Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Glyphs and Stamp Seals in the British Museum

Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic Glyphs and Stamp Seals in the British Museum

Denham, Simon

Paperback

Series: British Museum Research Publications, Book 208

IslamAncient History GeneralArabian PeninsulaGeneral Middle Eastern History

ISBN10: 0861592085
ISBN13: 9780861592081
Publisher: British Museum Pr
Published: Sep 27 2018
Pages: 176
Weight: 1.15
Height: 0.40 Width: 8.20 Depth: 11.60
Language: English
This study reinterprets late Neolithic stamp seals as culturally embedded artifacts, exploring their Neolithic context and societal roles beyond administration.

Stamp seals were used in a similar way to modern signet rings: a negative object used to impress a design into another material, often clay. They are common from around 7000 BC and have remained in use in parts of the world continuously until the present day. This volume focuses on the British Museum's collection of Middle Eastern Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic ( 7000-5000 BC) seals used in modern-day Syria, southeast Turkey and northern Iraq. In addition to a catalogue that includes all provenanced examples of these seals in the Museum's collection, the volume presents a new interpretation of these objects by discussing the role of stamp seals in prehistoric society and considers how they were used and why they were made. Whereas previous studies have assessed stamp seals as purely administrative objects, this new publication argues that they should be interpreted in their own, Neolithic, context. The result is a completely fresh approach to Middle Eastern prehistoric studies that complements growing archaeological interest in this period.

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