Art and Symbolism Flashcards
H. Erectus and art
Incised shell (540-430kya) it Trinil, Indonesia - H. Erectus bones associated
Neanderthals and art in Gibraltar
etching in Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar - on cave floor, strata above dates to 39kya, Mousterian tools possible associated, ochre found at various sites, perforated shells, cut marks on bird wing bones at cave sites in Gibraltar (possibly used for personal adornment)
Why is it difficult to identify early art?
Hard to identify intentionality, art is a modern concept
What is the team that won jeopardy?
The Goblins
Art and H. Sapiens
Blombos Cave, S. Africa - +8k pieces of ochre -> crayons? - 13 of them date to 100kya, 2 to 77kya, pieces are worn down similar to how modern pops wear it down when they use it as a body paint - 13 have parallel lines, 2 have cross lines - repeating geometric motif - ochre paint production stations 101kya, shells + grinding stones = mortal and pestle -> paint/pigment
Art in the Upper Paleolithic
40-12kya - Figurines and paintings indicate the cognitive ability for abstract thought
Venus of Willendorf
Hohle Fels Cave, Germany - date as old as 35kya, most 20-27kya - 188 supposed Venus figurines carved from stone/mammoth ivory - animal figurines, human-animal hybrids
Paintings in Upper Paleolithic
40-12kya - more research and excavations in EU so there is a bias - petroglyphs and paintings also found in AF and AU and Indonesia - in Caves because preserve well
- Naturalistic animal depictions
- Abstract and geometric designs
- Painted hands prints
- Anthropomorphic depictions - Hall of Bulls
Where was Catalhoyuk located?
On the edge of the fertile crescent, mound site
Why is Catalhoyuk significant
Early agricultural settlement, often cited as a case study for proto-urbanism. Shows continuous occupation for over a thousand years
- transition from pre-pottery Neolithic to pottery neolithic - as seen in the stratigraphy with no break
What is Catalhoyuk?
Mound site, neolithic 7100-5950 BCE, Chalcolithic, an early agricultural settlement. 21 M tall deposits of archaeology, a mega site.
Catalhoyuk and population density
Considered high population density; 8k at peak, a marker for civilization.
Catalhoyuk settlement plan:
agglutinated settlement plan: People were tightly packed together
densely packed mud brick houses w entrances on the roof, have to climb down
How many levels of occupation at Catalhoyuk
18
Was there evidence for social hierarchy at Catalhoyuk? Why?
Even though there is differential variation in the elaboration of houses, there is not strong evidence that indicates hierarchy. All houses are relatively small with evidence of domesticated activity.
Why?
There are no public spaces, no gathering spaces, no production zones = largely egalitarian
what are radial lines and what do they indicate in Catalhoyuk?
Lines through house divisions, could indicate neighborhoods
What was the environment and subsistence of Catalhoyuk?
Environment: micro environments: steppe parkland + woodland
Subsistence: mix of farming and hunter/gathering - domesticated sheep/goats; cereals
- hunted wild animals, aurochs, deer, boar,
horses
Aurochs in Catalhoyuk
Delayed adoption of domesticated cattle: indicating that it was significant to hunt; there were domesticated cattle in the area, so they deliberately chose not to domesticate until the end of the occupation
James Mellaart theory at Catalhoyuk
had theory that some of the structures were shrines + figurines (Venus) - fertility of the earth + mother earth + neolithic goddess cult religion - popular theory in the 60s - thought that these artifacts were offerings
Into Aurochs - plastered skulls into the walls of the house - + plastered bumps in the walls - he thought they were breasts - =shrines
Seated mother on throne with 2 leopards on the side
James Melaart Catalhoyuk
originally excavated by James Mellaart 1961-65. Lost permission to dig at site, because Turkish govt suspected he smuggled 45 mil pounds worth of artifacts - then no more research until 90s Ian Hodder got permission to dig for 25 years. Excavated 144 complete buildings w team of 45.
What made Catalhoyuk not a typical excavation
LOTS of money. from 90s to 2018 - millions of dollars + corporate sponsors Shell etc - + Huge massive international team - 160+ researchers alone + staff - EU or S American style dig, not NA -> actually professional excavators, shovel bums - in NA dig, every one digs, then all catalogue etc -> more scientific than Melaart.
Hodder excavation of Catalhoyuk
Hodder with all team only 53 buildings <10% of site - rigorous process. Post processual archaeology - one of the prototype sites - democratizing archaeology + recognizing bias - community engagement
§ Reflexivity - archaeology is not neutral - what role do our own biases and experiences play in archaeological practice and interpretation
At Site - had diary entries - publicly available - created social issues -
Videos diaries
§ Community engagement
□ Annual community party
□ Kids making replicas of
Neolithic stamp seals
□ Book written by guard
Hodder; Figurines and the Goddess cult in Catalhoyuk
no evidence of priestly class - 3,075 figurines - disproved this theory - ‘wall breasts’ were animal body parts that had been plastered and embedded into the wall, vulture beaks and talons - more than 50% of figurines are zoomorphic, many were these horn figurines - very few you could actually sex - disproving Mellaart -
Ritual and symbolic practices at Catalhoyuk
□ other wall paintings - Hodder excavations - geometric painting, painted the exact same painting over thousands of layers on the walls of the house
□ Painted hand prints
□ Rituals related to the human skulls - plastering skulls, headless burials - seen in Jericho - female holding a male skull that was painted + found with leopard claw pendant - also done with animal parts (Aurochs, not domesticated) - would bury the body, unbury, take parts of body, re bury etc
History houses in Catalhoyuk
rebuilding the same house on the same footprint using the wall studs - circulation of human remains + animal remains - + curation of human remains and faunal remains - 4+ rebuilds on same footprint, using same wall studs
Religion at Catalhoyuk and significance of animals
§ No evidence for org religion or believe in supernatural - could be a memory ritual that’s not necessary religious
§ Ritual symbolism and animals - centered on animals - specifically wild dangerous animals -hunting so interacting w animals in the landscape - human/animal relations -
□ human/lamb burial
□ Deliberate burial of
individual with weasel
feces
□ Manipulation of skull/bones - boar modified, could be interpreted as individual ‘wearing’ it
□ Ceramic pot - human face one side, other side has bull head
□ Plaster reliefs of animals w spots like a leopards
□ Wall paintings of animals - headless human being attacked by a vulture
□ Bull skull plastered into house benches - not functional/utilitarian = symbolic and/or ritualistic
