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The real purpose of the rock art remains unknown but the carvings were almost certainly of a religious or sacred nature. The same motifs recur: boats, cup marks, humans, animals, foot prints, musical instruments, weaponry, carts, ploughs, wheels and carriages. Simple daily life events and items such as houses, people at work, children, cows and fish are never depicted.

Again somewhat surprising, very few violent scenes are depicted – no murderous raiding and pilfering Vikings here. Although lots of weapons are shown, very little fighting or even active hunting is depicted. One scene at Fossum shows an animal actually being speared while others hint at dead animals (or people) without showing the actual moment of being killed. The weapons are probably for ceremonial use with swords rarely drawn.

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The Bronze Age rock carvings near Tanum in the Bohuslän region of Sweden are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listed sites and easy to enjoy for free.

Thousands of rock carvings of people, animals and boats made during the Bronze Age attract visitors to the Tanum area of Western Sweden. The high concentration of rock art here - 500 panels and thousands of carved images - led to Tanum's inclusion on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list. Four major sites - Fossum, Vitlycke (with a museum), Aspeberget and Litsleby - are free to visit and have information panels and parking. The Tanum rock carvings are a great day trip from Gothenburg or even Oslo.

The Tanum UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Area in Sweden

The Tanum UNESCO World Cultural Heritage area is in the province Bohuslän - roughly the area of western Sweden between the city Gothenburg and the Norwegian border. Bronze Age rock carvings are found throughout Bohuslän and much of the rest of Sweden and Scandinavia but the concentration is particularly high in the Tanum area.

The Tanum rock carvings are popular cultural sites to visit when on vacation at the islands and beaches of the Bohuslän coast. It is also a good day-trip destination from Gothenburg or Oslo and a perfect stop when traveling between these two cities.

Prehistoric Rock Carvings of Bohuslän, Sweden

Although the rock art of Tanum and the Bohuslän region is commonly described as rock carvings, the images were rather chipped or grounded into the rock with quartz, diabase or a similarly harder rock. The correct term is petroglyphs while Felsritzungen in German and Hällristningarna in Swedish are less technical.

The rock carvings in Bohuslän were mostly made during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age - thus between 1700 BD and 200 BC. Different models of boats and weaponry, as well as the appearance of animals, help to date the works. The land rise - the area is around 25 m higher now than 4000 years ago - also help to date the various scenes, as underwater carvings seem highly unlikely.

The earliest written descriptions of Swedish rock carvings were only made in 1627 when Norwegian teacher Peder Alfssön thought they were made by bored medieval stonemasons.

The first mention of rock carvings in Tanum was only in 1751 when the large male figure (now usually referred to as the Spear God) at Litsleby was described as a Scottish chieftain who was killed during a plundering raid.

Whether the carvings were painted or not during the Bronze Age are still debated by experts. Nowadays, most of the carvings are painted red, which does make them easier to study, especially in the middle of the day when shadows are of limited help in defining the figures. They also look spectacular at night under flashlight.

The Motifs of Tanum Rock Carvings in Sweden

The real purpose of the rock art remains unknown but the carvings were almost certainly of a religious or sacred nature. The same motifs recur: boats, cup marks, humans, animals, foot prints, musical instruments, weaponry, carts, ploughs, wheels and carriages. Simple daily life events and items such as houses, people at work, children, cows and fish are never depicted.

Cupmarks are the most common motif with around 40,000 known in the Bohuslän region. The purpose of these cupmarks is well debated: theories of what they symbolize include amongst others a representation of fertility, the sun, the moon, stars, life, death, rebirth and simple calendars. Some where almost certainly used for offerings while others clearly hint at paths or movement.

Somewhat surprisingly boats are the second most common motif with around 10,000 known. Different boats are depicted but sails and oars are rare. People are often depicted in the boats and some scenes may show funerals.

People are also fairly common on the carvings with 98% of the gender identifiable portraits of men. Men are identified by showing a penis - often erect - and/or bearing weapons (usually undrawn swords). The women commonly have a ponytail.

Famous person depictions include the lovers (a couple kissing) at Vitlycke, the woman of Fossum and the Spear God at Litsleby.

Again somewhat surprising, very few violent scenes are depicted - no murderous raiding and pilfering Vikings here. Although lots of weapons are shown, very little fighting or even active hunting is depicted. One scene at Fossum shows an animal actually being speared while others hint at dead animals (or people) without showing the actual moment of being killed. The weapons are probably for ceremonial use with swords rarely drawn.

The most common animals are bulls, horses, snakes, deer and birds. Common animals such as cows, sheep and fish are noticeable absent. Bulls are never shown doing any work although oxen are shown pulling carriages. Only around 50 agricultural scenes are known.

Many scenes are unidentifiable - some may simply be incomplete works. Sometimes scenes were carved over older ones and many are too worn to identify.

Visit the Tanum UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Area in Sweden

The Tanum UNESCO World Cultural Heritage area encompasses 45 km2 and has 500 different sites. The four most important ones have information panels, free parking, and are easily seen on a half-day trip:

Fossum

Vitlycke with museum and Bronze Age Farm

Aspeberget

Litsleby

The official information panels are in Swedish, English German and French.

All these free sites are always open, have free parking and basic toilets. Food and drink is only available at the Vitlycke museum. The shopping mall directly at the highway intersection is a good place to stock up on picnic supplies and water.

Public transportation is less convenient but not impossible. See the Vitlycke Museum site for details and possible bike rentals.

Rest Stop - Rastplats Världsarv Tanum

For drivers, the Rest Stop (Rastplats) Världsarv Tanum on the E6 highway is a good place to start a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tanum area. Information panels explain the rock art and place it into broader historical context. A viewing platform allows visitors to look out over the plain that used to be covered by sea in the Bronze Age - this part of Sweden rose around 25 m over the last 4000 years.

The Rastplats Världsarv Tanum is a good first stop and introduction but as no rock art is actually seen here probably fairly pointless to stop at later in a tour of the region.

The rest stop is 130 km north of Gothenburg and 165 km south of Oslo and is accessible from either side of the E6 highway. It is a good spot for a picnic and toilets. For other services - fuel and food - use the intersection with the 163 a further 2 km to the north.

Rock Carvings at Fossum in Sweden

Fossum is a good first stop to see the rock art of the Tanum region. Not only is the main panel here often considered the highest quality art but it is also easy to get to. The Fossum panel is only around 3 km from the E6 highway and the only major site to the east of the highway. Parking is to the right of the 163 road while the rock carvings are on the opposite side of the road.

Rather uniquely, the rock carving at Fossum is generally considered to be the work of a single master due to the similarity between around 200 figures and the cohesive composition. The carvings depict hunting scenes (including a rare kill), musicians and ax-wielding warriors. The weaponry helped to date the carving to the Late Bronze Age, 700-600 BC.

The woman of Fossum is one of the best-known rock carving figures. She seems to greet visitors with a raised arm while a cup mark between her thighs is usually interpreted a symbol of life, a birth, the egg of life, or simply female genitalia. (Male figures and animals often have similar cupmarks between the legs or below the tail.) To her right are two lur blowers - musical instruments used throughout Scandinavia in the Bronze Age.

