Rachel Phillips | University of Cambridge (original) (raw)
I recently completed my PhD in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge. My thesis, titled "Curating the Dead: Bodies and Matter in Early Mycenaean Burials", adopted an artistic approach to early Mycenaean burial contexts, with a focus on the relations between bodies, objects, and images. More broadly, my research focuses on artistic and ritual practices in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. I am interested in the adoption of interdisciplinary approaches to the past, in particular, in the application of art historical approaches within Aegean prehistory.
I am currently the Macmillan-Rodewald student at the British School at Athens, where I also held the Richard Bradford McConnell studentship in 2022-2023.
Supervisors: Dr Yannis Galanakis
Address: British School at Athens, Souidias 52, Athens
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Papers by Rachel Phillips
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 37.2, 2022
Kapsali, P. and R. Phillips. 2022. Rethinking Aesthetics in Archaeology, ARC 37.2: 1-20.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 36.2, 2021
The narrative potential of Bronze Age art typically rests on associations with Homer's Iliad and ... more The narrative potential of Bronze Age art typically rests on associations with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Aegean archaeologists ask who or what these scenes could represent, attempting to identify specific characters or events. This paper aims to shift the focus of analysis, treating images as communication systems in their own right, designed to provoke the recollection of oral performances. What kinds of scenes and stories have people chosen to represent? How and why are these stories materialised? This paper will look at repeated fighting and hunting scenes from the early Late Bronze Age Greek mainland, arguing that they gain power and meaning from their narrative associations. It will then explore the social implications of these images, thinking about prehistoric modes of understanding and engaging with art objects.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 37.2, 2022
Kapsali, P. and R. Phillips. 2022. Rethinking Aesthetics in Archaeology, ARC 37.2: 1-20.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge 36.2, 2021
The narrative potential of Bronze Age art typically rests on associations with Homer's Iliad and ... more The narrative potential of Bronze Age art typically rests on associations with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Aegean archaeologists ask who or what these scenes could represent, attempting to identify specific characters or events. This paper aims to shift the focus of analysis, treating images as communication systems in their own right, designed to provoke the recollection of oral performances. What kinds of scenes and stories have people chosen to represent? How and why are these stories materialised? This paper will look at repeated fighting and hunting scenes from the early Late Bronze Age Greek mainland, arguing that they gain power and meaning from their narrative associations. It will then explore the social implications of these images, thinking about prehistoric modes of understanding and engaging with art objects.