Issue 1 (58)
| INTO A NEW WORLD — HUMAN REPRESENTATION AND SOCIAL PERSONAE IN WESTERN EURASIA AFTER THE NEOLITHIC | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2018 | Number | 1(58) |
| Pages | 62-73 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 903.26:730 | BBK | 63.4 +815.13 |
| Authors | Reinhold Sabine |
Topic | SHIGIR IDOL: DATES, CONTEXTS, INTERPRETATIONS |
| Summary | The representation of humans in figural art is one of the most challenging aspects in prehistory. Human sculptures are some of the few statements prehistoric people left as an expression of their self-conception. Representations of essential individuals, ancestors or divine figures have the capacity to condense social principles and essential focal points of a community and are hence significant for mediating social relationships among community members. A dramatic shift in figural plastics can be noticed at the end of Neolithic. The representation of humans, which had been focused for millennia on small clay or stone figurines that were used in domestic contexts changed significantly towards sculpturing particular individuals with insignia of their gender and status in stone. These stone stelae or statue-menhirs are found from the Atlantic coast as far as the Altai Mountains. But what is behind this phenomenon of erecting stone sculptures with an astonishingly similar iconography and a comparable intention for public display? Do the stone sculptures represent migrating populations or are they the manifestation of a new intellectual discourse on personhood, commodities and the role of the social when Neolithic societies were transformed into more complex communities that characterize the Bronze Age? | ||
| Keywords | statue-menhirs, human representation, Copper Age, social innovation | ||
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