scholarly journals The leading ornamental motif koshkar muyiz in Kazakh ornamentation: in search of the primordi

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
S. K. Suraganov ◽  

The ornamental motif of Koshkar Muyiz – the legacy of the Ancient times – remains key in the traditional art of felt craft. The horn-shaped figures of the Kazakhs had been a centerpiece of scholarly discourses of Kazakh, Russian and Soviet science over the entire 20th century. The first attempts to find their meaning were made by the German ethnologist R. Karutz (1911), the Russian researchers S. Dudin (1928), B. Kuftin (1926), E. Schneider (1927), and others. The horn-shaped motif had been reviewed in the works of archaeologists, art historians and ethnographers since the second half of the 20th century. Scientists determined the time of its origin, its geography, and attempted to translate its semantic content. It was found that the curvilinear motif had not appeared earlier than the New Stone Age, but in the Bronze Age, it had developed in the form of various styled designs. This motif obviously played a key role in the ornamental complex of the Turkic-Mongol peoples. Based on the interdisciplinary approach, the author offers a number of reasons to explain its viability, including the internal form of the word - name of the ornamental motif, which is epic in nature since it can cause a special aesthetic reaction in viewers. The ornamental motif seems to play the role of a “figure of memories” and have the status of a “substantiative past”. It is preserved as a linguistic objectification (name) in an extra-linguistic format as well, in the form of an Iconic Model of a transcultural anagram that reproduces the ancient ideological content with symbolic and magical scope. Acting as a canon, the Koshkar Muyiz motif is a sort of a “Signature of the Era” with its artistic charm and is constructively based on the line called the “Line of Beauty” by William Hogarth.

Author(s):  
Alain Bresson

This chapter examines the process that allowed the Greek city-states to achieve an impressive level of economic growth. It begins with a short historical overview of the development that took place in Greece from the end of the Bronze Age until the Archaic period, when the “eighth-century revolution” enabled Greece to experience a first phase of significant growth, including population growth. It then considers the taxation system of the city-states, focusing on the fundamental question of tribute and its replacement by comparatively modest levels of communal taxes and private rents in the framework of the polis. It also discusses the role of dignitaries, temples, and the king in the way in which local markets were supplied, as well as status of property and land ownership within the framework of the city. Finally, it compares the status of what the Greeks called “civic land” and “royal land”.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Budden ◽  
Joanna Sofaer

This article explores the relationship between the making of things and the making of people at the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta, Hungary. Focusing on potters and potting, we explore how the performance of non-discursive knowledge was critical to the construction of social categories. Potters literally came into being as potters through repeated bodily enactment of potting skills. Potters also gained their identity in the social sphere through the connection between their potting performance and their audience. We trace degrees of skill in the ceramic record to reveal the material articulation of non-discursive knowledge and consider the ramifications of the differential acquisition of non-discursive knowledge for the expression of different kinds of potter's identities. The creation of potters as a social category was essential to the ongoing creation of specific forms of material culture. We examine the implications of altered potters' performances and the role of non-discursive knowledge in the construction of social models of the Bronze Age.


Starinar ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 173-191
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Kapuran ◽  
Dragana Zivkovic ◽  
Nada Strbac

The last three years of archaeological investigations at the site Ru`ana in Banjsko Polje, in the immediate vicinity of Bor, have provided new evidence regarding the role of non-ferrous metallurgy in the economy of the prehistoric communities of north-eastern Serbia. The remains of metallurgical furnaces and a large amount of metallic slags at two neighbouring sites in the mentioned settlement reveal that locations with many installations for the thermal processing of copper ore existed in the Bronze Age. We believe, judging by the finds of material culture, that metallurgical activities in this area also continued into the Iron Age and, possibly, into the 4th century AD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Johan Ling

Since the beginning of the 20th century rock art in Bohuslän has traditionally been interpreted, on the basis of its adjacent location to the clay-soil plains, as an indicator ofpermanent pastoral or agrarian settlement units. However, recent results ofthe first substantial and extensive shoreline study, covering the whole of Bohuslän, have shown that, during the entire Bronze Age, many of these lower, clay- soil plains were in fact sea bottoms in shallow bays. On the basis of these results new measurement of the rock art panels and the surrounding terrain were made. The study showed that many rock carvings had been placed on or near the contemporary shore during the Bronze Age. It therefore seemed essential to present new questions about the social and ritual behaviour, as manifested by the rock art in these particular areas. It is here suggested that the rock art in the investigated area may be a materialised reflection of seasonal maritime interactions during the Bronze Age.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 138-153
Author(s):  
Luis Arboledas-Martínez ◽  
Eva Alarcón-García

Researchers have traditionally paid little attention to mining by Bronze Age communities in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula. This has changed recently due to the identification of new mineral exploitations from this period during the archaeo-mining surveys carried out in the Rumblar and Jándula valleys in the Sierra Morena Mountains between 2009-2014, as well as the excavation of the José Martín Palacios mine (Baños de la Encina, Jaén). The analysis of the archaeological evidence and the archaeometric results reveal the importance of mining and metallurgical activities undertaken by the communities that inhabited the region between 2200 and 900 cal. BC, when it became one of the most important copper and silver production centers during the Late Prehistory of south-eastern Iberia.


