180-190

Style and prehistoric societies in Mediterranean

Σύμμεικτα

• Μπάνου, Ελένη Σ.

Style, one of the basic artistic concepts and social accomplishments, has been used by archaeologists and art historians as a cultural parameter to achieve mainly two goals: first, to date artifacts by stylistic criteria, when no absolute chronology is available, and second to study social behaviour at a specific time. It is argued in this article that the emphasis on specific repeated artistic forms what mainly constitutes the general character of agiven style i.e. "Minoan style” — might represent social stratification. What possibly determines the physiognomy of a style at large, is the relationship between the patron and the artist on the one hand and the message that the former wants to get transmitted to the public on the other. Therefore, it is believed that the formation and foundation of a particular artistic tendency (i.e. the projection of the royal image) comes as a result of the presence of a centralized absolute authority.Consequently, its absence from the social hierarchy is reflected — as lacking — from the artistic iconography. Style, lastly, could also help us to detect interaction between synchronous cultures and to measure the degree of its influence on the exchanging parts. The interaction between contemporary cultures could be passive or active. In the first case, the transmitted idea or form is fully adopted by the recipient, while the active interaction is a process of emulation itself, in which both parts retain a degree of individuality. The example of the interaction between Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, we believe, illustrates the point. Art and style hold many potentialities that can be used as a “cognitive map” of a prehistoric society in which written texts are rare or lacking.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Προϊστορικές κοινωνίες, Μεσόγειος, Καλλιτεχνική τεχνοτροπία