The Archaeology of Art

The Archaeology of Art
Author: Andrew Meirion Jones
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2018-05-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317429826

How can archaeologists interpret ancient art and images if they do not treat them as symbols or signifiers of identity? Traditional approaches to the archaeology of art have borrowed from the history of art and the anthropology of art by focusing on iconography, meaning, communication and identity. This puts the archaeology of art at a disadvantage as an understanding of iconography and meaning requires a detailed knowledge of historical or ethnographic context unavailable to many archaeologists. Rather than playing to archaeology’s weaknesses, the authors argue that an archaeology of art should instead play to archaeology’s strength: the material character of archaeological evidence. Using case studies - examining rock art, figurines, beadwork, murals, coffin decorations, sculpture and architecture from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and north Africa -the authors develop an understanding of the affective and effective nature of ancient art and imagery. An analysis of a series of material-based practices, from gesture and improvisation to miniaturisation and gigantism, assembly and disassembly and the use of distinctions in colour enable key concepts, such as style and meaning, to be re-imagined as affective practices. Recasting the archaeology of art as the study of affects offers a new prospectus for the study of ancient art and imagery.

Art & Archaeology of the Greek World

Art & Archaeology of the Greek World
Author: Richard T. Neer
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780500052082

Celebrated for its abundant illustrations and accessible voice, Art & Archaeology of the Greek World arrives in its second edition with more coverage of the earliest Bronze Age and latest Hellenistic periods, and increased archaeological context; the picture of ancient Greek art is expanded to help readers better understand how the subject connects to, and reflects, the historical developments of the time. Richard Neer's clear chronological narrative takes readers through the artistic developments in Greek culture from the Minoans to the Roman conquest. We learn about how art was made and used, and how it can offer a window into the changing social and cultural world of ancient Greece. Still the most visually led book on the subject, the text is supported with highquality photographs, reconstructions, maps and plans that help build a vibrant picture of the ancient world. Each chapter begins with a chronology and map, situating the reader in time and place as we follow the development of an ancient visual culture that still influences us today.

Making

Making
Author: Tim Ingold
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2013-04-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136763678

Making creates knowledge, builds environments and transforms lives. Anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture are all ways of making, and all are dedicated to exploring the conditions and potentials of human life. In this exciting book, Tim Ingold ties the four disciplines together in a way that has never been attempted before. In a radical departure from conventional studies that treat art and architecture as compendia of objects for analysis, Ingold proposes an anthropology and archaeology not of but with art and architecture. He advocates a way of thinking through making in which sentient practitioners and active materials continually answer to, or ‘correspond’, with one another in the generation of form. Making offers a series of profound reflections on what it means to create things, on materials and form, the meaning of design, landscape perception, animate life, personal knowledge and the work of the hand. It draws on examples and experiments ranging from prehistoric stone tool-making to the building of medieval cathedrals, from round mounds to monuments, from flying kites to winding string, from drawing to writing. The book will appeal to students and practitioners alike, with interests in social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art and design, visual studies and material culture.

The Archaeology of Seeing

The Archaeology of Seeing
Author: Liliana Janik
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2020-01-28
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1000752631

The Archaeology of Seeing provides readers with a new and provocative understanding of material culture through exploring visual narratives captured in cave and rock art, sculpture, paintings, and more. The engaging argument draws on current thinking in archaeology, on how we can interpret the behaviour of people in the past through their use of material culture, and how this affects our understanding of how we create and see art in the present. Exploring themes of gender, identity, and story-telling in visual material culture, this book forces a radical reassessment of how the ability to see makes us and our ancestors human; as such, it will interest lovers of both art and archaeology. Illustrated with examples from around the world, from the earliest art from hundreds of thousands of years ago, to the contemporary art scene, including street art and advertising, Janik cogently argues that the human capacity for art, which we share with our most ancient ancestors and cousins, is rooted in our common neurophysiology. The ways in which our brains allow us to see is a common heritage that shapes the creative process; what changes, according to time and place, are the cultural contexts in which art is produced and consumed. The book argues for an innovative understanding of art through the interplay between the way the human brain works and the culturally specific creation and interpretation of meaning, making an important contribution to the debate on art/archaeology.

Burma

Burma
Author: Alexandra Green
Publisher:
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2002
Genre: Art
ISBN:

The papers in this volume aim to contribute towards the redress of the neglect of the study of Burma's cultural history. Topics covered include prehistory, architecture, the cult of the nats, lacquer, illustrated manuscripts, mural paintings, sculpture and textiles.