A short path leads to what is considered the most beautiful Sun Horse carving in the region - it is not colored and depending on light conditions fairly hard to see.

Vitlycke Museum, Bronze Age Farm and Rock Art

Visitors with limited time (or interest) should make Vitlycke the top priority. In addition to the small museum and Bronze Age farm, the Vitlycke panel is one of the largest and most-important compositions and easily accessible.

Vitlycke Museum and Bronze Age Farm

The free Vitlycke Museum, Vitlycke 2, 457 93 Tanumshede, is fairly small and easy to enjoy. Almost all descriptions in the museum are in English and German in addition to Swedish.

Behind the museum is a small Bronze Age farm. It is worth entering the houses to experience what a Bronze Age home should have looked like. Activities aimed mostly at families are held commonly during holiday periods. A short walk through the forest leads past a few further Bronze Age scenes such as a sacrificial bog and models of animal traps.

The museum is open daily from May to early November from 10:00 to 18:00, closing at 16:00 from September. The museum is usually open weekends in April with longer hours around the Easter weekend.

The museum also arranges guided tours to the sites - occasionally in English.

The Vitlycke Museum is the only site with a café, or any form of food or drink. (Scandinavians generally like to picnic on outdoor trips.)

Vitlycke Bronze Age Rock Carvings

Across the road from the museum and parking area is the impressive Vitlycke Panel. The carvings here were made mostly between 1000-500 BC but some of the last carvings were added as late as the early Iron Age, around 500 BC to AD 1.

The main Vitlycke panel has a large variety and number of images including arguably the most-famous image from the Tanum rock carvings: the lovers, sometimes more poetically described as the Holy Bride and Groom or the Bridal Couple. It depicts a man and woman kissing.

The small carving of a whale, possible a blue whale, is the only known depiction of sea animal despite the proximity to the sea and the very common depiction of boats.

A short path leads via a number of smaller rock panels with interesting carvings. One shows the most-often depicted carving of all - a boat with people that is used on the current 50-krona note. It is possible to go all the way to the top of the hill where two large Bronze Age cairns survived - it is easy to skip this final ascent when wet and still see all the rock carvings on the route.

Aspeberget Rock Carvings

Less than a kilometer from the Vitlycke museum is the Aspeberget area. This hill, known as the Holy Mountain, is covered with rock carvings spread over around 20 different panels. This is the largest concentration of rock carvings in the region.

The main panel is a very short walk from the parking lot but a path of around a kilometer leads past the other panels.

The main panel shows a variety of animals, including several bulls, and a large fleet of boats.

Interesting depictions include a row of 11 people (including at least one woman) that is often described as dancers or a football team - one player has the ball (cupmark). Underneath this row is a scene where a person seems to leap through the horns of a bull - an image that reminds of the Mediterranean civilisations.

Many of the carvings here are not painted making many hard to decipher during the middle of the day but significantly easier early morning or late afternoon when shadows turn on the magic.

Litsleby Spear God Rock Carving

Turn right, shortly after the Aspeberget site, and continue along a narrow road for around a kilometer to the Litsleby site.

The main panel is very close to the parking lot and has the largest man depicted in rock art in Scandinavia. At 235 cm tall, this over-dimensional man wielding a spear is often referred to as the Spear God and seen as a precursor of the later Norse god Odin. This was the first carving of Tanum described in writing when in the mid-18th century it was considered as a Scottish chieftain killed during a raid.

The earliest carvings here are probably from the middle of the Bronze Age (1200-1000 BC) while the last ones were added only by the Early Iron Age (500 BC to AD 1).

A short path up the hill leads to the Tegneby panel with a lovely carving of horsemen armed with spears and shields. These eight horsemen are dated to around 300 BC due to the Celtic shields.

Many national and regional museums in Scandinavia have further displays on prehistoric inhabitants of the region but the best is probably the Moesgaard Museum near Aarhus in Denmark while the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen has some choice pieces and fine artwork from prehistoric Scandinavia.

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See Prehistoric Rock Art Carvings at Tanum in Sweden

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The Bronze Age rock carvings near Tanum in the Bohuslän region of Sweden are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage listed sites and easy to enjoy for free. Thousands of rock carvings of people, animals and boats made during the Bronze Age attract visitors to the Tanum area of Western Sweden.

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Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Lasseter Hwy, Uluru NT, Australia

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Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Lasseter Hwy, Uluru NT, Australia

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Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Lasseter Hwy, Uluru NT, Australia

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Dream time pathways and cultural passports.

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Songlines are the Aboriginal walking routes that crossed the country, linking important sites and locations. Before colonisation they were maintained by regular use, burning off and clearing.

The term 'Songline' describes the features and directions of travel that were included in a song that had to be sung and memorised for the traveller to know the route to their destination. Certain Songlines were referred to as 'Dreaming Pathways' because of the tracks forged by Creator Spirits during the Dreaming. These special Songlines have specific ancestral stories attached to them.

Image Source: Aboriginal traditions describe the complex motions of planets, the 'wandering stars' of the sky.
Markers for the journey

Songlines contain information about the land and how the traveller should respectfully make their trip. This includes the types of food were safe to eat, places to be avoided and the boundaries of each Mob's Country that the traveller could pass through.

Songlines also describe features and landmarks that the traveller should look out for so they knew that they are going in the right direction. A well-known marker is the scar-tree near the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Bulleen. This scar-tree is called 'Yingabeal' ( Yinga meaning sing or song and beal being the Wurundjeri name for a redgum). Yingabeal marks the point where five different Songline routes meet and come together. Other examples of 'signposts' or 'markers' include rock formations, bends in rivers, or trees with naturally forming spirals, twists or arches.

The 'Yingabeal' scar-tree marks the point where five different Songline routes meet and come together. Physical markers like 'Yingabeal' allowed the traveller to know where they were in their journey.

Image Source: Sonia Hankova. Yingabeal Heidi Scar Tree (reproduced with permission)
A Cultural Passport

One example of a Songline is the 3,500km travel route that connected the central desert region with the eastern coast of the country (modern day Byron Bay). This particular travel route allowed the desert communities to visit the ocean where they could witness how dolphins were used by the people to heard fish. Similarly people from the coastal communities were able to travel and visit the culturally important sites of Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

Songlines also act as a 'Cultural Passport' when travelling through the country of another Mob. The verses that relate to a particular region, can be sung in the local language so that the people living there know that travellers are passing through in a respectful manner.

Image Source: Uluru, helicopter view. Wikipedia.
The Songlines of today

When the British invaded, the colonists used Aboriginal Songlines for their horse drawn vehicles because a path had already been cleared. Over time and continued use, these traditional routes evolved to become cart-tracks, then gravelled paths, to finally the bitumen covered roads we see today. Examples of roads in Melbourne that were once used as Aboriginal Songlines include the Napean Highway, Dandenong Road, Plenty Road, Heidelberg Road, Geelong Road and Ballarat Road, just to name a few.

One of the great tragedies of colonisation was the eradication and white-washing of the carefully curated use of Country by Aboriginal people. Songlines were diminished as mere 'animal tracks' or 'natural clearings' when in truth they were so much more.

