O-pi e-de-i: On round building as an archetypical form of sacred space in the Aegean

Abstract

The archaeological record supports the general proposition that the simplest form of architecture, the round building type, variously persisted throughout the Aegean prehistory. This paper makes a case for the identification of round building as a distinct genre of sacred space in the Aegean Bronze Age, Mycenaean Crete in particular, combining evidence from architecture, iconography and the scripts. Certain archetypical features are thus delineated. It is argued that the historical understanding of the emerging LBA state requires a study of the architecture prior to the 2 nd millennium BC as much as other relevant evidence issuing from the latest Aegean strata.