Ricerche sui sigilli a cilindro Vicino-Orientali del periodo di Uruk/Jemdet Nasr.

• Author: Collon, Dominique

This study of the earliest cylinder seals of the second half of the fourth millennium B.C., begins with an introductory section summarizing the development of the field, the various studies relating to these seals and the necessity for a new study incorporating recently excavated material. This new material has led to a chronological reassessment of two styles, the "naturalistic" Uruk style and the "schematic" Jemdet Nasr style, which had originally been thought to be consecutive but which are now shown to have been contemporary. The first is known mainly from impressions found in excavations, while the second is attested predominantly from actual seals, many of which are unprovenanced: this must reflect a very different pattern of use. According to Rova (p. 12), "The fundamental problem . . . is distinguishing, within the huge field of variations presented by the seals. . . . between the aspects which can be attributed to chronological differences, to local or regional factors or, finally, to the presence of different lapidary styles and workshops, and those [aspects] which can perhaps be linked to their [the seals'] specific function and the social position of their owner."

In order to attempt to resolve this problem, the author has submitted the material to statistical analysis. She defines her largely iconographical criteria for selection of the 963 seals and impressions (including fragmentary impressions) which make up her corpus: these had to be published, excavated or fairly reliably provenanced, in the Uruk and Jemdet-Nasr figurative style, from Mesopotamia, southwestern Iran, Syria, and Anatolia (but excluding Egypt), chronologically linked to the Uruk period, but excluding "the groups which are clearly attested only within the Jemdet Nasr period or later which have no precedents within the Uruk phase" (p. 18; such a statement reveals the unresolved ambiguity of using the term "Jemdet Nasr" to describe the so-called "schematic" seals of the Late Uruk period and the necessity of having a term to describe the phase between Late Uruk and Early Dynastic I - see also n. 91). The inclusion or exclusion of further groups and the criteria for counting an image as single or multiple, and for dealing with repeats on seals and sealings, are discussed on pp. 19-24.

The programme used for codifying the material (SPAD.N) is described in part II, and the variables or fields are listed on p. 26. The remainder of part II consists of a detailed...