Ψήφος ημιτελής ή τι μας λέει ένα μικρό τέχνεργο από τον οικισμό της Χαλκοκρατίας στο Κουκονήσι της Λήμνου (Ψήφος ημιτελής: What is revealed through the study of a small artefact from the Bronze Age settlement of Koukonisi on Lemnos)
Χρήστος Μπουλώτης Anaskamma 5 (2011): 13-31.
Abstract
An unfinished drop-shaped bead of rock crystal, found during the 2004 excavation season at the Bronze Age settlement of Koukonisi (Lemnos, Moudros gulf ) provides the opportunity to discuss, foremost, the concept and significance of unfinished artefacts as vehicles of particular “historical” information. The occurrence of the bead in an area of the site which yielded prominent signs of a MM IIIB-LM I Minoanisation, along with the fact that similar items are typical of southern Aegean −especially “palatial” Cretan− contexts generate the question of the artisan’s cultural identity: A local craftsman working on foreign prototypes or a newcomer, familiar with the production of such jewellery types? A propos Koukonisi, we touch upon issues such as the circulation of precious or semi-precious raw material and prestige objects in contemporary Aegean, the concept of simulation as cultural amalgamatisation, as well as evidence for elite tastes within local communities. The association of the bead with three unfinished, leaf-shaped shell pendants, made of Pinna nobilis, broadens our agenda towards the identification of a “workshop” and the production of articles for personal adornment of elite members, whose aesthetic preferences were composed of local and “imported” elements.