Elizabeth Le Bon Phd Thesis
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IMAGES OUT OF WATER : ASPECTS OF THE INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT MARITIME GRAFITTI Elizabeth Le Bon A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 1997 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/7296 This item is protected by original copyright Images out of Water: Aspects of the Interpretation of Ancient Maritime Graffiti. Elizabeth A. Ie Bon A Thesis Submitted to the University of St Andrews for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. February 1997. , \\'r;SJ::-'H~~ vi?>, O '" /:1'~ .', v 7' 'T.r;'"u \ "'rr \':,~"r/" '/'J .. /. J "';,.':,',I:;/' --\ ') -;<) /' 1> v/ / ' 11"'\ / Q> •.•. 'r):L.LJ")~,, S"/' <'JNDREp:j:i~',._-,--_..- ./ Abstract Pictorial graffiti representing ships from prehistory, protohistory and the early medieval period are frequently examined by nautical historians and archaeologists seeking information about ancient ship technology. Examples of the academic discussion and interpretation of these images may be found from the nineteenth century to the present day, in a wide range of studies. Many of these works reflect their writers' casual, even disdainful attitudes to ancient graffiti. This may be seen in their approach to the information which these images appear to contain, which may concentrate, for example, on the certain aspects of particular subjects without reference to details in their immediate or wider contexts, which may have a bearing on the images' form and meaning. In a similar vein, other writers have interpreted ancient ship graffiti using concepts of art, such as the assumption of realism of depiction, which may be inappropriate to some early visual imagery. This thesis argues that ancient ship graffiti need a more detailed and systematic interpretation as both art and artefact before their contribution to nautical history may be more reliably evaluated. In order to explore the many challenges which these graffiti offer, a multi-disciplinary approach is used, to consider aspects of the relationship between formal art and graffiti, the psychology of image making, symbolism, the philosophy of interpretation, archaeology, and the social meaning of physical context. Following these theoretical discussions, five case studies from a number of different regional and chronological groups have been chosen to provide some examples of many of the issues which were considered. It is hoped that this study demonstrates that an approach to the interpretation of ancient ship graffiti which avoids a narrow concentration on nautical technology may reveal more of their potential as evidence, not only for the form and use of early ships, but also for other aspects of life in the past. 11 Declarations I, Q\~~~. n't':-\q~ , hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately :1~. \~ ..... words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. date .f~ : . iJ. : . q7 '" signature of candidate .. I was admitted as a research student in. ~.~ : ..\c:\qO ....... and as a candidate for the degree of...~~);>.......... in .... ~~ .. \~~~ ............ ; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between .. tq':l \ ........... and .... l'l.cr.1 ............ date. If.:a. :.Q.1... signature of candidate ... I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of .. .f.I:! ..D. ...... .. .. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. date .. JL:t /.1r../ l1.7 .. .. signature of supervisor. In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker. date .l0f:.?... ~ q . 1 ...... signature of candidate iii Acknowledgements It is a pleasure to thank the people who have helped me to research and produce this thesis, and who offered their moral support and encouragement along the way. In particular, I wish to thank my supervisors, Dr Ian Morrison of Edinburgh University and Martin Dean of the Archaeological Diving Unit, St Andrews University, for their enthusiasm, hard work and many kindnesses as the project progressed. In St Andrews, members of the Archaeological Diving Unit were an inexhaustable source of advice, information, support and good humour, and lowe Ian Oxley, Steve Liscoe, Duncan Simpson, Ben Ferrari, and Kit Watson a great deal. Their determination in dragging me kicking and screaming into the finer points of word processing was especially useful. I would also like to thank Jim Bews for his assistance with computing problems. At the University Library, Mrs Gascoigne and Martin Barkla were very helpful in locating