Physical Techniques in the Study of Art, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Physical Techniques in the Study of Art, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2006-05-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080461867

The first of its kind, this series is devoted to the use of physical principles in the study and scientific conservation of objects with cultural heritage significance. It begins with a review of the modern museum, which discusses new techniques employed in the conservation of museum artifacts such as X-ray tomography and other techniques used to study Egyptian mummies, bones and mineralization of bones in the archaeological context, and the degradation of parchment. All of these topics and techniques are essential for the preservation of our history. This includes finding ways to preserve parchment documents and letters, which much of our written heritage is documented on, so that it can be used and understood for generations to come. This book is a must have for any museum as well as any university that teaches or employs the techniques discussed. - Written in a style that is readily understandable by conservation scientists, archaeologists, museum curators, and students - Provides an introduction to the advanced fields of synchrotron radiation science, neutron science, and computed tomography - Outstanding review of the use of modern technology to study museum and archaeological artifacts - Offers solutions through advanced scientific techniques to a wide range of problems facing museum staff

Art and Archaeology

Art and Archaeology
Author: Ian Alden Russell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2013-11-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1461489903

This volume presents a collection of interdisciplinary collaborations between contemporary art, heritage, anthropological, and archaeological practitioners. Departing from the proceedings of the Sixth World Archaeological Congress’s ‘Archaeologies of Art’ theme and Ábhar agus Meon exhibitions, it includes papers by seminal figures as well as experimental work by those who are exploring the application of artistic methods and theory to the practice of archaeology. Art and archaeology: collaborations, conversations, criticisms encourages the creative interplay of various approaches to ‘art’ and ‘archaeology’ so these new modes of expression can contribute to how we understand the world. Established topics such as cave art, monumental architecture and land art will be discussed alongside contemporary video art, performance art and relational arts practices. Here, the parallel roles of artists as makers of new worlds and archaeologists as makers of pasts worlds are brought together to understand the influences of human creativity.

Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome Vol 1

Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome Vol 1
Author: David Soren
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2009-01-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781936168514

Classical archaeology was long equated to ancient art history. Today these fields find themselves at a major crossroads. The influence on them--from the discipline of anthropology--has increased substantially in the past 15 years, adding to the ways in which scholars can study the Roman past. The classical archaeologist of the 21st century is likely to be versed in Greek and Latin, computer technology, ancient history, great monuments, various hard sciences such as physics or even astronomy, GPS, GIS, surveying, mapping, digitizing, artistic rendering, numismatics, geo-science, astronomy, environmental studies, material culture analysis and/or a host of other disciplines and sub-disciplines.Universities are seeking specialists whose talents embrace not one but several different fields of research. It is not necessary for each scholar to know everything about each discipline being used within the fields of art history, classical archaeology and anthropology, but these days a basic knowledge of all relevant disciplines is becoming indispensable. This book will layout the basic information and steps necessary to take the beginning archaeologist's search for knowledge of the past and lead them to adventures of the future.

The Way of the Shovel

The Way of the Shovel
Author: Dieter Roelstraete
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Antiquities in art
ISBN: 9780226094120

Catalog for the exhibition held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago from November 9, 2013-March 9, 2014.

Breaking the Surface

Breaking the Surface
Author: Douglass Whitfield Bailey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2018
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0190611871

In Breaking the Surface, Doug Bailey offers a radical alternative for understanding Neolithic houses, providing much-needed insight not just into prehistoric practice, but into another way of doing archaeology. Using his years of fieldwork experience excavating the early Neolithic pit-houses of southeastern Europe, Bailey exposes and elucidates a previously under-theorized aspect of prehistoric pit construction: the actions and consequences of digging defined as breaking the surface of the ground. Breaking the Surface works through the consequences of this redefinition in order to redirect scholarship on the excavation and interpretation of pit-houses in Neolithic Europe, offering detailed critiques of current interpretations of these earliest European architectural constructions. The work of the book is performed by juxtaposing richly detailed discussions of archaeological sites (Etton and The Wilsford Shaft in the UK, and Magura in Romania), with the work of three artists-who-cut (Ron Athey, Gordon Matta-Clark, Lucio Fontana), with deep and detailed examinations of the philosophy of holes, the perceptual psychology of shapes, and the linguistic anthropology of cutting and breaking words, as well as with cultural diversity in framing spatial reference and through an examination of pre-modern ungrounded ways of living. Breaking the Surface is as much a creative act on its own-in its mixture of work from disparate periods and regions, its use of radical text interruption, and its juxtaposition of text and imagery-as it is an interpretive statement about prehistoric architecture. Unflinching and exhilarating, it is a major development in the growing subdiscipline of art/archaeology.