You are invited to our 2025-26 Seminar series on Domestic Life in the Ancient World. his will be a hybrid event on Thursday 4th December, 2025 at 19.00 pm (Greece time), 17.00 pm (Ireland time), 12.00 pm (EST), by Dr Bastien Rueff, “When fire-related utensils reveal the uses of domestic spaces: An Aegean Bronze Age perspective”. Dr Rueff is a Scientific Member of the French School at Athens.
Abstract: This presentation centres on demonstrating how fire-related utensils can illuminate the uses of domestic spaces in the Aegean Bronze Age. The term fire-related utensils refers to mobile objects, mostly of clay, used for lighting, heating, and perfuming, such as lamps, incense burners, scuttles, braziers, mobile hearths, and fireboxes. These artefacts are considered together as a category because their production appears to have increased with the rise of a palatial system in Crete and the development of urban environments at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE. The seminar will focus on two case studies: first, lamps and the question of illumination; and second, fireboxes and the issue of perfume production in domestic contexts. The methodology employed combines the direct study of archaeological material from settlements in Crete and Turkey with contextual and spatial analyses, experimental approaches, lipid analysis, and 3D reconstructions. Through these examples, I aim to shed light on the concept of lived space and to address broader questions, such as how to delineate domestic and craft spaces.
Further information:
The IIHSA Seminar Series for 2025–2026 will explore various aspects of household life in the ancient world, including labour and production, gender roles, childhood, food practices, and broader issues of social structure and negotiation across different periods and regions. Designed for graduate students and anyone interested in engaging deeply with a topic beyond the traditional lecture format, the series offers participants an opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas directly with experts in the field. Each seminar features a 30–40 minute presentation followed by an open discussion, co-led by the Assistant Director, to encourage active participation and dialogue. A brief bibliography is provided for those who wish to familiarize themselves with the seminar topic.
Bibliography
· Bibliography
· Rueff, B. 2019. The organization of space and time in the Quartier Mu of Malia (Crete, Bronze Age, 3200-1100 BC), in light of lamps. Journal of Energy History / Revue d’Histoire de l’Énergie 2. https://doi.org/10.3917/jehrhe.002.0001b.
· Rueff, B. 2024. Macroscopic identification of Minoan lamps’ fuels. An experimental use-alteration and ultraviolet analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 54. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X24000336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104405.
· Rueff, B., P. Debels, R. Vargiolu, H. Zahouani & H. Procopiou. 2021. Reading clay vases surfaces: characterization of surface treatments towards functional identification. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103021.
· Rueff, B., A. Pinto, K. Messini & H. Procopiou. 2023. Senses and Activities: A Virtual Reconstruction of the Potter’s Workshop and the North Area of Quartier Mu at Malia (c. 1800-1700 BC). Studies in Digital Heritage 7: 91–112. https://doi.org/10.14434/sdh.v7i2.36158.
· Vandevelde, S., M.Á. Medina-Alcaide, B. Rueff & C. Ferrier. 2024. From fire to light: Illuminating the archaeological past. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 55: 104511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104511.
For online attendance please register here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/uA5WKv87QZW7OeEc0edd9g
To attend in person, please register by email: irishinstitutegr@gmail.com