Songlines are the singing celebration of Country, a cultural passport when walking on the lands of neighbouring Nations and a way to acknowledge the great Creator Spirits and their footprints in the land.

Sources & Further Reading

NITV Documentaries on Songlines

To view these, a free SBS OnDemand account is required. These videos will expire after a period of time.

Songlines: Wurray. Wurray is a Dreamtime character. He is one of our "makers". He's a traveller with an open mind and an open heart to the land.

Songlines: Tjawa Tjawa. The "Tjawa Tjawa" songline is about a group of women who came from around Roebourne in the Pilbara and travelled, in some cases underground, all the way through to Kiwikurra in the Great Sandy Desert.

Songlines: Bulunu Milkarri. This Manikay is sung traditionally by Djambarrpunu Clan. Milkarri is a sorrow Manikay (songline), is sung by women from this clan to cry about a longing for Ngurruyurrtjurr (homeland/clan).

Songlines: Njambi. Following the spiritual, legal and economic significance of Njambi (stone spear), senior custodian Roy Wuynjumbi Ashley shares an all encompassing story of identity, culture and law.

Songlines: Goorrandalng, Damari and Guyala, Naji, Wardbukarra. The Songlines on Screen initiative presents films that show Aboriginal people's ongoing connection to land and culture as told throughout time by the way of creation songs

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or printed material. To listen to our Acknowledgement of Country, click here.

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The term 'Songline' describes the features and directions of travel that were included in a song that had to be sung and memorised for the traveller to know the route to their destination. Certain Songlines were referred to a...

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It is speculated that one method of ancient storytelling involved having a blind person tell a poem or something uplifting to a pregnant woman during the night as a way to insure she had a healthy baby.

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This cave, the Lascaux, was discovered in the south of France by four boys chasing after their dog down a fox hole. This cave houses paintings and engravings of mostly animals. The cave also seems to be a dwelling place for the artist decorating it. They both lived in and decorated this cave around 17,000-15,000 BCE.

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FUN FACT: Gestures play an important role in Indian  dance. Some dances feature more 600 gestures, each with a specific meaning. These gestures are still used today even in Indian pop-culture with traditional dance and Bollywood.

There are 4 main points essential to understanding Indian dance. Each movement gives insight to the story, giving details within each facet:

1. Technique of movement (which includes facial expressions, head movements and body movements)

2. All types of vocal and instrumental sounds linked with dance

3. Involuntary actions such as perspiration, trembling and blushing

4. Make-up, costumes and sets; even certain colors have symbolic meaning

HISTORICAL FUN FACT: This area is the birthplace of Bharatanatyam, the main form of Indian classical dance. It is dated as far back as the 2nd century.

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India can boast of an innumerable number of folk dances, each dance forming a specialty of a particular region or tribe. Each form will have its own specialty & grace, along with a set pattern of costumes & make-up.

The classical dance forms which have developed, have set rules that have been followed traditionally over the years. On the basic model, various gurus incorporate their own imaginative innovations, leading to various schools within a particular dance form. Apart from the gracious hand & leg postures & movements, the dancers have to acquire the skill of portraying various emotions faithfully in each expression on their face & each fluid movement of their hand, legs & in fact their whole body. Every part conveys some meaning in their graceful motion.

The various dance forms have also developed a particular form of make-up for the performance, which is a skill by itself. Several dance schools today, incorporate costume designing & make-up as special section of the curriculum. The costumes for all forms are elaborate & rich, but each form & style have their own traditional patterns set down. Jewels for the dancers are also specially created to suit their purpose. Flowers adorn their hair & in the case of portrayal of Gods, their necks as garlands. The hall is also richly decorated with flowers. Application of mehendi in various styles is also an essential part of the make-up in most forms.

Jan 2012 - last update Jul 2012
Excerpts of Articles by VP Dhananjayan from his book "beyond Performing: Art and Culture" Published by B.R.Rhythms, Delhi
The book contains articles on art, culture, social issues, politics, lectures, profiles and letters to editors and administrative heads.
Foreword by Cho Ramaswamy & illustrations by Cartoonist Sarathy

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Indian Heritage - CLASSICAL DANCES OF INDIA

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India can boast of an innumerable number of folk dances, each dance forming a specialty of a particular region or tribe. Each form will have its own specialty & grace, along with a set pattern of costumes & make-up. The classical dance forms which have developed, have set rules that have been followed traditionally over the years.

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“The oldest hard evidence of Indian dance are bas-relief depictions of dance [dating] from the 2nd century B.C. to A.D. third century, and ‘Natyasastra of Bharata’, a treatise on drama and dance written between the A.D. 2nd and 4th century”

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DANCE IN INDIA

Dance has traditionally been an important part of religion and culture in India. According to Indian legend, the gods invented dance. Dancing is one of the most revered Hindu arts because it incorporates melody, drama, form and line. Gestures, body positions and head movements are emphasized in Indian dance. The use of the hands, fingers and eyes are of primary importance. There are almost a thousand specific hand movements and signs ( mudras). Often bells are worn around the ankles.

The four abhinovas are essential to understanding Indian dance. They are 1) the technique of movement, which includes facial expressions, head movements and body movements; 2) all types of vocal and instrumental sounds linked with dance; 3) involuntary actions such as perspiration, trembling and blushing; and 4) make-up, costumes and sets. Some dancers are capable of changing their skin color voluntarily by consciously pumping blood into the capillaries on the face.

Gestures play an important role in India dance. Some dances feature more 600 gestures, each with a specific meanings. They often have a codified meaning that are known to the audiences that watch the dances. It have been suggested the codified developed as way convey a single message by dance troupes traveling through areas where different languages are spoken or they developed out mnemonic devises used by storytellers to convey and remember their stories. Colors are also rich in symbolism and meaning. Heavy eye make up is often worn to highlight the expressive of the eyes.

Importance of Dance in India

Nataraja (a depiction of Shiva) is the divine, cosmic dancer and a classic image in Indian art. He is often depicted in old bronze statues with four arms and one legged raised and the other crushing Apasmara, a dwarf-demon associated with confusion and ignorance. One hand assumes the gesture of protection, one points to a raised foot, one hold the drum that keeps the beat of the rhythm of creation. The forth holds the fire of dissolution.

The ancient treatise on sculpture, the Silpashastra, offers a telling story about dance and art. In the old days a devout king from Vajra asked a the sage Markandeya to teach him the art of sculpture. The sage handed the king a lump of metal and asked him, "Do you know how to paint? The king said he didn't but he was ready to learn. The sage then said, "Do you know how to dance?" The king said he didn't but he had a basic knowledge of instrumental music. The sage then told him to learn more about music and use that to understand dance better and with that knowledge advance up the scale to painting and the sculpture. It is no wonder also that dancers and gods associated with dancing are the subjects of some of India's greatest works, the Chola sculptures.

