ABSTRACT
Analysing terracotta figurines would seem appropriate in a book on chaînes opératoires and cross-craft interaction, if these were mould-made and if one subsequently would trace different steps in the production cycle of mould-made terracotta figurines. The technique of using a mould could then be tackled as a unifier between different crafts, since moulds are implemented in the production of bronze-cast figurines and cast jewellery made of precious metals or vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean world. However, two factors defy such an approach: the mould-made technique is not attested for Mycenaean terracotta figurines and figures on the Greek mainland. Nor is it (yet?) possible to dissect different steps in the chaîne opératoire of the terracotta figures’ and figurines’ production, since unequivocal evidence for workshops manufacturing such coroplastic objects is so far lacking in the archaeological record. How, then, do Mycenaean figurine studies tie into a discussion of chaînes opératoires and cross-craft interaction?
