Breaking the Cycle: A Sensorial Approach to the Harvester Vase from Hagia Triada

While much has already been written about the iconography of the Harvester Vase from Hagia Triada, these studies have, up until now, failed to integrate the sensorial nature of the object and the materials in their interpretations. In this paper, the iconography of the Harvester Vase is re-analyzed using both traditional iconographic and sensorial methodologies, taking not only the material characteristics of the object into consideration but also its volumetric medium. This not only allows the re-examination of previous readings of the object and its scene, but also allows the proposal of new interpretations. The uniqueness of some elements of the composition are highlighted and compared to other iconographic examples from the Aegean Bronze Age. New proposals are made concerning the ritual use of the object and the role of craftsmen in Neopalatial Crete. The ritual destruction of the vase, and the procession or ritual it represents, could thus not be solely understood as conspicuous consumption, as previously suggested. Rather, it is suggested to be part of a religio-magical practice related to initiation rites and the transmission of ritual practices. These new insights not only provide a different perspective on the Harvester Vase, but also create opportunities for future studies to reconsider the role of relief-carved stone vessels as a whole.