Dancers have traditionally been members of certain entertainer castes. They ranked low in the caste system and purity scale and supported themselves by working in traveling troupes or working for specific temples. It was not unusual for female temple dancers and troupe dancers to work as prostitutes. When the girls started leaving the temples to please local landlords a law was passed prohibiting the practice of dedicating girls to temples. To this day no mother in India wants her daughter to be dancer, because of its association with promiscuity.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: " The man who is regarded as being the first dancer to introduce the West to the "real" Indian dance tradition was Ram Gopal (1917-2003). In fact, his creations were only based on real Indian dance techniques, such as kathakali, bharatanatyam, and kathak, while the dance numbers themselves were mostly his own creations. Nonetheless, Ram Gopal was a remarkable dancer. He toured the world with his own company, for which he created short spectacular pieces. While they were based on Indian techniques he stripped them, at the same time, of their original costuming and make-up and gave them the fashionable "orientalistic" outlook, so popular in the West and by that time in India too. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen,Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

History of Indian Dance

Dances performed in India are said to have their origins in dances and rituals of the period of the Vedas, which date back to around 1000 B.C. The earliest Indian religious texts describe creation in terms of dance. In Hindu mythology, a dance by Shiva creates and destroys the universe. Caves in the Vindhya Hill region of Mardya Pradesh are filled with images made by hunter-gatherers of dancers in a rich array of positions, many of them sexual.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: "The earliest known permanent settlements in India appeared approximately 9 000 years ago. They gradually developed into one of the earliest pre-urban civilisations in the world, the so-called Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished in approx. 2700-1800 B.C. Its centres were Harappa and Mohenjodaro in the Indus River Valley, in present-day Pakistan. The Indus Culture had its own writing system, which has not yet been deciphered. Two small sculptures give some information about dance of the period. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

The oldest hard evidence of Indian dance are bas-relief depictions of dance found in Barhut, Sanhi and Amaravati, which date from the 2nd century B.C. to A.D. third century, and Natyasastra of Bharata, a treatise on drama and dance written between the A.D. 2nd and 4th century and sometimes referred to as the fifth Veda. Dance in India is guided by the elaborate codes in the Natya Shastra and by mythology, legend and classical literature.

Sculptures from all over India and from many different historical periods, many before A.D. 1000, illustrates the importance of dance in Indian cultural history and the richness of its traditions. Many classical forms of dancers are based on ancient sculptures. Dance is believed to have evolved from religious rituals and shamanist practices. Even today religious rituals often have drama and dance as elements in them. They are often associated with a particular Hindu god or a story or episode from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and are done n conjunction with music and art.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: " The man who is regarded as being the first dancer to introduce the West to the "real" Indian dance tradition was Ram Gopal (1917-2003). In fact, his creations were only based on real Indian dance techniques, such as kathakali, bharatanatyam, and kathak, while the dance numbers themselves were mostly his own creations. Nonetheless, Ram Gopal was a remarkable dancer. He toured the world with his own company, for which he created short spectacular pieces. While they were based on Indian techniques he stripped them, at the same time, of their original costuming and make-up and gave them the fashionable "orientalistic" outlook, so popular in the West and by that time in India too. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen,Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

Dance, Sculpture and Art in India

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: " Besides the early literature, the visual arts, such as early sculptures, reliefs, and later paintings, also give extremely valuable information about theatre and dance. In India the whole phenomenon of the interrelation of dance and the visual arts, and indeed of other art forms as well, is a most crucial one. The question is not merely of borrowing and exchanging materials and ideas from one art form to another. In Indian thought, dance, and all art, is basically a religious sacrifice (yajna). Art is also regarded as a form of yoga and a discipline (sadhana). Through the creation of a work of art the artist/craftsman strives to evoke a state of pure joy or bliss (ananda). [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

"The human body was seen as a vehicle of worship and thus performances become acts of invoking the divine. By 200 AD at the latest, as stated above, the complicated techniques of dance-like acting, as well as the rasa system, were codified in the Natyashastra. It is significant that in the Indian tradition it is dance, a temporal and corporal form of art, which is regarded as the ascendant art form. It set the measure for other forms of art, since they adopted the theory rasa from the tradition of the Natyashastra. /=/

"Dance has been so predominant in its position that some textual sources stress that sculptors and painters cannot succeed in their work without a basic knowledge of it. The Natyashastra sets the physical and dramatic tools for evoking the rasa or the emotional state appropriate to worship. On the other hand, the Silpashastras, manuals of iconography and sculpture, were intended to help in producing the corresponding figurative representations. /=/

"Consequently, the principles of movement, however complicated they may be, are the same for both a dancer and a sculptor. The final goal of this intricate science of movements, measurements, poses, gestures etc. is to create the rasa, the actual object of presentation and, finally, to reach even further in evoking the state in which transcendental bliss can be experienced. /=/

Shiva, Religion and Dancing Gods in India

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: "All the three Indian religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, share the same theoretical basis for dance and the visual arts. And so most of the margi or "classical" dance techniques, in spite of their local stylistic variations, bear strong similarities in all of these three traditions. Consequently, their imagery shares common aesthetic norms and iconographic features. As early as from the Vedic period (1600-550 B.C.) onwards, Indian literature and mythological narrative created characters which were depicted in the visual arts as dancing or in easily recognisable dance-derived poses, reflecting the prevalent dance techniques. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

"During the classical Gupta age from the fourth to the sixth century AD the repertoire of the dance images expanded further, while the Puranas or mythological stories of the early centuries AD provided more dance-related imagery. Along with dancing human beings and semi-gods of older periods appeared dancing gods, the first of them being the dancing Shiva. /=/

"The sculpture-type called Shiva Nataraja can be regarded as one of the trademarks of Indian art. The iconography of the Shiva Nataraja, literally meaning the King of Dance, developed over the centuries and reached its crystallised form in Tamil Nadu during the Chola period in approximately the 10th-12th centuries AD. It was the very period when the art of bronze casting reached its apogee. The Chola sculptors were able to reproduce, in metal, the exact proportions laid down by the Silpashastras and even the tiniest details of the gestures and movements dictated by the Natyashastra. /=/

"The Shiva Nataraja represents Shiva as the destroyer/creator as described by devotional poetry dedicated to him. In the Hindu cyclical view of time Shiva's role is to destroy one era in order to create the next one, and this is what Shiva Nataraja statues portray. When he executes his cosmic tandava dance of destruction and creation he is surrounded by an arch of glory fringed by flames. /=/

"The flame that he is holding in his upper left hand hints at the aspect of destruction, while the drum, symbol of the pulse of life, which Shiva holds in his upper right hand, refers to the aspect of creation. The lower left hand points to his lifted foot, while the lower right hand is shown in pataka mudra. Multi-handedness, a feature typical of many nrttamurtis, is a practical way to manifest the deity's different aspects simultaneously. It also enables the sculptor to capture several frozen moments of a movement sequence in a static sculpture. /=/

"The main characteristic of Shiva's dance in the Chola iconography is the uplifted leg. His right leg is firmly planted on a dwarfish creature, which personifies one of the six enemies of enlightenment. The sculpture is full of symbolism. Shiva's braided hair is often decorated with his attributes: a laughing skull, a crescent moon and a cobra, and also often Ganga, the personification of the Ganges. The rasa, which Shiva's dance always evokes, is raudra, the Furious. /=/

