Cretan Collection in the University of Pennsylvania Museum III

Philip P. Betancourt: Professor Emeritus of Prehistoric Aegean Art and Archaeology, Dept. of Art History, Temple Univsersity, Philadelphia, PA. Susan C. Ferrence: Consulting Scholar, Mediterranean Section, Penn Museum, Philadelphia, PA. Alessandra Giumlia-Mair: Head of the Laboratory of Architectural Archaeology and Interdisciplinary Study of Architectural Sites, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; founder of AGM Archaeoanalisi Laboratory, Merano, Italy.

This slender volume, which discusses in detail 62 objects made of copper and copper alloys and one lead object from the Minoan settlement at Gournia in eastern Crete, has been worth the wait as it includes significant scientific analyses that enrich our understanding of the works and how they were made. Furthermore, it goes well beyond the analysis of the artifacts themselves to present a highly readable and nuanced understanding of metalworking at Gournia and more generally on Crete during the Bronze Age, drawing on the authors formidable collective knowledge of this period, numerous recent discoveries in the field, and fascinating information gleaned from careful study of the objects under discussion. . . . The combination of detailed object-based analysis and thorough examination of the archaeological record presented in this book enriches our understanding of the Minoan metal objects in the care of the Penn Museum and adds to our knowledge of the role of metals at Gournia in the Bronze Age.Hemingway, Seán, American Journal of Archaeology, January 2025, vol. 129, no. 1