I have a new publication that pretty much explains this woven votive dress which I call "Minoan Peak Sanctuary Dress" and which is currently in the Kate Derum Award exhibition at the Australian Tapestry Workshop. The publication is ‘Minoan
Transcorporeality: Female Bodies, Ritual, and Nature in Late Bronze Age Crete.’
In ΦΙΛΟΜΑΘΕΙΑ: Studies in Bronze Age Aegean Art and Archaeology in Honor of Anne P.
Chapin, edited by Marie N. Pareja, 67–84. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2026. In Minoan
glyptic art female figures feature prominently in cult scenes set within the
landscape; seated on rocks and stepped cult structures, often along with trees.
It is argued that Minoan women’s bodies were considered to be transcorporeal
because of their close association with aspects of the Cretan landscape within
ritual performance. Comparative investigation into the symbolic relationship between
female bodies and trees in Near Eastern, Levantine, and Egyptian iconography
demonstrates that trees were associated with goddesses. A symbolic relationship
between human females and trees in Minoan cult is proposed, leading to the
conclusion that through ritual performance in conjunction with real and
symbolic landscape elements, as well as through the design of their garments,
Minoan female cult actors erased the boundary between the human and nonhuman world.
