An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal Communication: A Case Study...
Transcript of An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal Communication: A Case Study...
An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal Communication: A Case Study – The Rosette Motif and Its Association with Solar Symbolism
C h e r y l H a r t
S c h o o l o f A r c h a e o l o g y , H i s t o r y
& A n t h r o p o l o g y
U n i v e r s i t y o f W a l e s T r i n i t y
S a i n t D a v i d , L a m p e t e r , U K
1 | P a g e
An Analysis of the Iconographic Rosette Motif as a Means of Non-Verbal
Communication: A Case Study – The Rosette Motif and its Association with
Solar Symbolism
Abstract
My PhD research, which investigates the prolific use of the rosette motif in the
Near East, Egypt and the Aegean regions during the Bronze and Early Iron
Ages, utilises a multi-disciplinary approach to the visual interpretation of the
motif, encompassing archaeology, art history, anthropology, and even studies
into human perception and cognition, in order to examine the role of this
particular motif from a broad contextual and conceptual background.
The role of art as a visual code of communication has long been examined
(Hoskins 2006:82) with symbols found on material forms being vehicles for the
non-verbal communication of complex ideas to others (Hodder 1987:1-10;
Tilley 2006:7, 2006a:61). Braithwaite (1982: 80), being primarily concerned
with non-verbal systems and their symbolic qualities, states that symbols and
symbol-systems have the capacity not only to express and communicate but,
through their political and ideological dimension, can also be used covertly to
disrupt established relations of dominance. The use of material culture as
symbols of power provides archaeologists with access to the strategic patterns
involved in the creation, maintenance and collapse of power among cultural
groups (Clarke et al 1985:4). In order to justify the interpretation of visual
images it is important to address questions of cultural meaning and power
through a ‘critical visual methodology’ which considers the visual in terms of
cultural significance, social practices and power relations in which it is
embedded (Rose 2007: xiv-xv). Material culture studies owe much to semiotic
theory which views all cultural processes as being those of communication (Eco
1977:8; Thomas 1998:97); semiotic approaches stressing how fundamental
concepts could be visibly encoded in artefacts, objects and art.
Taking the perspective, in my examination and analysis of the rosette motif, to
be that of a means of non-verbal communication, I intend to demonstrate in this
paper, through comparative data derived from the prolific visual depictions of
the rosette, both similarities and differences in its cultural and contextual use
2 | P a g e
within the Near East, Egypt and the Aegean. Through the analysis of this
evidence I aim to further illustrate the potential transfer and transformation of
such visual imagery, and its associated contextual use, with reference to a
specific case study.
Key Words:
Rosette; Solar; Visual Interpretation; Symbolism
Introduction: Theoretical Background to Research
As stated in the abstract, my PhD research examines and analyses the
iconographic role of the rosette motif within the ancient cultures of the Aegean,
the Near East and Egypt during the Fourth to First Millennium BC, utilising a
multi-disciplinary approach to visual interpretation - including archaeology,
anthropology, art history, and even studies in human perception and cognition -
in which signs and symbols are used as a means of non-verbal communication.
Art has long been investigated as a visual code of communication; Panofsky
(1962) having proposed the term ‘iconography’ to describe that branch of the
history and study of visual images that concerns itself with the meaning of
works of art rather than their form. Tilley (1999) has further promoted the
perception of material culture and its associated iconography as a means of non-
verbal communication. Visual dimensions of material culture or art objects have
a cognitive influence due to their decorative or aesthetic immediacy; that is their
immediate effect on the ‘audience’ who view it (Jones 2007: 155). The efficacy
of this process is also determined by the manner in which it is retained in
memory; images being a means of ‘materialising remembrance’ (Jones 2007:
25, 196). In semiotic interpretations of art, the form of the image is particularly
emphasised, with ascription of meaning being based on the interpretation of
images as visual symbols (Jones 2007: 196).
The case study presented in this paper is, thus, only a small part of my research
overall but one which I believe holds particular relevance in respect to the
ultimate ‘message’ being communicated by the rosette motif.
