Making art, making society: the social significance of small-scale innovations and experimentation in Palaeolithic portable art

Farbstein, Rebecca

doi:10.1080/21500894.2013.773935

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…As we know, geometric or other motifs in ancient art are polyvalent (Farbstein 2013, 24). Even if the nested-square motif arose as a referent for the tortoise, it may not have always meant this to Natufian groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Natural Inspiration for Natufian Art: Cases from Wadi Hammeh 27, Jordan

Edwards

Major²,

McNamara³

et al. 2019

CAJ

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The likelihood that Palaeolithic artisans sometimes used natural objects as models for their image-making has long been suggested, yet well-contextualized and stratified examples have remained rare. This study examines a series of natural and fabricated items from the Natufian settlement of Wadi Hammeh 27 in Jordan (12,000–12,500 cal. bc) to propose that the site occupants collected a variety of found objects such as fossils, unusually shaped stones and animal bones, which they utilized as templates in the production of geometric art pieces. Natural and fabricated objects were woven into complex schemes of relation by Natufian artisans. Existing patterns were copied and applied to a variety of representational images. Found objects were sometimes subtly modified, whereas at other times they were transformed into finished artefacts. The scute pattern on the tortoise carapace, in particular, appears to have formed the basis of important ritual beliefs across the Natufian culture area. At Wadi Hammeh 27, it was evoked in various media and at various scales to form interrelating tableaux of representation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Natural Inspiration for Natufian Art: Cases from Wadi Hammeh 27, Jordan

Edwards

Major²,

McNamara³

et al. 2019

CAJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This may often be simply through shared styles or ways of doing things. Farbstein (2013), for example, shows how small prehistoric communities creatively formulated different artistic representations as part of creating local networks of shared identity.…”

Section: Art As Cultural Capitalmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…DeMarrais and J. Robb archaeological example, the earliest clay figurines, made during the Palaeolithic of Central Europe, may have been 'action art' intended to explode dramatically when placed in a fire (Farbstein 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Art makes society: an introductory visual essay

DeMarrais

Robb

2013

World Art

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In this visual essay that serves as an introduction to the set of articles presented in this issue, we illustrate four ways that art makes society. We adopt a stance informed by recent perspectives on material culture, moving away from thinking about art purely in aesthetic terms, instead asking how art objects have significance in particular cultural and social contexts. Arguing that art is participatory as well as visually affecting, we first suggest that art creates sites of activity for shared interaction. Second, we discuss the varied ways that people use art to create and assert representational models for social relations. Third, we consider the varied roles of art as cultural capital, marking out members of society through shared forms of knowledge or access to art. Finally, we document the ways that art serves as a medium of exclusion and as a means for resisting authority or challenging power relations. We highlight the layered meanings inherent in many artworks.

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“…), other portable objects, such as house models, water, fire, and so on (cf. Farbstein 2013 on Palaeolithic portable art). Although this dominant, image-based discourse has been challenged by several studies in the last decade (see below), it has largely shaped the way they are depicted in archaeological iterations and publications, and it is this corpus of images that has in turn shaped further thinking and discussion on figurines, especially since very few people are able to handle the original, three-dimensional, physical objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Sensoriality: The Neolithic Figurines from Koutroulou Magoula, Greece

Papadopoulos¹,

Hamilakis²,

Kyparissi‐Apostolika³

et al. 2019

CAJ

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The image-based discourse on clay figurines that treated them as merely artistic representations, the meaning of which needs to be deciphered through various iconological methods, has been severely critiqued and challenged in the past decade. This discourse, however, has largely shaped the way that figurines are depicted in archaeological iterations and publications, and it is this corpus of images that has in turn shaped further thinking and discussion on figurines, especially since very few people are able to handle the original, three-dimensional, physical objects. Building on the changing intellectual climate in figurine studies, we propose here a framework that treats figurines as multi-sensorial, affective and dynamic objects, acting within distinctive, relational fields of sensoriality. Furthermore, we situate a range of digital, computational methods within this framework in an attempt to deprive them of their latent Cartesianism and mentalism, and we demonstrate how we have applied them to the study of Neolithic figurines from the site of Koutroulou Magoula in Greece. We argue that such methodologies, situated within an experiential framework, not only provide new means of understanding, interpretation and dissemination, but, most importantly, enable researchers and the public to explore the sensorial affordances and affective potential of things, in the past as well as in the present.

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Making art, making society: the social significance of small-scale innovations and experimentation in Palaeolithic portable art

Cited by 5 publications

References 24 publications

The Natural Inspiration for Natufian Art: Cases from Wadi Hammeh 27, Jordan

The Natural Inspiration for Natufian Art: Cases from Wadi Hammeh 27, Jordan

Art makes society: an introductory visual essay

Digital Sensoriality: The Neolithic Figurines from Koutroulou Magoula, Greece

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