DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3044#0133
4 - DECORATIVE ELEMENTS
Several individual decorative elements may comprise a given seal motif. These elements are
treated here as such, separate from stylistic considerations (chapter 7). In the following we shall
not attempt to interpret the iconology of the motifs but rather to determine how the fifty-eight
major kinds of motifs evolve over the 1200 year lifespan of early Cretan seals. The motifs are ar-
ranged into five general categories: [1] humans and animals (Motifs 1-18), [2] plant forms (19-
22), [3] geometric forms (23-51), [4] miscellaneous objects and scripts (52-57) and [5] pictorial-
ized and abstract motifs (58). Within each category the motifs are usually arranged so that
those having the most examples are treated first and rarer motifs later.
My purpose is not to catalogue all of the estimated 5500 known engraved faces of early
Cretan seals with their ca. 40,000 individual motifs but rather only the most representative mo-
tifs, in order to provide a basis for further discussions.
The catalogue and illustrations of each individual motif proceed in the order of the suggest-
ed chronology. For several reasons, in the treatment of humans and animals this method of pres-
entation is preferable to a strict taxonomic arrangement of poses similar to that used by Younger.
The most important one is that by treating the examples of each motif all together (for instance,
"man"), the development of figure style and narrative can be studied more effectively. Moreover,
it thus becomes clear that there are abundant exceptions to the tacit law that a linear develop-
ment toward greater plasticity and naturalism exists in the rendering of humans and animals on
early Cretan seals.
An index of the examples of each motif occurs at the end of each motif discussion. In
these indices the seals identified by an asterisk stem from datable archaeological contexts. The in-
dices show roughly whether or not the motif occurs frequently, provide comparisons and docu-
ment more fully the evidence for the chronology. Where several motifs are quoted which have the
same reference number, the first one cited is always illustrated. The following examples differ
only slightly or insignificantly from the one illustrated. When the parallels quoted are preceded
by the word "Similar", this means that there are differences but that the examples not illustrat-
ed are more similar to the numbered example than any other one which is reproduced. "Cf."
generally indicates a greater difference but a similarity in some characteristic feature. The motifs
listed in "Cf." are usually, but not always, contemporary with the one illustrated.
Motif 1: MEN
A. Heads3
The earliest extant representations of the human head occur on seals which are attributed
to the MM II (-?) Hieroglyphic Deposit Group. No. 1 shows a frontal face with stylized, flowing
locks. Two representations of a youth and a beardless man, both in profile (nos. 2 and 3), are
among the designs stamped on sealings from the MM HB Hieroglyphic Deposit in Knossos. The
treatment of the jaw, cheek and hair depicted in no. 4 is somewhat similar in style to that seen
Several individual decorative elements may comprise a given seal motif. These elements are
treated here as such, separate from stylistic considerations (chapter 7). In the following we shall
not attempt to interpret the iconology of the motifs but rather to determine how the fifty-eight
major kinds of motifs evolve over the 1200 year lifespan of early Cretan seals. The motifs are ar-
ranged into five general categories: [1] humans and animals (Motifs 1-18), [2] plant forms (19-
22), [3] geometric forms (23-51), [4] miscellaneous objects and scripts (52-57) and [5] pictorial-
ized and abstract motifs (58). Within each category the motifs are usually arranged so that
those having the most examples are treated first and rarer motifs later.
My purpose is not to catalogue all of the estimated 5500 known engraved faces of early
Cretan seals with their ca. 40,000 individual motifs but rather only the most representative mo-
tifs, in order to provide a basis for further discussions.
The catalogue and illustrations of each individual motif proceed in the order of the suggest-
ed chronology. For several reasons, in the treatment of humans and animals this method of pres-
entation is preferable to a strict taxonomic arrangement of poses similar to that used by Younger.
The most important one is that by treating the examples of each motif all together (for instance,
"man"), the development of figure style and narrative can be studied more effectively. Moreover,
it thus becomes clear that there are abundant exceptions to the tacit law that a linear develop-
ment toward greater plasticity and naturalism exists in the rendering of humans and animals on
early Cretan seals.
An index of the examples of each motif occurs at the end of each motif discussion. In
these indices the seals identified by an asterisk stem from datable archaeological contexts. The in-
dices show roughly whether or not the motif occurs frequently, provide comparisons and docu-
ment more fully the evidence for the chronology. Where several motifs are quoted which have the
same reference number, the first one cited is always illustrated. The following examples differ
only slightly or insignificantly from the one illustrated. When the parallels quoted are preceded
by the word "Similar", this means that there are differences but that the examples not illustrat-
ed are more similar to the numbered example than any other one which is reproduced. "Cf."
generally indicates a greater difference but a similarity in some characteristic feature. The motifs
listed in "Cf." are usually, but not always, contemporary with the one illustrated.
Motif 1: MEN
A. Heads3
The earliest extant representations of the human head occur on seals which are attributed
to the MM II (-?) Hieroglyphic Deposit Group. No. 1 shows a frontal face with stylized, flowing
locks. Two representations of a youth and a beardless man, both in profile (nos. 2 and 3), are
among the designs stamped on sealings from the MM HB Hieroglyphic Deposit in Knossos. The
treatment of the jaw, cheek and hair depicted in no. 4 is somewhat similar in style to that seen