3 | P a g e
Case Study: The Rosette Motif and Solar Symbolism
This paper is the third and final one of a themed series relating to the rosette
motif and its association with solar symbolism; the previous papers having
examined the rosette motif, firstly, in association with its role as a direct
iconographic image of the sun,1 and secondly, from a cosmological perspective,
analysing the use of the rosette in association with mythological aspects of solar
symbolism.2 To bring my analysis of this particular contextual aspect of the
rosette motif to a close, this paper will examine the role of the motif in visual
depictions in which, rather than being itself the solar symbol, it appears in
association with a variety of other images and symbols which are claimed by
various scholars to have solar significance. Although, in these instances, the
rosette is not being used as a solar symbol itself, it may have a wider conceptual
role to play. The paper will not question the validity of previous scholarly
claims for a solar association in respect to the iconographic or mythological
imagery indicated in the discussion, but will focus simply on the incorporation
of the rosette into such depictions.
As indicated in the abstract to this paper, in order to justify the interpretation of
visual images it is important to address questions of cultural meaning and power
through a ‘critical visual methodology’ which considers the visual in terms of
cultural significance, social practices and power relations in which it is
embedded (Rose 2007: xiv-xv). I have shown in previous papers relating to the
rosette and solar symbolism that, although my research into the wider usage of
the rosette indicates that this is not the definitive role or function of the motif, I
believe that this solar aspect may have a significant conceptual relevance to
what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the rosette motif in
its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication. Investigation of this
particular use of the rosette, taken together with its geographic and temporal
longevity in the ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Aegean, will provide
evidence of the cross-cultural association of such a role.
The sun, as a cosmological entity, played a major role in the belief systems of
the Bronze and Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean peoples, generally
relating to an association between the daily transit of the sun through the
1 Proceedings of 9ICAANE, Basel 2014 (forthcoming)
2 Proceedings of Sophia Centre for Cosmology Conference, Bath 2014 (forthcoming)
4 | P a g e
heavens and a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. It has been stated that ‘solar
symbolism carried a significant meaning which was indicated by the contexts
and associations of its appearances’ (Goodison 1989: 1). There is no doubt that
the sun was represented iconographically in various forms. Goodison, having
conducted a survey of Aegean Bronze Age depictions in order to analyse those
iconographic images which symbolised the sun, states that ‘it needs to be
ascertained…what can reasonably be taken as an intentional representation of
the sun’ (Goodison 1989: 1). Further to depictions in which the rosette motif is
used directly as a representation of the sun, there are numerous other examples
in which the rosette is used in iconographic imagery which relate to the
mythological aspect of the sun and, as stated above, visual depictions in which,
rather than being the solar symbol itself, the rosette appears in association with
a variety of other images and symbols which supposedly have solar significance
– in these instances, the use of the rosette possibly suggesting the wider
symbolic nature of the sun in ancient belief systems. Relevant examples include
boat motifs; wheels, particularly ‘turning wheels’, or ‘wheels of fire’; horse
and/or chariot depictions; various animals and marine life – both natural and
supernatural - including bulls, goats, lions, dolphins, fish, birds, and griffins;
plant life; mirrors; and miscellaneous motifs such as swastikas and ‘crossed’ or
concentric circles. This paper will focus on depictions of the rosette motif in
association with boats, wheels, and horses and chariots.
Boat Motifs
As noted above, in ancient belief systems the daily transit of the sun was
thought to have symbolic associations with the journey of the deceased into the
afterlife - the journey of the sun below the horizon being seen as analogous to
the process followed by the dead soul prior to some form of rebirth (Goodison
1989: 38). Some mythological stories parallel such a journey with that of a
journey to the underworld by boat. Boat models are commonly found as grave
goods in the ancient Egyptian mortuary sphere, often adorned with rosettes,
possibly enhancing the solar association. Goodison (1989: 39) states that ‘both
the sun and boat stood as ‘a shorthand’ for the journey ahead of the dead soul’;
or, in other words, from the theoretical perspective applied to my research, the
symbolic aspect of the rosettes in association with boats and the sun acted as a
non-verbal communicative element.
5 | P a g e
Rosettes are also found bordering a boat scene on a fragment from a model
tambourine (Fig.1).
Such tambourines are often associated with Egyptian goddess Hathor who, as a
sky-goddess and daughter of the sun-god, is also known to travel in a solar boat.
Iconographic imagery depicting the goddess also frequently incorporates the
rosette motif, not necessarily as one of her attributes, but as a symbolic motif
commonly featured as an inherent part of such attributes, predominantly the
menat and the sistrum. Furthermore, in statuary of the goddess, rosettes
commonly are depicted on her breasts.