1992 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Woodman

This study examines the archaeological significance of the material from a group of Neolithic chipping floors rescued during the rebuilding of the Antrim coast road, at Mad Mans Window, south of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. It shows that the lithic production strategies vary significantly between assemblages although it is presumed that they are all Neolithic in date and come from the same area of coast. It is apparent that flint axe production was of limited importance on these sites and that in spite of the abundance of flint available along the Antrim coast, relatively few polished flint axes were manufactured. Instead the numerous flint caches found in adjacent parts of the north-east of Ireland tend to produce scrapers and blades. Hoards containing arrowheads may be confined to the Bronze Age.Around 300 polished flint axes and roughouts are known from Ireland. These are frequently small and only partially polished. A limited number of highly polished axes with ground flat side facets have been designated sub-type A. The tendency to use porcellanite rather than flint for axe manufacture may be due to its ability to withstand robust shock.During the last 100 years, the role of flint as a key resource in the stone age of north-eastern Ireland has always been recognized but this has usually led to an uncritical assumption as to the paramount importance of flint. Work in recent years has shown that its significance in attracting and retaining Mesolithic settlement may have been over-emphasized.The role of the flint industries in the Irish Neolithic in this region has never been properly assessed, either in relation to older Mesolithic manufacturing traditions or in the broader context of supply to the Neolithic communities of this part of Ireland.In particular, good or even reasonable quality flint is usually only exposed in Cretaceous outcrops along a narrow strip on the edge of the basalt plateau and, therefore, has a very limited availability in parts of Co. Antrim as well as parts of Counties Down and Deny. As a contrast, erratic and beach flint is available in some quantity down the east coast of Ireland from Co. Down to Wexford. A second potential constraining factor is that unlike Britain, where flint was exploited for axe manufacture in the east and other rocks in the west, flint sources and porcellanite for axe manufacturing are both found adjacent to each other in the same corner of Co. Antrim. In particular, a number of more substantial chipping floors of Neolithic age are known, e.g. the opencast quarry sites at Ballygalley Head. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of flint production on the Antrim coast with particular reference to its significance in the Neolithic. This topic will be developed in the context of an analysis of the material found at Mad Mans Window near Glenarm.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Emily Simons

<p>The Archaic Potnia Theron schema depicts a central female figure grasping an animal in each hand. She is often associated with the goddess Artemis. Yet, evidence from the early Archaic period indicates that she was not yet associated with the goddess. The identity of the schema has been the subject of a number of studies, and the connection of the figure with Artemis is well ingrained in scholarship. The identification of the figure as Artemis relies heavily on a brief description from Pausanias’s Perigesis, and the epithet Ποτνία Θηρῶν given to Artemis once in the Iliad (Hom. Il. 21.470). Furthermore, the image was later attributed to the goddess Artemis on account of her affiliations to wild animals. However, this thesis investigates the identification of the figure and examines the evidence (or lack thereof) for the attribution of the figure to Artemis in the Archaic period.  Chapter One will investigate the Potnia Theron schema and its use in the Bronze Age. It will consider the possible contribution that the Bronze Age schema may have had on the image in the Archaic period, acknowledging possible influence from the Near East. It will also discuss problems with Archaic source material, the fluidity of Archaic Greek religion, and the characteristics of the Archaic Potnia Theron schema. Chapter Two will analyse the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Sparta as the main case study for the use of the Archaic schema in a sanctuary context. The chronology at the site, and its examples of the schema make it particularly useful for this investigation. Chapter Three will follow with an analysis of the schema on items lacking contexts, as it was used for decorative purposes on vases, jewelry, and plaques. Finally, Chapter Four will examine the role of Artemis, how the Potnia Theron pose has since been interpreted to represent the goddess. This thesis will determine when the schema became associated with Artemis and investigate evidence for its use prior to this association.</p>


Author(s):  
David Segal

Chapter 13 is the last chapter. It suggests how the 21st century may be described in terms of ‘ages’ analogous to the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Will the 21st century be described as the Silicon Age? Or perhaps be referred to as the Genomic Age? Or maybe the New Polymer Age? The role of climate change and international conflict on the pace of materials development are discussed.


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