An ugly small vase survives the 'pots are not people' era

Summary: The expression 'pots are not people', common parlance for a while now in archaeological literature, has had a profound impact on our conceptualization and the methodologies applied in historical reconstruction, especially in disciplines concerning very early periods where any useful texts are missing. Positive though such a reshaping may be for interpretations, often previously automatically and simplistically done, where the undoubted physical presence of a 'foreign item' was taken as proof of invasion by/presence of 'foreigners', we have arguably pushed the pendulum too far in the opposite direction, almost to the point of denying the possibility of any foreign presence. The result can be contorted and ambiguous interpretations (themselves denying variabilities we know can occur in the range of human experiences) in the name of supposed scientific objectivity, too often in fact a barely concealed type of political correctness. Such behaviour is an abdication of our duty to think honestly and without fear. The goal of this contribution is to side-step this controversy. I examine a material and 'tangible' object, namely a Middle Minoan vase of undistinguished parentage, found in one of the necropolis of the Second millennium BC at Knossos, evaluating its possible human and affective meanings.