Circular symbols, usually rayed, appear frequently in the field accompanying
boats on Aegean Geometric vases, with possible sun-symbols being closely
associated with boats as far back as the Early Bronze Age (Goodison 1989:
147), various rosette types often seen incorporated into such designs. A
fragment of a Dipylon krater (Louvre A517) depicts a boat in association with
various other solar symbols – such as the birds (Fig.2); the boat prominently
displaying a rosette motif integrated into the prow with further rosette types in
the area around the boat.
Fig. 1: Model Tambourine
MMA, New York Inv. 17.194.2399
Image: http://www.metmuseum.org/
6 | P a g e
Other similar vases are known with further iconographic depictions of the motif
as a recurring constructional element of boats. Although it could be argued that
the rosettes may be simply filling motifs, their frequent occurrence and
prominent positioning makes this questionable, and, furthermore, although I do
not accept them to be ‘simply filling motifs’, even if they were used as such, it
should be questioned why this particular motif was so commonly chosen, given
the vast motival repertoire available.
Goodison (1989: Fig. 296) refers to a fragmentary scene from a krater in the
Louvre Museum which appears to represent the journey of the dead by boat
(Fig. 3); Ahlberg (1971a: 37) stating that the horizontal figures are ‘certainly
corpses’. Several dot rosettes are clearly depicted above the boat.
Fig.2: Fragment of Dipylon Krater
Louvre Inv.A517
Photo © Cheryl Hart
Fig. 3: Line Drawing of Fragmentary Krater (Louvre).
Image: After Goodison 1989: Fig. 296
7 | P a g e
The interpretation of this scene as representing the final journey of the deceased
is one which would be consistent with scenes of departure by boat which were
associated with funerary contexts in the Bronze Age (Goodison 1989: 147). A
similar scene of departure is also depicted on a Geometric oinochoe in
University Museum, Hobart, in which dot-rosettes prominently appear between
the heads of onlookers or mourners on the shore.
A parallel between Egyptian funerary boats and Charon, the Greek ferryman of
the dead, has been drawn by Vermeule (1979: 71-72); however, the Egyptian
mythology of such beliefs can be traced much further back, into the Bronze Age
(Goodison 1989: 149). Furthermore, textual evidence for an association
between boats and the journey of the deceased to the afterlife, and its potential
solar aspect can be seen in the works of Homer which expressed the belief that
the bodies of the deceased, in their journey to the underworld, were carried by
the sea (Goodison 1989: 150). The Iliad (VIII, 561-562; XVIII, 276-277) refers
to the sun sinking into Ocean, whilst the Odyssey associates the sea with ideas
about the journey of the dead (for example, Odyssey XX, 61-65; XI, 10-15).
‘Turning Wheels’ / ‘Wheels of Fire’
Various scholars (for example, Hall 2005: 56-57; Davidson 1969: 174-175;
Stevens 2001: 185; Goff 1963: 160; Goodison 1989: Fig. 127b) have claimed
the wheel to be a ubiquitous symbol with solar associations in the iconography
of the Near East, Egypt and the Aegean; the radial arrangements of spokes
further emphasising the wheel’s solar symbolism (Stevens 2001: 185).
Furthermore, although I don’t particularly agree with such a defined
designation, it has been claimed that the number of spokes supposedly vary by
geographical location of the imagery, with regions of the Near East said to
depict such imagery with 12 spokes – possibly associating them with zodiac
signs; or sometimes 8-spoked examples, which it has been suggested are
possibly linked to 8 petals of lotus flower (Stevens 2001: 185), with Aegean
examples often depicting six spokes. However, the simplest form of solar wheel
had four spokes – possibly linking it to the cardinal points (Stevens 2001: 186)
– quartered or crossed circles themselves also having solar significance,
sometimes being referred to as ‘sun-crosses’ (Hall 2005: 56-57; Kristiansen &
Larsson 2005a: Fig. 132). My wider research indicates that such crossed or
quartered circles are a defined rosette type. They are frequently found in
8 | P a g e
symbolic aspects of ancient cultures, and appear to have been particularly
significant in Bronze and Iron Age belief systems (Hall 2005: 56-57), where
they were thought to have solar associations. A stone column from the fill under
Room 13 of Middle Bronze Age fortress at Tell el-Burak, indicated a cross
motif incised on is upper surface. This motif is commonly found in
Mesopotamia where it is believed to represent the sun-god. It remained in use
until the First Millennium BC in Phoenicia where it was attested on funerary
stela (Sadar & Kamlah 2010: Fig. 17). Such motifs were also identified as ‘sun-
symbols’ by Forsdyke (1925: 194) following his interpretation of iconographic
depictions found on various vessels in the British Museum. Further to these
examples, although moving beyond the geographic and temporal limits of my
own research, mention should perhaps also be made of ‘Quartered Circles’ on
North American Ramey pots (11th
& 12th
Century AD) which are believed to
have had solar associations and further symbolised the ‘order of the cosmos’ via
the cardinal points (Pauketat & Emerson 1991: 927).
