A space for time: Containers as space for duration

Containment practices have been largely overlooked as a set of techniques. When they have received attention, it has largely been a matter of seeing containers as spaces. I argue here that a focus on the temporal dimension of containment can generate a more dynamic understanding of containers as artefacts. One key aspect of this reorientation is a recognition that containment invariably is followed by release, whether anticipated or accidental. In other words, there is a duration to containment. In exploring this question of duration, I turn to an ancient case study, looking at the varying durations incorporated into the design and use of Bronze Age ceramic vessels from the island of Crete in the Aegean. The method entails an integrated approach that inserts the body and its gestures between containers and their contents. With a fuller emphasis on duration as a factor in container design and use, archaeology can reanimate the interdependent containment practices of ancient societies.