Prehistory in the Aegean: The Cyclades

admin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:35:42 +0000

For the class, I defined prehistoric as before writing (rather than before written history). The basic principle of contextualization – that the interrelating of text and image/object/monument permits contextualization of the work of art – means that with the emergence of textual sources in the historical record, the possibilities for interpretation of a work of art dramatically increases. I therefore prioritized the recognition of this moment, when writing emerges, and defined prehistory accordingly. So you may see on my syllabus that in the second class on prehistoric art, which focused primarily on the Neolithic, I also included Bronze Age Cycladic art.

The Cycladic figures compare well with the Ain Ghazal statues. Furthermore, the discernment of paint through scientific analysis relates the Cycladic figures to the paleolithic figures. (On the painting of these figures, see “Painted Early Cycladic Figures: An Exploration of Context and Meaning” by Elizabeth Hendrix.)

Scholars, however, traditionally consider the Myceneans and Minoans, also of the Bronze Age Aegean, as prehistoric, in spite of their scripts – Linear A, B, and C. But the figures of the Cycladic Civilization have so much more in common with the enigmatic objects of the Neolithic than with the expressive Mycenean and Minoan works, that I may still stand behind the decision to include the Bronze Age Cycladic with the Neolithic.

Caves to Cathedrals » Cycladic

Prehistory in the Aegean: The Cyclades