gems, ancient gems, glyptic, archaeology, archaeogemology, chalcedony, agate, quartz, seals, finger rings, jewelry, Greek, Greece

Sinkankas: This book is the first in over half a century to present a comprehensive account of engraved gems from the Early Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period in Greek lands. A brief introduction outlines the general use of engraved gems, their types, value in archaeological studies, issues of identification and dating, the presence of fakes, and other relevant concerns. The main text comprises seven chapters that explore Minoan and Mycenaean gems, early archaic seals—particularly the so-called “geometric” type—and other archaic examples from the islands, including finger rings. The final chapter offers a fascinating look at the materials and techniques used in gem engraving, noting that engravers typically avoided excessively hard stones and preferred those like “steatite” (often serpentine), crystalline quartz, and especially cryptocrystalline quartz varieties. Each chapter begins with an excellent, easy-to-follow introductory statement. Descriptions of individual pieces are detailed, with provenance information and references to illustrations conveniently distributed throughout. Appended materials include diagrams of gem and ring shapes, notes on several indexes, and a gazetteer of notable engraved gem collections (pp. 452–54), though it omits unpublished private holdings and collections containing only Roman gems, and unfortunately provides little detail on the locations or accessibility of those collections.