A Consideration of Gender Roles and Relations in the aegean Bronze Age Interpreted from Gestures and Proxemics in Art

by: Poole, S.E.

Price: 59,00 EURO

1 copy in stock

Description
This monograph analyses human figures that appear in Aegean Bronze Age art, considering the roles and relations between genders, and interpreting differential status or power implications. Susan E. Poole studies a comprehensive range of figures that appear on wall paintings, glyptics (seals, seal impressions and finger rings), and some three-dimensional objects. The gestures and postures displayed in the body language are examined, together with placements and orientations between the figures. The author considers the way figures occupy their surrounding space, possible gender distinct activities, the seating of figures, and processions. A structural iconographic method is used to interpret the material, together with ethological, sociological and linguistic approaches, and a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis is applied. The research includes a rich corpus of images from a wide range of sources to illustrate observations.

AUTHOR
Susan Poole was awarded her PhD and MA (Distinction) in Archaeology from University College London for her analysis of human figures in Aegean art. She has a BA in Philosophy, a Diploma in Classics, and an MA in Fine Art. Susan is also an award-winning artist of international standing: www.susanpoole.co.uk

REVIEW
?Poole has made very good sense of this body of material, achieving genuinely new insights.? Professor John Bennet, University of Sheffield

Contents
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................................... ix
List of Tables................................................................................................................................................................... xvii
Abstract .........................................................................................................................................................................xviii
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Outline of Investigation................................................................................................................................................... 1
The Aegean Context........................................................................................................................................................ 2
Identifying Images in the Text ........................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Relevant Previous Research........................................................................................................................................ 13
Gesture in the Aegean .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Figurines................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Gestures of Ecstasy?................................................................................................................................................. 13
Glyptics ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Frescoes......................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Gender Identification................................................................................................................................................ 18
Binary Divisions of Gender?.................................................................................................................................... 21
The ?Mother Goddess? Influence.............................................................................................................................. 24
Assignment of ?Traditional? Activities to Males and Females...................................................................................... 27
Gender Segregation? ................................................................................................................................................ 27
Plant-Gathering as Status-Imbued?.......................................................................................................................... 28
The Link Between Females and Child-Care ............................................................................................................ 29
Textile Production .................................................................................................................................................... 31
The ?Domestic? Context ........................................................................................................................................... 33
Male-Focused Perspective........................................................................................................................................ 35
Age and Gender ....................................................................................................................................................... 36
Some Concluding Observations.................................................................................................................................... 39
3. A Theoretical Framework for Analysis...................................................................................................................... 41
The Relationship Between Image, Subject and Viewer................................................................................................ 41
Image as Sign ........................................................................................................................................................... 41
The Importance of the Human Image....................................................................................................................... 41
The Audience............................................................................................................................................................ 42
Was there a Different Prehistoric Understanding of Perception?............................................................................. 42
Which Gender did the Viewing? Can We Know and does it Matter? ..................................................................... 43
Image as Metaphor ....................................................................................................................................................... 44
Gesture, Art and Iconography ...................................................................................................................................... 45
What Gesture and Proxemics Might Mean Outside the Image..................................................................................... 48
The Ethological Model............................................................................................................................................. 49
The Sociological Model ........................................................................................................................................... 51
The Linguistic Model............................................................................................................................................... 52
The Importance of Gestural Behaviour and Proxemics as Status Indicators in Orientation,
Ceremony and Ritual, and Spatial Behaviour.......................................................................................................... 54
4. A Methodology and the Material Examined.............................................................................................................. 59
How Gender will be Understood and Interpreted ........................................................................................................ 59
A Grounded Theory Approach ...................................................................................................................................... 59
The Structural-Iconographic Framework for Analysis ................................................................................................. 60
Technical, Crafting, Stylistic, and Material Considerations ......................................................................................... 64
The Material Analysed .................................................................................................................................................. 65
The Frescoes............................................................................................................................................................. 66
The Glyptics............................................................................................................................................................. 68
Three-Dimensional Miscellaneous Artefacts........................................................................................................... 72
Supplementary Material Including Figurines........................................................................................................... 74
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viii
Gender Roles and Relations Interpreted from Aegean Bronze Age Art
Past And Present Problems with the Evidence.............................................................................................................. 75
General ..................................................................................................................................................................... 75
Misleading Reconstructions of the Material ............................................................................................................ 75
Misleading Drawings .............................................................................................................................................. 75
Gender Attributes Identified.......................................................................................................................................... 80
The Issue of Skin Colour.......................................................................................................................................... 84
5. Are There Gender-Distinct Activities? ....................................................................................................................... 85
Objects Held as Indicative of Perceived Social Roles ................................................................................................. 85
Objects and Inter-Personal Relationships ..................................................................................................................... 96
6. The Ways Bodies Occupy Their Surrounding Space ............................................................................................. 101
Contained or Expanding Body Shapes Within the Picture Frame: Are There Gender Differences? .......................... 101
?Uncontrolled? Postures: Are These Gender Specific?................................................................................................ 107
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................... 110
7. In What Ways Do Figures Orientate Towards Each Other? .................................................................................113
Preliminary Considerations......................................................................................................................................... 113
Some Basic Assumptions............................................................................................................................................ 113
Male-to-Male Orientation .......................................................................................................................................... 114
Female-to-Female Orientation ................................................................................................................................... 119
Mixed Gender Orientation ......................................................................................................................................... 125
Females More Dominant........................................................................................................................................ 127
Neither Gender Dominant ...................................................................................................................................... 127
Mutual Orientation or Males Dominating? ............................................................................................................ 128
Some Concluding Observations about Orientation..................................................................................................... 133
8. Can the Seating of Figures Reveal Anything About Gender Status?.................................................................... 135
The Approach.............................................................................................................................................................. 135
The Artefacts Analysed ............................................................................................................................................... 135
Where and When These Seated Figures were Viewed................................................................................................ 135
Gender of Figures Identified ....................................................................................................................................... 137
Kinds of Seating Used................................................................................................................................................. 139
Special Chairs.............................................................................................................................................................. 142
Other People in Relation to the Seated Figure............................................................................................................ 144
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................... 152
9. What Might an Examination of Processions Reveal?............................................................................................. 153
The Nature of Processions.......................................................................................................................................... 153
Elements Identifiable in Processions........................................................................................................................... 153
Gender Distinctions..................................................................................................................................................... 160
Female-only Processions........................................................................................................................................ 160
Mixed Gender Processions..................................................................................................................................... 166
Some Concluding Observations.................................................................................................................................. 170
10. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 173
References....................................................................................................................................................................... 177
Appendices I, II and III, additional tables and illustration of Part II are available as an accompanying download

A Consideration of Gender Roles and Relations in the aegean Bronze Age Interpreted from Gestures and Proxemics in Art

by: Poole, S.E.

• ISBN-13: 9781407354286 / 978-1-4073-5428-6
• ISBN-03: 1407354280 / 1-4073-5428-0
• Bar Publishing, Oxford, 2020

Price: 59,00 EURO

1 copy in stock