Our researcher, Lucia Cerullo, had the opportunity to attend an international conference focusing on sealing practices. Here are some of her reflections on the experience:
As part of my research activities within the WORK-IT project, I attended the conference KIŠIB: Why Sealing? From Sealed Clay to Social Interaction in Ancient West Asia, held at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Munich (22–24 July 2026) as an auditor.
The conference brought together established scholars and early-career researchers from across the world to discuss the role of sealing practices in ancient West Asia, spanning a broad chronological range from the fourth to the first millennium BCE. Although the primary geographical focus was Mesopotamia, numerous contributions also addressed neighbouring regions (and also Iran, with some of the seals from Persepolis) providing a comprehensive perspective on the development and social functions of sealing practices across the ancient Near East.
My decision to attend stemmed from a desire to gain a deeper understanding of the social significance of seals and sealings beyond their administrative role. In particular, I was interested in questions concerning why seals were applied, how sealing practices were carried out in different contexts, why multiple seal impressions were sometimes used on the same support, and how these practices contributed to the creation and maintenance of social relationships. The conference's central theme—approaching sealings as a technology of communication, trust, authority, and social interaction—proved especially stimulating.
Many of the discussions resonated strongly with the theoretical and methodological framework of the WORK-IT project. Several papers explored seals as technologies of trust, emphasising their role in validating transactions, expressing authority, and identifying individuals or institutions through their seal impressions. Equally relevant were discussions on reconstructing the identities and social networks of seal owners and on the interpretative challenges posed by sealings recovered without secure archaeological contexts—an issue that frequently affects the archaeological record and is likewise encountered in our own research.
Overall, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to broaden my understanding of sealing practices from both archaeological and social perspectives while engaging with current debates in the field.