Activities per year
Abstract
This article offers a comprehensive survey of figurative finds from Neolithic northern Europe. The survey shows that the immediate absence of figurative representation in the region is real and that the almost complete lack of figuration stands out from the previous Mesolithic and the contemporary northern and northeastern European Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Furthermore, the absence of figurative representations contrasts strongly with the thousands of clay figurines that characterize the southeastern European and Anatolian Neolithic. The survey provides a well-documented basis for discussing the significant differences between a figurative southeastern European Neolithic and an imageless northwestern European Neolithic. We suggest that the absence of figurative representations indicates that severe socio-cultural and religious/ideological changes took place within the Neolithic communities as agriculture spread from southeastern Europe via central Europe to northern and western Europe.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | Cambridge Archaeological Journal |
Number of pages | 19 |
ISSN | 0959-7743 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 2024 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- Neolithic Europe
- Figurines
- Figurative representations
- Prehistoric art
- Neolithization
- Socio-cultural change
- Religious/ideological change
Activities
- 1 Other
-
Semper Ardens Accelerate Research Project: A world without images. The absence of figurines in Early Neolithic Northern Europe
Rune Iversen (Participant), Valeska Doris Becker (Participant) & Rebecca Bristow (Participant)
1 Sep 2022 → 31 Aug 2025Activity: Other activity types › Other