A Sample Study of Predynastic Animal Depictions on Palettes and D-Ware Pottery
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Department of Archaeology and Ancient History A palette of cultural traces - A sample study of Predynastic animal depictions on palettes and D-ware pottery Linus Åkerman-Engström C-dissertation 15 hp in archaeology Spring term 2018 Supervisor: Angus Graham Campus Engelska parken 1 Abstract Åkerman-Engström, L. 2018. A palette of cultural traces - A sample study of Predynastic animal depictions on and D-ware pottery. There are no written sources are available from the Predynastic period, but an array of art decorated artefacts has been found. This essay will take a closer look at one type of these artefact; the animal shaped stone palette to see what art of this artefact can tell us about the culture that made them. I will do so by looking at the animal depictions found on the palettes, to allow comparison I will include D-wear, a decorated Predynastic pottery type. I have put together two data sets for the respective artefact that forms the base for this study. My theoretical perspective is that the art depictions of artefact as traces of the culture that made them. The palettes show a variety of patterns that can be seen as such traces in which type of animals are most common, how the animals can be connected by habitat and which animal depiction gets decorated features. My look at the D-ware data set is only brief but shows that animals are quite rare on the pottery and includes only three different kinds of animals. These still correlates with the animal palettes by both artefacts having birds as the most common. The bovids has an almost equal occurrence on the palettes and D-ware in my data sets. Other than this the animal depictions differ notably between the two artefacts. As the traces of culture does not provide any details, this study has given new questions that can be studied further in greater depth. Keywords: Predynastic Period, Egypt, Palettes, D-ware pottery, art, Naqada C-dissertation in Archaeology 15 hp. Supervisor: Angus Graham. Reviewed 2018.5.24 and graded 2018.6.7. Cover: Turtle palette EA20910. British Museum. © Linus Åkerman-Engström Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Uppsala, Sweden 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my excellent supervisor Angus Graham, without his input and help this dissertation would not have come to be. I also wish to thank Michael Lindblom, who helped me set out the direction for this project at an early stage. My thanks as well to my good friend David for his support. 3 4 Table of Contents 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 7. 1.1. Research purpose........................................................................................................... 7. 1.2. Research question.......................................................................................................... 7. 1.3. Theory........................................................................................................................... 8. 1.4. Method.......................................................................................................................... 9. 1.5. Research history.......................................................................................................... 10. 1.5.1. Dating and chronology........................................................................................ 10. 1.5.2. Egypt during the Predynastic Period................................................................... 11. 1.5.3. D-ware pottery and Palettes................................................................................ 12. 1.5.4. Early Predynastic excavations in Egypt.............................................................. 14. 2. Analysis.............................................................................................................................. 15. 2.1. Palette data set............................................................................................................. 15. 2.1.1. Interpretations of Palettes.................................................................................... 20. 2.2. D-ware data set............................................................................................................ 23. 2.2.1. Interpretations of D-ware.................................................................................... 24. 2.3 Palette and D-ware comparison.................................................................................... 26. 3. Compilation and conclusion............................................................................................... 26. 4. Bibliography....................................................................................................................... 28. 5. Illustration index................................................................................................................ 30. 5 6. Appendix 1. Palette types.................................................................................................. 34. 7. Appendix 2. D-ware depictions......................................................................................... 37. 8. Appendix 3. Palette Data set………………………………………………………...…... 40. 9. Appendix 4. D-ware Data set………………………………………………….………… 42. 6 1. Introduction Before the first pharaohs of Egypt descended their throne, there was a long formative period spanning roughly 1000 years, called the Predynastic period. It was then that the cultural elements of the peoples living by the Nile valley started to form the raw material that would eventually build the later dynastic Egyptian culture. There are no written sources from this time, but despite that has much earlier research been done by Egyptology, a discipline that study ancient Egyptian written sources. The continuity between the Predynastic- and the Dynastic periods is uncertain, and such research there of problematic (Midant-Reynes 1992:169; Köhler 2010:26, 36; Patch 2011a:3). The Predynastic period is instead ideal for archaeological research. Archaeology, with its large array of methods is very well suited for studying broader changes over longer period of time and is not limited by the access of written material. Archaeology can also provide a theoretical framework to the research, something witch Willeke Wendrich argues Egyptology, in general terms, has made poor use of. The use of a theoretical framework allows “a clear explanation and division of the knowledge, concepts and assumptions that scholars makes in their interpretation and recreations of the past” as Wendrich puts it (Wendrich 2010:1; Brewer 2012:1-2, 11). 1.1. Research purpose My essay intends to look closer on the art from the Predynastic period by making use method and theory for archaeology. The purpose of this to see what the art of this period can tell us of the culture of the ancient Predynastic Egyptians. What makes this purpose relevant in a larger picture is that much of our knowledge of the time stems from excavations of mostly cemeteries, and to a lesser degree settlement, after their form and compositions (Stevenson & Simpson 1981:26). 1.2. Research Question This essay will study the art found on Predynastic artefacts and how it can help us to understand Predynastic culture. I will look for is more general patterns in the Predynastic art as the lack of text makes a deeper meaning difficult to see. For this, I will use the Predynastic palettes artefacts, see section 1.5.3 for details. My definition of culture is the meaning that these artefacts and their art in the Predynastic society, a definition that is my own. Because of focus on broader patterns, this analysis will also give new questions regarding the observed patterns as they are not very clear of their own. With the palettes I will include D-ware pottery, see section 1.5.3 for details, to make comparison. With this in mind, the questions for this essay can be stated as such: 7 What patterns can be seen in the depictions of animals on the palettes in my data sets and what can they tell about the Predynastic culture? Can any patterns be seen between the animal depiction and the decorations found on palettes? What patterns can be seen in the depictions of animals on D-ware pottery in my data sets and how do they compare to palettes? The first question will identify the patterns of animal depiction and see what they can tell us. The second question adds the decorations that can be found on palettes beside their shape. The third question compares in the animal depictions of the palettes to those found on the D- ware pottery. Altogether, I hope that these questions will be able cover the important aspects of my material. 1.3. Theory As stated earlier, the use of a theoretical framework is an advantage of archaeology. Mine builds on papers written by the British archaeologist Jeremy Tanner and his collaborators Raymond Corbey and Robert Layton. Having a simple theoretical approach might perhaps appear as a bit contradictory given the acclaim I made to archaeological theory in the introduction. However, I think that a theoretical framework does not necessarily have to be of a high abstraction level to be useful and fill its function. I will give a brief insight in Tanner's and his collaborators view the art in the societies studied by archaeology. Tanner and his collaborator names “functions” to define art, it is patterns and objects that have been consciously produced and repeated. This objects and patterns