DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15680#0201
B.—SlGNIFICANCE OF THE POTTERY MARKS.
In considering the signs on the Melian pottery we have to deal wil Ii
four possible categories:—simple marks as of the owner, signs belonging to
adefinite Script, religious Symbols, and signs denoting numbers. As the signs
as a rule appear in an isolated position it is not often easy to say to which of
these categories an individual example may belong, but it is probable that
in the majority of cases we have to deal with owners' marks.
The adoption of some simj)le geometrical combination of lines as a
mark of owncrship is of course a very widespread practice and it is well
illustrated on the prehistoric pottery of Egypt. Such signs however, are
often in their origin not mere arbiträr}" combinations of lines but very rude
delineations of objects—such as a child makes on a slate. These linesketches
no doubt often represented an object that stood in some near relation
to the individual, such as a totem. In this way a kind of common stock
of figures of simple geometrical aspect might grow up, from which it became
natural to make selections. Certain types might acquire a traditional
vogue in connexion with a sjiecial employment. There was for instance both
in Egypt and in Minoau Crete a repertory of marks used for inlays in
porcelain, ivory and other materials which must have becn handed down
b}' guilds of craftsmen. So too other signs, such as the cross, the asterisk,
and the swastika acquired a symbolic religious value. The survival of
these groups of marks or signs of geometrical form is of great importance
as supplying a formative influence on later alphabetic development. Where
special names were attached to them they may actually have becn accepted
as signs in definite Systems of Script.
The most abundant class of signs represented in the Melian pottery
must probably be regarded as mere personal marks, the figures being formet!
of simple conjunctions of lines varied at will (see Fig. 152). In other cases
we find a somewhat more elaborate outline, the pictorial original of
which may at times be inferred. The double axe which belongs to this
category has certainlj' a religious signification. Finally a certain number of
the Melian signs recur in the Cnossian Linear Script. The numeral signs
also, so far as the}- go, correspond with one or other of the Cretan Systems.
The signs may thus be grouped under the following categories:
(1) Geometrical marks, either traditional or of arbitrary origin.
(2) Pictographic signs.
(3) Signs identical with those of the Cnossian linear Script.
(4) Numbers.
In considering the signs on the Melian pottery we have to deal wil Ii
four possible categories:—simple marks as of the owner, signs belonging to
adefinite Script, religious Symbols, and signs denoting numbers. As the signs
as a rule appear in an isolated position it is not often easy to say to which of
these categories an individual example may belong, but it is probable that
in the majority of cases we have to deal with owners' marks.
The adoption of some simj)le geometrical combination of lines as a
mark of owncrship is of course a very widespread practice and it is well
illustrated on the prehistoric pottery of Egypt. Such signs however, are
often in their origin not mere arbiträr}" combinations of lines but very rude
delineations of objects—such as a child makes on a slate. These linesketches
no doubt often represented an object that stood in some near relation
to the individual, such as a totem. In this way a kind of common stock
of figures of simple geometrical aspect might grow up, from which it became
natural to make selections. Certain types might acquire a traditional
vogue in connexion with a sjiecial employment. There was for instance both
in Egypt and in Minoau Crete a repertory of marks used for inlays in
porcelain, ivory and other materials which must have becn handed down
b}' guilds of craftsmen. So too other signs, such as the cross, the asterisk,
and the swastika acquired a symbolic religious value. The survival of
these groups of marks or signs of geometrical form is of great importance
as supplying a formative influence on later alphabetic development. Where
special names were attached to them they may actually have becn accepted
as signs in definite Systems of Script.
The most abundant class of signs represented in the Melian pottery
must probably be regarded as mere personal marks, the figures being formet!
of simple conjunctions of lines varied at will (see Fig. 152). In other cases
we find a somewhat more elaborate outline, the pictorial original of
which may at times be inferred. The double axe which belongs to this
category has certainlj' a religious signification. Finally a certain number of
the Melian signs recur in the Cnossian Linear Script. The numeral signs
also, so far as the}- go, correspond with one or other of the Cretan Systems.
The signs may thus be grouped under the following categories:
(1) Geometrical marks, either traditional or of arbitrary origin.
(2) Pictographic signs.
(3) Signs identical with those of the Cnossian linear Script.
(4) Numbers.