Dance Images in Indian Temples

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: " Many of the early Buddhist reliefs with their dance-related images and the early dance images of Hindu cave temples are still in their original architectural contexts. The earliest surviving free-standing stone temples were built in the Gupta period. Gradually their plain outer walls were decorated with narrative panels as well as dancing divinities. This was the beginning of a development that was to lead to the flourishing of dance images in Hindu temple architecture during the so-called "medieval" period, approximately from the 7th to the 16th century. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

"The most abundant representations of dance images can be seen in the Hindu temples of South India, in the Bhubaneshwar temples in East India, and in the temples of Khajuraho in Central India. The West Indian Jain temples of Mt. Abu are also famous for their dance imagery. The styles of sculpture differ and local schools can easily be recognised, but the fundamental portrayal of the movement is mostly rooted in the tradition of the Natyashastra. /=/

"Series of dance reliefs directly related to the Natyashastra can be found in some medieval temple complexes in South India. The most famous of them are those carved on the towering 9th century gateways of the Shiva temple in Chidambaram. They include ninety-three of the 108 karanas described in the Natyashastra. These small relief panels, together with other similar series and contemporaneous murals depicting dancers, constitute an important source material when one is trying to reconstruct the karana movement cadences of the Natyashastra. What makes these Chidambaram karana reliefs so particular is that they are accompanied by inscriptions of Sanskrit verses from the Natyashastra. Thus they form a kind of an illustrated dance manual carved in stone. /=/

"Since the karanas have practically disappeared from the present Indian dance styles it is understandable that the academic study focusing on these reliefs has already had a long tradition. By means of these reliefs and their inscriptions scholars and dancers have tried to reconstruct the ancient karanas since the early 20th century. Each panel shows one dancer in one frozen moment of a movement pattern. This led the early scholars to believe that karanas were actually static poses, an assumption which later research has renounced. The debate focusing on these panels has been very lively and has led to several attempts to reconstruct the karanas." /=/

Balasarasawati and the Guru Institution

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy of Helsinki wrote: " Before the founding of dance and theatre institutions and schools in the early 20th century, the classical music, acting and dance traditions were taught by masters or gurus. The so-called guru-sishya system of education indicates a close personal contact between a master and his pupil. During daily contact the master guides and initiates his student into the secrets of the art according to his pupil's abilities and spiritual development. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki /=/]

"When revivalists around India, such as Rukmini Devi, Rabindranth Tagore and others, started the revival of the traditional performing arts it was the old guru families and lineages they turned to. The level of dance performances may have declined in some parts of India, but the skills and knowledge of these traditions were still preserved by the guru families. Thus the revivalists invited prominent gurus to teach new generations of artists at their modern institutes. This is, in fact, still often the case in modern art universities as well. Even today most of the serious actors and dancers working in the traditional fields of the performing arts privately continue their studies, throughout their careers, with their chosen gurus." /=/

"Some dancers themselves were also bearers of age-old traditions. One of them was Balasaraswati (1918-84), a remarkable exponent of bharatanatyam in the seventh generation. She belonged to a family of dancers based in Tanjavur and made her debut in 1925. She was invited to work at Rukmini Devi's Kalakshetra institution and she thus deeply influenced the revival of bharatanatyam. She was renowned particularly because of her deep and nuanced abhinaya mime acting and she has been regarded as "the greatest single repository of the performing arts of southern India". /=/

Mujra Dancing and Ladies Clubs

Ladies bars are a unique Bombay institution, with women singing and dancing for wealthy men in what has been described as a "Bollywood fantasy in a South Asia palace." Women dance, often after saying a prayer, and men off throw cash from their seats. It is forbidden for men to solicit the women but it is regarded as acceptable for them to try to get a woman's phone number and meet her outside the club.

Somini Sengpata wrote in the New York Times: " A dozen women in shimmering chiffon skirts swayed their hips, lip-synched and gazed a themselves in the mirrored walls...In one corner of the bar, a man kept his attention and his money focused on a languid young woman in yellow. She moved to the music, threw back her hair, admired herself in the mirror and responded to his invitations to move closer, each time fattening the stack of bills in her hand." In 2005, conservative Bombay officials with connection the Hindu nationalist group Shin Shiva threatened to close the bars down on the grounds that they promoted prostitution, corrupted young people and threatened family life.

Prostitution in South Asia has traditionally been associated with mujra dancers found at carefully hidden bars advertised by word of mouth. Mujra, or courtesan clubs, have traditionally been associated with men's nights our during the Eid festival that marks the end of Ramadan. The custom is most alive in Lahore, which has a reputation of being more open and liberal than other places in Pakistan.

Mujra is derived from Kathhak classical dancing. Kathhak dancers enjoyed high status in the Mughal era and often entertained members of the court. There were so many of them at that time they formed their owned caste. The remnants of this caste, many of them illegitimate children born to mujra, are linked with an alternative community of artists and poets that hang around the Diamond Market in Lahore.

Mujra dancers do not perform a strip tease act or anything like; they simply dance, often shaking their bottoms and breasts and wearing bells around their ankles. Maureen Paton wrote in the Times of London: women "wearing leather ankle straps hung with bells below their traditional costumes of tunic and leggings, will simply mime to film music...As a signal to show his appreciation, a man will toss a £5 or £10 note in the direction of his chosen girl. And after the performance is over, sexual services are bought and sold in an adjoining room. Nothing needs to be spelled out: it is understood that sex, if the client wishes, is part of the equation."

Whittaker Khan, a British-Pakistani woman who wrote a play about mujra dancers, told the Times of London, "They never take off their clothes during the performance because the culture is so repressed. But dancing is so associated now in Pakistan with prostitution that it is difficult to practice it purely as an art form; and men from respectable families don't marry such girls."

Types of Dance

Both classical and folk forms of dances are performed in India. Dances forms vary, especially between the north and south. Indian dances are divided into three types: 1) nrtta (rhythmic dancing without a story); 2) nrtya (dramatic dancing with a narrative or descriptive theme); 3) natya (acting).

All forms have traditionally been structured around the nine rasa (emotions): 1) hasaya (happiness); 2) shoka (sorrow); 3) krodha (anger); 4) karuna (compassion); 5) bhibatsa (disgust); 6) adhbhuta (wonder); 7) bhaya (fear); 8) viram (courage); and 9) shanta (serenity).

The are four main schools of Indian dance: 1) Bharata natyam (a southern dance form which features women dancers doing a wide variety of dance movements accompanied by the rhythm of her stamping feet); 2) Kathakali (a southern dance from Kerala area featuring men doing martial arts like movements to the rhythm of drums); 3) Kathak (a northern dance done by women and men to the rhythm of feet slapping on the ground); 4) Manipuri (a dance from the Assam area of the northeast India with graceful swaying movements).

Classical dance forms have rigid rules for presentations. Classical dancers are known for angular posture, strange hand positions and strange facial expressions, tinkling ankle bells, feet smacking the floor, cocked heads, and hands bent upwards in awkward positions. Among the leading forms of classical dance are Bharata, Natyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri, Odissi, Kuchipudi and Mohini Attam.

