I have a new article out in the Journal of Prehistoric Religion, one of my favorite journals. It's called "Virtual Reality: Tree Cult and
Epiphanic Ritual in Aegean Glyptic Iconography."
Here's the abstract: For the first half of the twentieth
century and even up until quite recently Minoan religion has been interpreted
through an evolutionist lens. Glyptic iconography depicting ritual activity in
conjunction with trees and stones has been considered evidence for the
evolutionary trajectory of Minoan religion from an earlier “primitive” phase,
characterised by aniconism, to a more sophisticated stage signified by anthropomorphism.
In contrast, this article proposes that Minoan religion was simultaneously
physiomorphic, theriomorphic and anthropomorphic. Through examination of the
Minoan imagery of epiphany set within natural landscapes, in conjunction with comparative
ethnographic analysis of cult activity and religious symbolism from the Levant
and Egypt, it is determined that Minoan religion was a “nature” religion that
was experienced through the mediation of elite human performance.
