From 'power to paradigm' : rethinking the emergence of the 'palatial phenomenon' in Bronze Age Crete
Over the past century of investigation of the Minoan past, perhaps the most persistent field of enquiry has been that of the ~emergence of the palatial phenomenon~. Only recently has this begun to be challenged, as the discipline of Minoan archaeology has gone through several marked changes. These have been stimulated mostly by a growing body of empirical data and by new techniques of investigation, but other changes go far deeper, with the unusually rigorous scrutiny of what constitutes the very backbone of the discipline: the ~palace~ category itself. One of the central themes of this thesis is the examination of the processes that led to the present state of affairs in Minoan studies, to ask how and why was the concept of the ~palace~ ~constructed~ and more recently ~deconstructed~. It demonstrates that the development of these two radically opposed points of view is inextricably connected with broader developments and transformations in Post-Enlightenment Western thought. In arguing this, the thesis suggests that neither ~the palace~ nor its repudiation allow us to get closer to the ~reality~ of the (Minoan) past, as both premises constitute nothing more than ~situated~ points of view. If the decision
Catapoti, Despina
From 'power to paradigm' : rethinking the emergence of the 'palatial phenomenon' in Bronze Age Crete. Over the past century of investigation of the Minoan past, perhaps the most persistent field of enquiry has been that of the ~emergence of the palatial phenomenon~. Only recently has this begun to be challenged, as the discipline of Minoan archaeology has gone through several marked changes. These have been stimulated mostly by a growing body of empirical data and by new techniques of investigation, but other changes go far deeper, with the unusually rigorous scrutiny of what constitutes the very backbone of the discipline: the ~palace~ category itself. One of the central themes of this thesis is the examination of the processes that led to the present state of affairs in Minoan studies, to ask how and why was the concept of the ~palace~ ~constructed~ and more recently ~deconstructed~. It demonstrates that the development of these two radically opposed points of view is inextricably connected with broader developments and transformations in Post-Enlightenment Western thought. In arguing this, the thesis suggests that neither ~the palace~ nor its repudiation allow us to get closer to the ~reality~ of the (Minoan) past, as both premises constitute nothing more than ~situated~ points of view. If the decision
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