Anastasios V. Harissis

Apiculture in the Prehistoric Aegean (British Archaeological Reports British Series) Anastasios V. Harissis

The first part of the book presents archaeological evidence from the Prehistoric Aegean and onwards, which demonstrates the existence of an enduring, highly valued and advanced prehistoric Aegean apiculture. Some well known ceramic vessels from Knossos "palace" are identified here for the first time with beekeeping paraphernalia thus proving the existence of a systematic Minoan apiculture. In the second part, an alternative view is proposed for some of the most important scenes on Minoan and Mycenaean gold rings, seals, and clay sealings that have led Evans, Nilsson, and many others over the past century to various speculations regarding the nature of the Prehistoric Aegean religion. By applying a naturalistic context of interpretation on the depicted scenes, apiculture paraphernalia and practices are recognized, instead of the religious symbols of the "sacred tree", "flying gods", "baetyls and birds epiphany of deities", "great goddess", "horns of consecration", "altars", "temenos" and "double axes".
The authors conclude that established ideas about the prehistoric Aegean religion should be reconsidered, thus creating significant challenges for future research.