A good example of such spoked wheels from the Aegean repertoire can be seen
on a Geometric Dipylon krater (NAM, Athens Inv. 990) from the Kerameikos
Cemetery in Athens (Fig.4). The four-spoked wheels are closely linked to dot
rosettes.
Fig.4: Detail from Dipylon
Krater
NAM, Athens Inv.990
Photo © Cheryl Hart
9 | P a g e
A further example can be seen in a detailed vignette from the coffin of
Amenemipet, a Priest of the sun-god Amun (British Museum EA22941) which
depicts the deceased being transported to the tomb on a wheeled catafalque
(Fig. 5) –the wheels being shown in the form of rosettes.
The scene suggests a symbolic affinity between the rosette motif and the wheel
as an element in the journey of the deceased which is possibly reinforced by the
potential solar aspect –wheels in particular having solar connotations. As
mentioned, this coffin is that of a priest of a major Egyptian sun-god – an aspect
which may be further emphasised by the funerary context in which the scene is
depicted – the daily transit of the sun through the heavens being associated with
a cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Egyptian belief systems. Furthermore,
looking in detail at the front of the catafalque, it can be seen that the tow-rope
used to drag the vehicle is actually tied to the prow of a boat which is being
transported on it; thus linking back to the boat symbolism discussed above. A
similar scene is also depicted on the coffin of Djedmonthuiufankh in
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden; the wheels of the catafalque transporting
the funerary boat again being in the form of rosettes (Fig.6).
Fig.5: Detail from Coffin of Amenemipet, a Priest of
the sun-god Amun
British Museum Inv. EA22941
Photo © Cheryl Hart
10 | P a g e
In some ancient cultures the wheel had a greater cosmological significance with
the hub being perceived as the centre of the cosmic sphere and the place where
celestial power was concentrated (Stevens 2001: 186). On a relief from the
Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (Louvre Inv. AO19904) the hub of the wheel
can be seen to be in the form of a rosette (Fig.7).
Fig.6: Detail from Coffin of Djedmonthuiufankh in
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.
Photograph © Cheryl Hart.
Fig.7: Detail from Wall Relief from the
Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
Louvre Inv. AO19904
Photo © Cheryl Hart
11 | P a g e
The transitory courses of the sun through the heavens are said to be symbolised
by turning wheels of fire, with evidence from visual imagery suggesting that the
passage of the sun across the heavens in a chariot, a point which will be
discussed further below, was a universal theme or pattern amongst early
cultures, including those of the Mediterranean (Davidson 1969: 174); Goodison
(1989: 89) suggesting that ritual use of fire may have paralleled solar
symbolism in the Aegean. The wheel of fire supposedly came into its own at the
times of the solstices – even today, events take place with wheels of fire in some
areas, such rituals supposedly being carried out to ensure that the sun will return
(Stevens 2001: 186-187).
Davidson states that, in his view, the turning wheel became a ‘kind of shorthand
sign’- again the idea of ‘shorthand’ as I mentioned earlier reinforcing the
theoretical perspective relating to non-verbal communication which underpins
my research. Contextual evidence surrounding symbolic aspects of the turning
wheel - a symbol which can be traced through millennia - suggests an
association with both life and death. Such symbolism was later incorporated
into that of the Christian church, still associated with creative power and light,
and can be seen in early churches in the Mediterranean area (Davidson 1969:
174-176).