Image Sources:

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Compton's Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

&copy 2008 Jeffrey Hays

Last updated June 2015

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Dance has traditionally been an important part of religion and culture in India. According to Indian legend, the gods invented dance. Dancing is one of the most revered Hindu arts because it incorporates melody, drama, form and line. Gestures, body positions and head movements are emphasized in Indian dance.

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Bhimbetka rock shelters, Bhojpur Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, India

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Bhimbetka rock shelters, Bhojpur Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, India

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Bhimbetka rock shelters, Bhojpur Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, India

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Preserved cave paintings depicting dance

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D ance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC.

The dance heritage of India is at least 5000 years old. A dancing girl figurine was found in the ruins of Mohenjodaro and is dated approximately 2nd Century B.C. Many group dancing sequences are depicted in exquisite rock paintings of Bhimbetaka caves of Madhya Pradesh. Roughly speaking, we can divide the history of dance into three or four periods:

The first is prehistoric and proto-historic. This period comprises the evidence found in the cave paintings, engravings, the evidence of Mohenjodaro and the harrapan civilization. The second period may be considered from the second century B.C. to the ninth century A.D. This includes monuments of the Buddhist stupas such as those of Bharhut, Sanchi, Bhaja, Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, and the caves of Ellora.

The third period may be considered from the tenth or eleventh century to the eighteenth century A.D. This includes early medieval and late medieval monuments. While there are no literary records of the prehistoric period, in the later half of the first period (Vedic India) and in the second period, Sanskrit exercised outstanding influence on the intellectual and artistic life of the arts in the country.

One might even add to this a fourth period which may be considered as a period from the late eighteenth or the nineteenth century to contemporary India. This was a period of great political turmoil and at the same time a period in which the arts were resurrected from fragments to make a new artistic whole.

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D ance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations.

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300Bc Mexico there is evidence of cultural traditions in the form of dance, clothing etc through their ceramic statues that mostly were in figure form. Clay was the dominant medium used as textiles weren't something discovered in Mexico at the time. Dances that were practised were a ritual part of the religion and fertility cults that was followed. We can see the importance of fertility in the statues of the people of the Colima dancing  because of the emphasis on exaggeration of the male and female bodies and the differences between them. Ask me for pictures of these statues if you want to see an example

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The Grýla tradition known in thirteenth-cen-tury Iceland was also known amongst the Scandinavian settlers in the Faroes and Shetland, and lived on in the shape of disguised figures later known as grýlur in the Faroes, grøliks and skeklers in the northern isles of Shetland, and possibly gyros in Orkney.

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∏orleifur now puts together a beggar’s costume, and attaches a goat beard to himself. He then took a large leather bag, placed it under the beggar’s costume, and arranged it so that everybody would imagine that he was eating the food which he threw into the bag, because the bag’s opening was placed by his mouth behind the goat beard. He then took two crutches with points on the bottom of each...

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All in all, as was been noted at the start, this book should for once and for all banish the notion that the Nordic peoples are and were expressionless, “Bergmanesque” beings. It provides new insight into a whole menagerie of masked figures that have stalked the pathways and main roads of the north, ranging from goats and bulls to cranes and bears, and from ogresses to gypsies, kings and pantomime dames. These figures, which go by such exotic names such as the julebukk/ julbock/ julebuk/ joulupouki/ jõulusokk/ †ingál†/ jólhest- ur/ julegeit; jõulupoisid; Julebisp; stjernegutter/ stjärngossar/ seernapojat; staffansryttarna/ tapaninajo; tapanipukit; nääripoisid; kveldskjøgla; helligtre- konger; Knutgubbar/ Knut/ nuutti; mitaartut; Nuutiparooni; Lusse/ Lucia/ lut- si; noitaämmä; Mattesgubbar; toomased; påskkäringar, grØlur/ grøliks/ skek- lers; kekri; mardi; kadri; busar, dimitendar, and möhippor, just to mention a few, were anything but dull. If nothing else they serve to underline the fact that the spirit of theatre, in one form or another, has always lived in the Nordic blood.

In the earlier forms of Old Norse literature, such a statement would have been unlikely, not least be- cause figures in the sagas are usually identified by their outward rather than in- ner appearance (Gunnell 1995a: 85). Hence, in the main part of the above ac- count, ∏orleifur is not referred to as ∏orleifur, but as Ni∂ungur (the role he is playing).

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Or Eddic "poems" about the Old Norse gods and heroes. Terry Gunnell says that they must have been originally presented in a simple dramatic fashion. Especially  Lokasenna (Loki’s Flyting), has interest in the present context because of how closely it reflects the disguised house visit as it regularly occurred in the Nordic countries in later times.

The setting of the poem shows the gods sitting down to a feast, something that in itself suggests

a festive gathering of some kind. All of a sudden, a figure (the trickster god-giant Loki) enters the room, apparently in disguise since he avoids giving his own name at first. Loki (as “Loptur”) goes on to state that he has come a long way, and demands something alcoholic to drink:

∏yrstr ek kom
πessar hallar til
Loptur,umlanganveg,
áso at bi∂ia
at mér einn gefi mæran drykk mia∂ar.

He then proceeds to insult each of the members of the banquet, accusing them one by one of various immoral offences, until he is eventually forced to leave. As noted, the parallels that his behaviour presents to the common patterns of later Nordic mumming are striking. This especially applies to the feature of the disguised “supernatural” visitor who comes “from afar” to visit a festive meal, implicitely demanding sustenance and then satirising the hosts before finally being forced to depart. It is also noteworthy how, in Lokasenna, all of those present answer the accusations in an almost ritualistic fashion, and how an identity guessing-game seems to lie behind the poem (see further Gunnell 1995a: 206–212; 225–229; and 238–247).

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Like other spiritual mediators in various prehistoric religions and cultures this was kind of like the scandinavian version. It is the oldest nordic history of the use of masks in a presentational way.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/noaide

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“Songlines are effectively oral maps of the landscape, enabling the transmission of oral navigational skills in cultures that do not have a written language. In many cases, songlines on the earth are mirrored by songlines in the sky, enabling the sky to be used as a navigational tool, both by using it as a compass, and by using it as a mnemonic”

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Songs that cross the country: songlines or dreamings were encyclopedic recordings of water holes, hunting grounds, animals and plants, used by various tribes across Australia to survive. They also involved spiritual elements, as many traced the the journeys of ancestral spirits that created animals, land, and lore. Songs were sung to help traverse the land safely as well as perform rituals at sacred sites along the journey.

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Indigenous Australians have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on Earth.

To this day, their history is preserved and passed down through intricate song, dance, art and stories of the Dreamtime.

Because of Aboriginal culture, we have these continuing stories to our country that other countries don't have.

Woven into this history is the oral tradition of songlines-an ancient memory code used by indigenous cultures around the world.

'Songlines and Dreamings are often held in physical parts of the country, and that assists us to maintain our continuing culture,' says Karen Adams, associate professor in medicine and health sciences at Monash University and Wiradjuri woman.

'Stories are handed down in families that relate to country,' Adams says, 'and often those stories are about social law.'
What are songlines?
Songlines trace the journeys of ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals and lore.

