Bronze Age Stone Anchors as Material Metaphors: Applying Conceptual Blending Theory to Investigate Their Symbolic Value

In ancient navigation, the safety of a ship depended in no small measure on the stability of her anchors, and this crucial role at sea was not overlooked in the ritual symbolism of maritime communities. Accordingly, there is a general consensus on the fact that the anchors deposited at Eastern Medit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of archaeological method and theory 2024-09, Vol.31 (3), p.1272-1291
Main Author: Yamasaki, Mari
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeology
Bronze Age
Material culture
Navigation
Social Sciences
Symbolism
Temples
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Summary:In ancient navigation, the safety of a ship depended in no small measure on the stability of her anchors, and this crucial role at sea was not overlooked in the ritual symbolism of maritime communities. Accordingly, there is a general consensus on the fact that the anchors deposited at Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age temples were important carriers of meaning for seafaring groups. Nevertheless, little effort has been made to understand the role of anchors in the conceptual world of the ancient seafarers beyond the fact that they were powerful symbols of maritimity. Borrowed and adapted from linguistics, Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) provides the theoretical framework to use material culture as a source for the investigation of ancient thought processes. In this paper, I apply the perspective of CBT to the anchors found at the Late Cypriot sanctuary of Kition- Kathari , with comparisons to those from Byblos and Ugarit, and I examine the cognitive implications of anchors as material metaphors and investigate how they embody the blending of the mental spaces of the sacred, the city, and the sea.
ISSN:1072-5369
1573-7764
DOI:10.1007/s10816-024-09642-z