note: This article title may be easily confused with The Seafarer. of the Cyclades may have had more intensive activity than is usuallybelieved and have played an active role in the circulation of productsand ideas around the Aegean coasts already from this early period.Further evidence in support of the dominant position in the transittrade held early on by the Cyclades is offered by the site of Strofilas,a large fortified fortified (fôrt´fīd),adj containing additives more potent than the principal ingredient. settlement of the Final Neolithic period now coming tolight on the west coast of Andros. The abundant signs of metalwork andthe rock-engravings of ships found there indicate that this was animportant trader site engaged in intensive seafaring activities. Afurther implication of this is that neither the growth of tradingcentres engaged in inter-island maritime activities nor thefortification fortification,system of defense structures for protection from enemy attacks. Fortification developed along two general lines: permanent sites built in peacetime, and emplacements and obstacles hastily constructed in the field in time of war. walls constitute an exclusive characteristic of an earlieror later phase of Early Cycladic II, as implied on p. 100, n. 2, butboth of them are attested already in the final phase of the Neolithic. With regard to the probability that the rolled-rim bowl, consideredto be characteristic of the Final Neolithic/Early Cycladic I period,continues into the transition from Early Cycladic I to II, and possiblyeven later, the evidence from a sealed context at Akrotiri, Thera,suggests that the type continues in existence as late as early EarlyCycladic III. As regards the origin of the folded-arm pose of the Early CycladicII marble figures, the two precanonical figurines unearthed Unearthed is the name of a Triple J project to find and "dig up" (hence the name) hidden talent in regional Australia.Unearthed has had three incarnations - they first visited each region of Australia where Triple J had a transmitter - 41 regions in all. at Akrotiri,Thera, furnish evidence in support of its evolution within the Cyclades.The fact that the arm-position of the one finds a parallel in theNeolithic figurine from Schoinoussa and that of the other has a strikingsimilarity to the silver figurine from Hasanoglan suggests not only thatthe folded-arm arrangement stemmed from Cycladic Neolithic models butalso that the Aegean influences may have penetrated as far as CentralAnatolia. As to the advent of the ceramic types and tin-bronze objects of theso-called `Kastri group' to the Cyclades, and the nucleation nu��cle��a��tionn.1. The beginning of chemical or physical changes at discrete points in a system, such as the formation of crystals in a liquid.2. The formation of cell nuclei. ofsettlement patterns in Early Cycladic III, which the author attributesto the opening up of new sea routes due to the introduction of sailingships in the Aegean, the solution of the problem appears to be morecomplicated. In the first place, the origin of tin-bronze and the`Kastri group' pottery forms from northwest Anatolia, on which theproposed model of their advent to the Cyclades is based, has beenquestioned. These new elements may have originated in different parts ofAsia Minor or even further to the east and have reached the Cycladesfrom different regions of the west Anatolian littoral littoral/lit��to��ral/ (lit��ah-r'l) pertaining to the shore of a large body of water. littoralpertaining to the shore. , at differenttimes and via different routes, as the author partly admits herself.Secondly, one is struck by the fact that the important urban centre ofPoliochni, with its nodal geographical position, is not mentioned as thefirst maritime link of the proposed new direct sailing route from Troyto the western Aegean and is simply implied by the mention of the islandof Lemnos in a footnote. Taking into account the particularly troubled nature of this periodin both the Aegean and Asia Minor, as is evidenced by the violentdestructions taking place at a number of Aegean and Anatolian sites,first about the end of Early Bronze 2, and then by the end of the`Kastri' phase, the proposed explanation of the dramatic changesseen in the Aegean during the second half of the 3rd millennium BC seemsover-simplified. It is the consequences of the aggression and generalagitation attested in the wider area of the Aegean and Asia Minor,perhaps owing to owing toprep.Because of; on account of: I couldn't attend, owing to illness.owing toprep → debido a, por causa decompetition for new sources of power, that seem tounderlie these changes, to which the opening-up of new maritime linksthrough the introduction of sail in the Aegean no doubt played asignificant part. The above remarks should be taken as complementary to specificmatters and can by no means detract from the extent and quality of SusanSherratt's work.PANAYIOTA SOTIRAKOPOULOUMinistry of Culture, Directorate of Prehistoric andClassical Antiquities, Athenssotirakopoul@yahoo.gr