elusive material for me. A number of fellow postgraduates in St Leonard's College, Ruth Baines, Patricia de Montfort, and Elin Bjarnidottir debated some problems with me and shed light on them from different angles. A generous grant from the Russell Trust enabled me to travel to Ireland in 1993 to examine some early ship graffiti at first hand. The multi-disciplinary nature of this study took me to a number of different university departments. Dr Dave Perrett of the Department of Psychology, Professor Martin Kemp and Mrs Rosemary Muir Wright of the Art History Department, Dr Roy MacGregor of the Geology Department, Dr Colin Martin of the Department of Scottish History, Dr Jim Martin of St Mary's College, Dr Barbara Crawford of the Department of Medieval History, and Dr Li Xiao Chang, academic visitor to Britain, were both generous with their time and endlessly patient with my questions and theories. Also in St Andrews, Fr Brian Halloran drew my attention to an important paper. In Edinburgh, Dr Anna Ritchie gave valuable advice on a difficult problem, as did Dr IV Graham Ritchie, Ian Fisher, and Lesley Ferguson of the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland. I am indebted to the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh for letting me examine their collection of Simpson papers, and to their librarians for their assistance. Dr Nick Dixon of the Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology also provided me with some useful insights. Further afield, Professor Jan Deregowski of Aberdeen University, Professor Ingvild 0ye of the University of Bergen, Norway, Ole Crumlin-Pedersen of the Centre for Maritme Archaeology, Roskilde, Denmark, Arne Emil Christensen of the Oslo Museum, Norway, and Professor Mathilde Macagno of Iowa University, and Katherine Forsyth of Harvard University in the United States answered questions and read drafts of chapters, making interesting and constructive comments. On a personal note, Frances Martin, Caroline Campbell, Mark Bredin, and Nora Bartlett took me out to coffee, cheered me up, talked me down, and bailed me out more times than I can remember. Audrey Fraser made an invaluable contribution in helping with childcare. My children, Alex, Rosie, Nick, and Fifi have put up with a more than usually irritable and distracted mother with remarkable fortitude. I would particularily like to thank Rosie for uncomplainingly balancing on my shoulders to do a one-to-one tracing of a ship graffito in Ireland ( in a rainstorm ). Above all, however, I am indebted to my husband, David Cole-Hamilton, for his patience, support, and optimism at all stages in my work. Without his help, this thesis would not have been completed. List of Chapters Page Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Art and Graffiti: Investigating some problems and relationships 14 2 Symbolism, metaphor, and some practical issues 38 3 More practical problems 60 4 Context and meaning 91 5 Graffiti and cognitive life 102 6 The Bryggen artefact 136 7 The Oseberg graffito 179 8 Art and artefact: The Enkomi ship graffito, and the Tarxien and 203 Dramesi graffiti 9 The Jonathan's cave boat carving: a problem of contexts 238 10 Conclusions 265 Bibliography 295 Bibliography: Appendix I 316 vi List of Figures Page Figure 1.1 Interpretive sketch of the Collophon Drawing of the Book of 17 Mulling by Virginia Greene. Nees 1980. 1.2 The Cairndow graffito. Interpretive drawing Ie Bon 1996. 22 1.3 Prehistoric Iberian images; two of which (a and b ) may be 24 interpreted as boats. Johnstone 1980. 1.4 Examples of ships shown using frontal and plan views. (a) 26 Blindheim 1985 (b) De Graeve 1981. 1.5 Prehistoric carving with "boatlike" characteristics. Marshack 27 1972. 1.6 "Navicular" forms, described by Lewis-Williams 1995. 29 Figure 2.1 The "Europa", Basch 1987. 46 2.2 The ship graffito on the reverse of the Bryggen artefact. Herteig 54 1985. 2.3 The Karlby graffito, drawn by Karasch. Rieck and Crumlin- 58 Pedersen 1988. 2.4 Photograph of the Karlby graffito. Mortensen and Rasmussen 59 1991. Figure 3.1 Interpretive drawing of the Jerusalem ship graffito, from 63 photographs taken at the time of its discovery. Gibson and Taylor 1994. 3.2 Interpretive drawing of the Jerusalem ship graffito showing red 64 and black sections. Gibson and Taylor 1994. vii Page Figure 3.3 Photograph of the Jerusalem ship graffito after cleaning. Z. 68 Radovan 1975, published by Gibson and Taylor 1994. 3.4 Sketch of the cleaned ship graffito by Shimon Gibson 1975, 69 published by Gibson and Taylor 1994.