Key Words Flashcards
Relating to or denoting the period before written records
Very old or out of date
Prehistoric
The viewing of a different culture as if it were occurring in different segments of geologic time
Existing in another past time, despite living in the same serial time
Allochronism
Starts from observed material similarities, the social terms we set up to “discover” a common explanation
Privileges similarities over differences and assumes that common explanation must exist
Universalism
The possibility that there is no common explanation The meaning of femaleness would have been different in each prehistoric context
Contextualism
The representation of the east in western art which often blurred the line between fantasy and reality
Style, artefacts, or traits considered characteristic of the peoples and cultures of Asia
Orientalism
An ancient Egyptian tomb rectangular in shape with sloping sides and a flat roof, standing to be a height of 17-20 feet, consisting of an underground burial chamber with rooms above it to store offerings
Mastaba
A painting, sculpture or other object given to a church or chapel in accordance with a vow, for prayers answered or favours requested
Votive offerings
A type of ancient Egyptian statue intended to provide a resting place for the spirit of the person after death
Ka statue
Goddess of truth, justice, balances and most importantly order. Depicted as a woman sitting or standing with an ostrich feather on her head, and in some depictions, wings
Ma’at
Ancient Egyptian collection of mortuary texts made up of spells or magic formulas placed in tombs and believed to protect and and the decreased in the hereafter
Book of the dead
A reverential monument, commemorating the dead, representing their kings, and honouring their gods
Obelisk
The merging of two or more originally discrete traditions into a new tradition or system, thus creating an underlying unity and inclusivity of diverse thoughts, spiritualities, or ways of life
The mixing and melding of various aspects of different cultures, rather than one completely replacing the other
Syncretism
The earliest phases of a culture most frequently used by art historians to denote the period of artistic development
A movement forward toward figurative and realistic methods
Archaic
A statue of a standing nude youth that did not represent any one individual youth, but the idea of youth
Used in archaic Greece as both a dedication to the Gods in sanctuaries and as a grave monument.
Kouros
A statue of a young woman used to mark graves or, more often, as a votive offering to the gods
Kore
