Early Greek Alphabetic Writing

Text, Context, Material Properties, and Socialization

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4865101
AutoresAntonis Kotsonas (0009-0005-2946-8584, New York University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen126
Número2
Páginas167-200
Fecha de publicación2022-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/718415
OpenAlexW4220946945
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas42

Early Greek alphabetic writing has received extensive attention in the literature. Yet such writing is often treated as immaterial, both literally and metaphorically. My study addresses this problem by offering a systematic investigation of the material properties of nearly 300 inscribed objects, mostly ceramic, that date from ca. 750–600 BCE and originate from seven sites across the Greek world. Inspired by work on classical art and text, and on the materiality of writing, I use a quantitative approach to investigate the ways in which early inscriptions interact with the fabric, the shape, and the decoration of the vessels on which they are rendered, reflecting also on the ramifications of this interaction for the socialization of early Greek inscribed objects in diverse contexts. The investigation exposes a range of hitherto neglected patterns attesting to the preferential inscribing and use of particular types of vessels in specific sites or contexts, and to the association of certain types of text with the material properties of the medium that carries it. More broadly, I argue that Greek epigraphy would benefit from methodologies that promote the documentation and interpretation of not only the textual but also the material properties of inscribed objects.1

Aesthetics · Ancient Greek · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Documentation · Epigraphy · Inscribed figure · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Materiality (auditing · Modern Greek · Visual arts · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Computer Science · History · Mathematics · Media, Communication, and Education · Philosophy