Horse and/or Chariot Depictions
Following on from the association of boats and wheels with solar symbolism,
evidence from visual imagery suggests that the passage of the sun across the
heavens in a chariot was a universal theme in many ancient cultures (Davidson
1969: 174-175). It is interesting that, in a painting by19th
Century artist Walter
Crane, he has used a rosette motif as the hub of the chariot wheel – a symbolic
aspect which I referred to earlier. The introduction of spoked chariot wheels in
the Middle Bronze Age appears to have been associated with prestige; possibly
replacing the earlier concept of a solar boat with the more ‘modern’ and
technologically advanced solar chariot (Hall 2005: 56-57). Goodison (1989:
151) suggested that in the Late Bronze Age Aegean the horse and chariot
partially replaced the boat as the vehicle or form in which the sun was thought
to travel - note also being made of the association of horse and chariot with
12 | P a g e
funerary practices and ideas. Substantial evidence from the early Iron Age
suggests a continuation of these associations.
The Geometric Krater (NAM, Athens Inv. 990), referred to above, from the
Kerameikos in Athens, clearly shows representations of horses and chariots in
association with funeral processions or scenes of mourning. As mentioned
above the depiction of such a scene incorporates rosette motifs alongside both
the horse and chariot in the funerary procession and the mourners (Fig. 8).
Benson (1970: 22) suggests, on a basic level, that the association between the
horse and death was a sign of status, such animals representing honour for the
deceased. While many of those buried with vessels depicting such processions
may have lacked the resources to finance such a lavish display at their funeral,
the illustrated vessels could well have intentionally acted to confer nobility
upon the deceased (Goodison 1989: 152). However, Benson (1970: 24-25) also
recognises that there is a possibility that the horse had a role as transporter of
the dead to the afterlife. He points out that the type of chariot used in the Late
Bronze Age reappears on the Dipylon vases, suggesting that the knowledge of
the funerary associations of the horse in the Bronze Age had not vanished from
the Greek world. This is further exemplified by the vast numbers of vessels
found in funerary contexts, many again from the Kerameikos, which incorporate
horse figurines and also prominently feature rosette motifs (for example,
Kerameikos Museum, Athens from Burial TVDAK-1 and T89-V). It may be
Fig.8: Details from Dipylon Krater
NAM, Athens Inv.990
Photo © Cheryl Hart
13 | P a g e
interesting to note that female burial TVDAK-1 contained quite a number of
these types of vessels with horse and rosette imagery (Fig.9).
Furthermore, the suggestion that the horse was thought appropriate for transport
in the afterlife also receives some validation from the practice of burying horses
with the dead; a practice which was known in the Late Bronze Age in several of
the Eastern Mediterranean cultures (Goodison 1989: 152). A horse burial from
the Royal Tombs at Salamis still bore evidence of the trappings with which the
horse had been adorned, prominently featuring large rosette motifs. It is
important here that the rosettes from the horse trappings should not be confused
with semi-circular decorative elements from the chariot fittings found at the site.
Goodison (1989: 110) states that in the Geometric Period the sun was visualised
as a male charioteer. A kantharos – again found in a grave at the Kerameikos
(T28-V) – depicts a groomsman or possible charioteer in association with
rosette motifs of dot-type (Fig. 10), the potential solar significance of such a
depiction being further emphasised by the addition of the swastika motifs which
are also claimed to be familiar solar symbols in the Aegean, and frequently
depicted in association with rosettes (Goodison 1989: Fig. 306; Richer 1994:
xxxiii).
Fig.9: Pyxis from Female Burial TVDAK-1,
Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens
Kerameikos Museum, Athens
Photo © Cheryl Hart
14 | P a g e
In conclusion, I have indicated in this paper the widespread use of the rosette
motif in association with solar symbols in the cultures of the Near East, Egypt
and the Aegean during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Clear evidence of
interconnections between the Eastern Mediterranean cultures, taken together
with the close similarities in iconographic motival type and contextual usage,
strongly suggest, in my opinion, that the rosette motif was transferred between,
and assimilated into, these cultures; receptivity for such transference being
accepted due to the role played by the sun, as a cosmological entity, in the belief
systems of the Eastern Mediterranean peoples.
Marinatos (2010: 139) states that these cultures were interconnected on a
semiotic level, and that, in respect to the rosette motif as a solar symbol ‘there
can be little doubt that we have here a symbolic visual language common to
Crete, Egypt and the Syro-Levantine area (Marinatos 2010: 134). However, as I
have indicated throughout this paper (and others) my research into the wider
usage of the rosette indicates that solar symbolism is not the definitive role or
function of the motif, but rather that it may have a significant conceptual
relevance to what I perceive as the far more complex issue surrounding the
rosette motif in its role as a vehicle for non-verbal communication; that is, in
respect to the ultimate ‘message’ being communicated by the rosette motif.
