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Archaeologist to reconstruct the Minoan sky

Dr Evangelos Kyriakidis, Lecturer in Classical and Archaeological Studies at the University of Kent, will use a public lecture on Wednesday 27 February to explain his theory that certain objects depicted on Minoan rings dated 1600-1700 BC represent constellations.

During his lecture, Dr Kyriakidis, author of 'Unidentified Floating Objects on Minoan Seals' (published in the American Journal of Archaeology, Volume 9, No. 2) will argue that a series of 'floating' ornamentations on the gold 'signet rings', found in late bronze age contexts in Crete and mainland Greece, are in fact constellations, most of which bear a strong physical resemblance to modern day constellations and their position in the sky.

Titled 'The Archaeology of the Mind: An Iconographical Contribution to Our Understanding of the Minoan Cosmos', Dr Kyriakidis' lecture will take place at 5.15pm in Keynes Lecture Theatre 5, Keynes College, on the University of Kent's Canterbury campus. The lecture is free and open to all.

Dr Kyriakidis said: 'The find of the Minoan constellations illuminates a great part of the prior knowledge the bronze age inhabitants of Crete applied to the world for calendrical purposes, navigation, agriculture, superstition, religion and story-telling; they can thus offer a window into the workings of the Minoan mind.'

Dr Kyriakidis will continue his work on the Minoan rings in a large scale project funded by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.

'The Archaeology of the Mind: An Iconographical Contribution to Our Understanding of the Minoan Cosmos' is part of a popular lecture series hosted by the School of European Culture and Languages at the University of Kent.

Contact: mediaoffice@kent.ac.uk

Story published at 4:42pm 25 February 2008