Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
One important question about Bronze Age potmarks is whether they are signs of writing. An affirmative answer has significant implications for our understanding of how widely a script was used within and between communities. This essay discusses two instances for which the claim of writing on ceramics has been made: Red Lustrous Wheelmade (RLWM) pottery and the “inscriptions” found at Ashkelon. In both cases, the question is whether the marks incised into these vases are to be identified as signs of the Cypro-Minoan script. The answer is important in the first instance for our understanding of the diversity and specialization of the Cypriot ceramic industry and in the second for our understanding of the use and influence of Cypriot writing outside the island.
Editor
Dimitri Nakassis, Joann Gulizio, & Sarah A. James
Publisher
INSTAP Academic Press
City
Philadephia, PA
ISBN
9781931534765
Repository Citation
Hirschfeld, N. (2014). Signs of writing? Red lustrous wheelmade vases and Ashkelon Amphorae. In D. Nakassis, J. Gulizio, & S. A. James (Eds.), KE-RA-ME-JA : Studies Presented to Cynthia W. Shelmerdine (pp.261-269). INSTAP Academic Press.
Publication Information
KE-RA-ME-JA : studies presented to Cynthia W. Shelmerdine