Fig.10: Kantharos from Burial T28-V
Kerameikos Cemetery, Athens
Kerameikos Museum, Athens
Photo © Cheryl Hart
15 | P a g e
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Organising Committee of ‘Crossroads II, or There and
Back Again’ for the opportunity to present this paper at the conference in
Prague.
Cheryl Hart
School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology
University of Wales Trinity Saint David
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales, UK
References
Ahlberg, G.
1971a Fighting on Land and Sea in Greek Geometric Art. Stockholm: Svenska
Institutet i Athen.
Benson, J.L.
1970 Horse, Bird and Man: The Origins of Greek Painting. Amherst:
University of Massachusetts Press.
Braithwaite, M.
1982 “Decoration as Ritual Symbol: A Theoretical Proposal and an
Ethnographic Study in Southern Sudan.” In Symbolic and Structural
Archaeology, edited by I. Hodder, 80-88. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Clarke, D.V. - Cowie, T.G. - Foxon, A.
1985 Symbols of Power. Edinburgh: National Museum of Antiquities of
Scotland.
Davidson, H.R.E.
16 | P a g e
1969 “The Chariot of the Sun,” Folklore 80/3, 174-180.
Eco, U.
1977 A Theory of Semiotics. London & Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd.
Forsdyke, E.J.
1925 Catalogue of Greek & Etruscan Vases in the British Museum. Volume I,
Part I: Prehistorical Aegean Pottery. London: British Museum.
Goff, B.L.
1963 Symbols of Prehistoric Mesopotamia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Goodison, L.
1989 Death, Women and the Sun. Symbolism of Regeneration in Early Aegean
Religion. London: Institute of Classical Studies, University of London.
Hall, A.S.
2005 A Glossary of Important Symbols in their Hebrew, Pagan and Christian
Forms. New York: Cosimo.
Hodder, I.
1987 “Contextual Analysis of Symbolic Meanings.” In The Archaeology of
Contextual Meanings, edited by I. Hodder, 1-10. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Hoskins, J.
2006 “Agency, Biography and Objects.” In Handbook of Material Culture,
edited by C. Tilley, W. Keane, S. Küchler, M. Rowlands & P. Spyer, 74-84.
London: Sage Publications.
Jones, A.
2007 Memory and Material Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kristiansen, K. - Larsson, T.B.
2005a “The Cosmological Structure of Bronze Age Society.” In The Rise of
Bronze Age Society. Travels, Transmissions, and Transformations, edited by K.
Kristiansen & T.B. Larsson, 251-319. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17 | P a g e
Marinatos, N.
2010 Minoan Kingship and the Solar Goddess. A Near Eastern Koine. Urbana,
Chicago & Springfield: University of Illinois Press.
Panofsky, E.
1962 Studies in Iconology. New York: Icon Editions, Harper & Row.
Pauketat, T.R. - Emerson, T.E.
1991 “The Ideology of Authority and the Power of the Pot.” American
Anthropologist 93/4, 919-941.
Richer, J.
1994 (Trans. C. Rhone). Sacred Geography of the Ancient Greeks. Astrological
Symbolism in Art, Architecture and Landscape. Albany: State University of
New York Press.
Rose, G.
2007 Visual Methodologies. An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual
Materials. London: Sage Publications Ltd (Second Edition).
Sadar, H. - Kamlah, J.
2010 “Tell el-Burak: A New Middle Bronze Age Site from Lebanon.” Near
Eastern Archaeology 73/2-3, 130-141.
Stevens, A.
2001 Ariadne’s Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
Thomas, J.
1998 “The Socio-Semiotics of Material Culture. Review Article.” Journal of
Material Culture 3 (1), 97-108.
Tilley, C.
1999 Metaphor and Material Culture. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
18 | P a g e
2006 “Theoretical Perspectives: Introduction.” In Handbook of Material
Culture, edited by C. Tilley, W. Keane, S. Küchler, M. Rowlands & P. Spyer, 7-
11. London: Sage Publications.
2006a “Objectification.” In Handbook of Material Culture, edited by C. Tilley,
W. Keane, S. Küchler, M. Rowlands & P. Spyer, 60-73. London: Sage
Publications.
Vermeule, E.
1979 Aspects of Death in Early Greek Art and Poetry. Berkeley & Los Angeles:
University of California Press.