DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.34678#0012
12
TRANSACTIONS; DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY; U. OF P.
natural objects. They saw the resemblance, and it pleased them. And
here we see the prophecy of imitative designs, for as soon as the artist
feels the distinction between designs which represent something and those
which do not, and takes pleasure in this recognition, the history of imitative
design has begun. The geometric animals in Fig. 8 are further illustra-
tions of the way in which the artist put together types of natural forms out of
geometric elements.* The bodies of these animals, apart from their heads and
tails, are equivalent to the hatched triangles and circles of purely geometric
designs. On the whole, the designs of this period furnish excellent illustrations
of a principle which is confirmed in the succeeding Middle Minoan I period,
namely, that designs do nocessardy as a reaKs^'c repro-
d%<dfo% o/ a paidfctday Ttcdwal objecf as a% anvmpemepA o/ K%es wAfcA suggest
raf Aer ^Aa% pddwe TMdwrd /orms. Or, to put this principle in terms of the classi-
fication of Cretan pottery made above, the motive of imitation which produces
designs which represent something does not operate so strongly in this early
period as the instinctive desire for rhythm, harmony and balance, which
leads to experiments in composition of lines and, in the end, to pure design.
Accordingly, since the designs of this early period show to so slight a degree
the elements of imitation, they should be assigned to the non-imitative class,
and again, since they are simple and repeated on different vases, they should
be assigned to the simple stock group within that class.
MIDDLE MlNOAN 1.
In deposits of the Early Minoan III period have been found seal stones
with designs analogous to those on Egyptian "button seals" of the VI dy-
nasty/ which ended in 2475 B. CA The second division of the middle period
will be seen to be parallel to the XII dynasty in Egypt, which dates from 2000
to 1788 B. CA Between these two dates was the Middle Minoan I period. In
passing to this period from the last division of the early period, we pass over
no gap, but merely advance a step further in the continuous development of
Cretan ceramics. The technique of the pottery of the two periods is nearly
the same. The shapes of the Middle Minoan I vases in A?. & A. 1902-1903, IX,
p. 305, Fig. 5 are scarcely different from those to which the fragments which
we have just examined are to be assigned^ The chief change in technique is
* Compare Edgar in ExcavadoK-s a^ P/M/Mopf M! Afelos, p. 100 and Pernier, Afo%.
4^. 1902, XII, col. 114.
^ See A. J. Evans, op. ciA p. 7.
s According to the later chronology which, however, leaves a margin of error of a
hundred years either way from this date. See Breasted, Tffsfon/ o/ Aypp^, p. 16.
^ With a margin of error of only four years, IMd. p. 22.
' See YYaTT-saatioKs III, p. 194 ff.
TRANSACTIONS; DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY; U. OF P.
natural objects. They saw the resemblance, and it pleased them. And
here we see the prophecy of imitative designs, for as soon as the artist
feels the distinction between designs which represent something and those
which do not, and takes pleasure in this recognition, the history of imitative
design has begun. The geometric animals in Fig. 8 are further illustra-
tions of the way in which the artist put together types of natural forms out of
geometric elements.* The bodies of these animals, apart from their heads and
tails, are equivalent to the hatched triangles and circles of purely geometric
designs. On the whole, the designs of this period furnish excellent illustrations
of a principle which is confirmed in the succeeding Middle Minoan I period,
namely, that designs do nocessardy as a reaKs^'c repro-
d%<dfo% o/ a paidfctday Ttcdwal objecf as a% anvmpemepA o/ K%es wAfcA suggest
raf Aer ^Aa% pddwe TMdwrd /orms. Or, to put this principle in terms of the classi-
fication of Cretan pottery made above, the motive of imitation which produces
designs which represent something does not operate so strongly in this early
period as the instinctive desire for rhythm, harmony and balance, which
leads to experiments in composition of lines and, in the end, to pure design.
Accordingly, since the designs of this early period show to so slight a degree
the elements of imitation, they should be assigned to the non-imitative class,
and again, since they are simple and repeated on different vases, they should
be assigned to the simple stock group within that class.
MIDDLE MlNOAN 1.
In deposits of the Early Minoan III period have been found seal stones
with designs analogous to those on Egyptian "button seals" of the VI dy-
nasty/ which ended in 2475 B. CA The second division of the middle period
will be seen to be parallel to the XII dynasty in Egypt, which dates from 2000
to 1788 B. CA Between these two dates was the Middle Minoan I period. In
passing to this period from the last division of the early period, we pass over
no gap, but merely advance a step further in the continuous development of
Cretan ceramics. The technique of the pottery of the two periods is nearly
the same. The shapes of the Middle Minoan I vases in A?. & A. 1902-1903, IX,
p. 305, Fig. 5 are scarcely different from those to which the fragments which
we have just examined are to be assigned^ The chief change in technique is
* Compare Edgar in ExcavadoK-s a^ P/M/Mopf M! Afelos, p. 100 and Pernier, Afo%.
4^. 1902, XII, col. 114.
^ See A. J. Evans, op. ciA p. 7.
s According to the later chronology which, however, leaves a margin of error of a
hundred years either way from this date. See Breasted, Tffsfon/ o/ Aypp^, p. 16.
^ With a margin of error of only four years, IMd. p. 22.
' See YYaTT-saatioKs III, p. 194 ff.