Performance and the Art of the Aegean Bronze Age

The dissertation examines representations of performance in the art of the Aegean Bronze Age within a framework of social drama. The representations of performance examined are bull leaping and dancing, two of the most common images reproduced in Minoan and Mycenaean art during the Late Bronze Age (MMIIa/LHI to LMIIIb/LHIIIb2 or the second and third palace periods, absolute dates c. 1750-1720 to 1700-1680 to c. 1360-1325 to 1200/1190). By approaching these images as representations of social drama, structured social events which address crisis or change in culture, they are recognized as visual records of critical social practice. Specifically, it is argued that representations of bull leaping and dancing in glyptic, art referenced palace sponsored ceremonies during which actual bull leaping and dance were performed and where specific social boundaries were maintained. Through close analysis of the representations of performances, it is discovered that these social boundaries were composed of specific age, gender and social status values. Representations of bun leaping and dancing in glyptic, then, become badges of these identity values. It is concluded that social dramas emerged at the palaces in the second palace period at first to mitigate the social pressure of a change from kinship-based to social identity-based systems, defined by specific age, gender and social status values. It is proposed that at the end of the second palace period social dramas and representations of them worked to address the social pressures created by the aftermath of the Santorini volcanic explosion. Finally, it is concluded that the Mycenaeans, when they controlled Knossos in the third palace period, adopted the use of representations of social drama as their own, even using them in palatial centers on the Greek mainland.