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The natural world is a common theme in Bronze Age Cretan art and a popular topic of studies of Cretan material. As a subject in glyptic, however, its consideration is lacking. Through an iconographic study of the seal, sealing, and seal ring evidence from Early Minoan II–Late Minoan IB Crete, it is possible to reconstruct and reconsider some of the ways in which landscape depictions were utilized in Minoan glyptic. Covering a small portion of a larger project, this talk briefly addresses the landscape elements identified throughout the study and the various types of landscape scenes and settings found in glyptic iconography. Using this information, consideration is then given to how landscapes were interpreted, illustrated, and viewed during the Bronze Age by focusing on how landscapes were created, which aspects factored more significantly into decisions to include or exclude particular elements, and how depictions of space impacted the scenes. It is largely concluded that landscape depictions were created with a focus on the scene as a whole, with minimal consideration for specific elements, and that they were designed to be flexible and allow for–or even require–interpretation and completion by the viewer.

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