Integral to Aboriginal spirituality, songlines are deeply tied to the Australian landscape and provide important knowledge, cultural values and wisdom to Indigenous people.

'They can be about creation stories, and they can be contemporary stories as well,' says Adams.

'It's quite complex, but those land markers are very, very important, hence the importance of land claims and acknowledgement of traditional owners.'

Using songlines, Indigenous Australians have acquired an encyclopedic memory of the thousands of species of plants and animals across Australia.

'They wouldn't have survived if they didn't have all this practical knowledge and handed down generation after generation,' says Monash University researcher Lynne Kelly.
Read more: Stories of Indigenous recovery
Kelly has collaborated with Indigenous Australian people to gain an insight into their oral tradition and memory, and its deep connections to the landscape.

'Songlines are known as navigational tracks, in that the elders or the trained Indigenous people will sing the landscape and therefore be able to move from location to location through it, and teach each other,' says Kelly.

'At every location, each sacred site within that sung track, they perform rituals. Those rituals are repeated songs, and those songs encode the information.'

According to Kelly, research has shown that up to 70 per cent of Indigenous songs is knowledge about animals, plants and seasonality-'the sort of information you need to survive and know that environment backwards'.

'They are singing the information in songs that tell stories because song, story, mythology, is so much more memorable than a list of facts.

'By describing a plant and giving it characteristics and behaviour, you're actually making the information much more memorable.'
The role of songlines in memory
In 2014, the Nobel Prize for Medicine established how closely memory and spatial awareness are intertwined in the hippocampus. The finding confirmed the pairing of place and memory seen in many of the world's indigenous cultures.

' Songlines link positions in landscape. Each location in the landscape acts as a memory aid to a particular part of the information system, so the knowledge is literally grounded in the landscape,' says Kelly.

The technique is reinforced by the use of portable devices, such as message sticks.

'Using these devices, and the landscape, and song and dance and story and mythology-that combination is an extraordinarily powerful memory technique that reinforces itself,' Kelly says.

Kelly says evidence has emerged of a cultural knowledge of landscape changes dating back 7,000 years.

'The mechanisms are so robust that things like formation of islands around the coast of Australia and sea level rises are accurately recorded in [the] oral tradition,' she says.
The practical uses of the memory code
Australia is home to an extensive network of traditional songlines, some of which traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different Indigenous peoples.

Songlines offer rich explanations of land formations, plant remedies and animal behaviour. Before Indigenous hunters head out, they will perform rituals and repeated acts to improve the success of their hunt.

'If they are hunting kangaroos, for example, dancers will demonstrate the way the ears move if they have detected movement. That sort of information is hugely helpful to get close enough in order to hunt a kangaroo.'

Though deeply tied to the landscape, Kelly has discovered how memory codes like songlines can be used in everyday life.

Like many oral cultures, Kelly used the environment around her to create her own songline, through it, she's been able to memorise all 242 countries by population order.

'I've got Brazil linked to a window in my study. I always know Brazil is number five,' says Kelly.

'I was blessed with a terrible memory, and now I can memorise all this stuff, but it's so much fun and so vivid... I'll just create stories.'
The importance of caring for songlines
Given the significance of the Australian landscape to Indigenous people's cultural heritage, Karen Adams says it's important the land is cared for and respected.

'A lot of the ceremonies and rituals and continuing stories reinforce belonging and social connection and strength of identity and who you are, your confidence and how you travel in the world, and that has an enormous impact on mental health,' she says.

Lynne Kelly agrees, and says the 'invigorated' Australian landscape is an encyclopedia 'embedded' with Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge.

'I had no concept of the depth of knowledge, the absolutely critical nature of the songs and stories, and in particular the landscape, and the bonds between people,' she says.

'The thought now of what the colonisers did to Indigenous people is just horrendous.'

Adams says Australia's long Indigenous history is something all Australians should 'take a great deal of pride in'.

'Because of Aboriginal culture, we have these continuing stories to our country that other countries actually don't have. And I think that that's something to be really proud about.'
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Songlines: the Indigenous memory code - ABC Radio National

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Indigenous Australians have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on Earth. To this day, their history is preserved and passed down through intricate song, dance, art and stories of the Dreamtime. Because of Aboriginal culture, we have these continuing stories to our country that other countries don't have.

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The druids believed in protecting their unique society, so they would orally pass down their knowledge rather than keep a written record of their beliefs.

Within their spirituality, the druids believed in reincarnation, shapeshifting, and magic. Their magic and healing methods were handed down through verses.

One of the most popular modern notices of the druids is their spiritual dances (as seen in "Outlander"). These dances usually involved groups circling around trees in honor of the sun and oak tree.

(other links include: www.buildingbridgeswithirishdance.weebly.com/origin-of-irish-dance.html , www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/history-irelands-ancient-druids , www.druidnetwork.org/what-is-druidry/learning-resources/polytheist/lesson-seventeen/ )

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The Druids were one of the most important groups in Celtic society, which dominated much of Europe before the rise of the Roman Empire. The druids were the Celts learned class and they were magicians, healers, philosophers, poets and lawyers. They were central to Celtic life and were central to the Celts resistance to Roman expansion.

The druids were mainly priestly and were a distinct caste in Celtic society. They were members of the elite and they were the priests of the Celtic people. They had esoteric knowledge and practiced rituals that allowed people to communicate with the Gods.

Druidism can be likened to a shamanistic or natural religion. The Celtic priests taught that the natural world was a channel to the world of the spirits and the realms of the Gods. The Celts practiced a polytheistic religion that worshipped many gods and goddesses. They held that many natural phenomena such as trees and springs held magical powers. Druids, it was believed, could harness these powers by special rites.

Ancient Greek writers have left accounts of Druids performing ceremonies such as cutting mistletoe off sacred oak trees on nights with full moons. They would then make potions, something the Celtic learned class had a profound knowledge of (along with herbs), that would help women and men to be more fertile.

Their perceived ability to perform magic meant that the Druids had immense social and political prestige. In early Irish chronicles the Druids are recorded as having the ability to change the tide of battle, such as by healing warriors and allowing them to return to the fight. The Druids were also bards and their poetry was held to have magical qualities and it was believed that one of their satires could literally result in the death of the person being ridiculed.

The Classical writers regarded the Celts as little more than barbarians. However, even they stated that the Druids were very sophisticated and esteemed them as philosophers. The Celtic learned class believed in the transmigration of souls, that is they subscribed to the doctrine that the soul was reincarnated after death. It was believed that Druids could help the deceased to live again in a paradise-like otherworld or be reincarnated in another body. How this was done is not known.

