Of Things and Stories

Current Approaches to Object Biography, Medium, and Materiality

edited by Christina Marini and Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory

Book cover: Of Things and Stories

Extent: 2024 pages

Publisher: Archaeological Institute of America

Subjects: Art & Art History, Mediterranean Archaeology

Series: Selected Papers on Ancient Art and Architecture

Series volume number: 8

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(April 2024)

ISBN: 9781931909464

Price: $24.95

In stock

PDF (Published)

(December 2024)

ISBN: 9781931909471

Price: $19.99

From the gold of the shaft graves of Mycenae to an undecorated Late Roman lekythos, and from facade statuary in Roman Ephesus to electroplated teapots in present-day household assemblages on the island of Kythera, this volume presents a selection of essays on the complex and ever-progressing relationships between things and people across time and space. Past and present advances in the discourse on materialisms are approached from a case study perspective through the lens of two different but complementary themes: object biography and materiality in relation to medium. Each essay offers a distinct insight into the always shifting meanings, values, and relational connections of things, exploring a diversity of concepts, contexts, and material elements from prehistory to today.


From the gold of the shaft graves of Mycenae to an undecorated Late Roman lekythos, and from facade statuary in Roman Ephesus to electroplated teapots in present-day household assemblages on the island of Kythera, this volume presents a selection of essays on the complex and ever-progressing relationships between things and people across time and space. Past and present advances in the discourse on materialisms are approached from a case study perspective through the lens of two different but complementary themes: object biography and materiality in relation to medium. Each essay offers a distinct insight into the always shifting meanings, values, and relational connections of things, exploring a diversity of concepts, contexts, and material elements from prehistory to today.

Series Editor's Preface Editors' Preface Introduction Christina Marini and Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory Memoirs of a Late Roman Lekythos: Insights from the Hill of Zeus, Corinth Mark D. Hammond The Circulation of Achilles's Shield on the Berthouville Pitchers David Petrain The Many Lives of Chikaba's Jar Sirio Canos-Donnay and Beatrijs G. de Groot Biographical Perspectives on the Materiality of a Diaspora: Teapots of Greek-Australian Migrants from Kythera Christina Marini and Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory Affective Gold: Exploring Materiality in Early Mycenaean Burials Rachel Phillips A Niche Medium: Medial Properties of Facade Statuary in Roman Ephesus Roko Rumora Containing Yourself: Romano-British Face Pots as Proxy for Body and Self Danielle Vander Horst

  • Edited by Christina Marini
  • Edited by Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory