Abstract

Minoan seals have often been described as problematically ambiguous. By assembling and reframing current discourse, this volume challenges the value of characterising glyptic imagery in this way. Instead, ambiguity may indicate the presence of deliberate practice, incorporating varied meanings through multivalent or condensed expression, well suited to the compact size of the glyptic medium. Using a form of relational network theory, the author explores the ways in which a selection of glyptic images from Ayia Triada respond to different conceptual and associative contexts and suggests that the idea of indeterminate ambiguity—as a by-product of western taxonomic systems—may mask this multivalent aspect. By positioning glyptic imagery as multivalent this volume makes  a significant contribution to debates within Aegean Bronze Age archaeology and current interpretative practice.