Druid philosophy was based on the idea of eternal cycles and for this reason they revered the solstice and equinox. The Celtic priests believed that the number three was sacred and that the cosmos was divided into three parts. The also believed in Trinities of Gods. The symbol of three interconnected spirals was a very important religious symbol for the Celts and it was often inscribed onto their monuments.
Druids and Human Sacrifices
The Druids were condemned in Classical accounts of the Celts, because they practiced human sacrifices. Julius Caesar, in his work on the Gallic Wars, describes Druids sacrificing humans to the gods. In one memorable account, he describes Druids in white robes, having people placed in giant straw figures. These 'wicker men' were set on fire and those inside all burned to death. This was done to win the favour of the gods. There are some who claim that accounts of Druids conducting human sacrifices are merely Roman propaganda.
The organization of the Druids
The Druids were a special caste and they had certain privileges in Celtic society. The Celts adopted Greek writing and became literate. However, the Druids did not write down their beliefs or practices. All their knowledge and philosophy were passed down orally and this was done to protect their status as a special group.

It is believed that some of their lore data back to the Stone Age. Much of their learning on magic, healing, etc., was handed down by verses that were memorized. Some Druids were specialists and focused on wizardry or were traveling poets. According to Caesar there were High Druids who commanded the order of Druids. They were elected or else they won their position through battle. Interestingly many leading Druids were females', and this is indicative of the high status of women in Celtic society.

The Romans greatly feared the Celts or Gaul's, as they called them. This was because they had sacked Rome in the 5th century BC. During Julius Caesar's campaign in Gaul he destroyed many Druidic shrines and sought to curtal their influence. He, like other Romans, knew that they were among the most determined to resist their rule.

After the conquest of Gaul, the Druids were all but outlawed and many of their rites were prohibited. During the Roman invasion of Britain, the Druids were at the forefront of the opposition to the legions. It is known that they were often counsellors to local Celtic kings and rulers. The Druids staged a desperate last stand on the Welsh Island of Anglesey in the final phases of the Roman conquest of Britain.

After the legion's conquest of Britain, the Druids were outlawed as in Gaul. They went underground, and they continued to practice many aspects of Druidism. In Ireland, the Druids continued to practice their ancient religion and remained the learned class.

However, it was the arrival of a new religion, Christianity which really led to the demise of Druidism, even in Ireland. In various saint biographies, Christian saints are shown as defeating the Druid's magic with the power of prayer. However, the Druids remained and continued the traditions of the ancient Celts even in the Early Middle Ages, as can be seen in the figure of Merlin in the tales about King Arthur.

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By Edward Whelan, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom The Druids were one of the most important groups in Celtic society, which dominated much of Europe before the rise of the Roman Empire. The druids were the Celts learned class and they were magicians, healers, philosophers, poets and lawyer

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Masks and Mumming among Nordic Islanders (A little bit of a stretch)

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Masks and Mumming among Nordic Islanders (A little bit of a stretch)

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This may be a little bit of a stretch, but I really wanted to find some pre historical theatre close to home. Considering the nature of the theatrical findings and how the nordic world has been slightly behind the rest of Europe culturally I think this can be considered pre historic theatre!

Neolithic people settled in Shetland as early as around 2700 BC, and 3500 AD in the Orkney Islands. The first settlements in Iceland were much later in 874 AD with Ingólfur Arnarson, and in The Faroe Islands somewhere between the 8th and 10th Century AD.

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Aborigine’s culture of story-telling - “corroboree” - is a multi media art form performed through song, dance, painting of totemic icons, and “dramatic lighting of the moon.”It was compared by English settlers to European theater. Aborigines would travel long distances and thus spend valuable resources to learn new songs and honor talented song men and -women in their theatrical performances.

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“Statements made by the 1st century BCE Roman philosopher, Cicero, claim that Pisistratus, an Athenian tyrant who ruled between 546 and 527 BCE, established a Commission of Editors of Homer to edit the “existing” texts of the poems and remove any errors and interpolations, thus canonizing the text specifically for recitation at Athens’ annual Panathenaic festival.  Socrates allegedly stated that Pisistratus, son of Hipparchus, was the first to bring the Homeric poems into Athens (Bryce, 14-16, 195-196).”

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The Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the oldest narratives to withstand time. Accredited to Homer, these poetic verses have preserved memories from an era gone by, an age of heroes. Although, it beckons the question, "Through what means?" That is, how did we get the versions we know and enjoy today?

Following the turmoil that ravaged the Eastern Mediterranean world during what academics call the Late Bronze Age (hereafter, LBA) period at approximately 1200 BCE, the known world would bring about a change like no other. In Greece, the Mycenaean palaces and outlying settlements began to be abandoned or destroyed and by 1050 BCE, all recognizable features of the Mycenaean culture vanished. In Anatolia, not only had Troy fallen but the Hittite empire collapsed and left little proof of it ever existing. Egypt was so badly weakened that it never again regained its former glory. The Near East fell into a Dark Age, marking the beginning of a new era, the Iron Age. However, all was not lost. With every passing comes a rebirth. Out of the ashes of the old arose new nations which would eventually define the Western World; nations that included Greece, Phrygia, the Neo-Hittites, Israel, etc.

The Greek Dark Age essentially wiped the Greeks off of the historical record until the 8th century BCE when they were active outside of the Greek mainland; that is in the Aegean / Ionian islands, Anatolia, Italy (Magna Gracia), Ischia, and Sicily. Prior to the disappearance of the Mycenaean Greeks in the LBA, writing was utilized in all of the Aegean to record inventories and transactions. The Mycenaean script is referred to as Linear B; an adaptation of the earlier Minoan Linear A. Linear A and B comprise hundreds of signs that represent syllabic, ideographic, and semantic values. To date, Linear B has been the only deciphered script (translated by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick between 1951 - 1953), providing insight into the more archaic form of Greek spoken by the Mycenaeans (Chadwick, 84).
This clay tablet with Linear B script, dated to 1450-1375 BC is Minoan and was found at Knossos by Arthur Evans. It records quantities of oil apparently offered to various deities. Source:
It would take centuries before the Greeks rediscovered writing. The earliest known and yet fragmentary Greek inscriptions have been dated to the 8th century BCE. It is generally believed that the Greek alphabet was adopted and adapted from the already present Phoenician alphabet, in Euboea (the second largest Greek island in the Aegean Sea) as archaeology seems to showcase that this region of Greece was one of the first to recover from the preceding Greek Dark Age (Burkert, 26). This adaptation of the Semitic script was the first alphabetic writing system that was not abjad (or consonant only); introducing vowels. It is this modified script that spread across the entire Mediterranean, to be used by the Phrygians, Lydians, Lycians, Carians, among other Anatolian nations in the East and by the Etruscans residing in Italy to the West. This modified script would later inspire the Latin character set utilized by the Romans.

Returning to Homer, scholars continue to debate his existence. He has been dated to the Greek Archaic Period in the 8th BCE. Whether he existed or not is not the focus of this article, but one thing is for certain, as is evident by his work, he was a poet; a traveling bard who sang these verses, most likely to the tune of a lyre. It was through poetic verse and the use of repetition that the poet was able to maintain an almost consistent and fluid narrative in every performance. The oral composition of the Iliad and Odyssey would predate Homer as its themes and events would have been passed from generation to generation until we arrive to Homer. Through archaeology, historians are able to discern assorted Mycenaean activities over a span of time during the LBA, in some cases in a clash with the location of Ilium (i.e. Troy) and would eventually inspire the Iliad. These warlike activities are recorded in the Hittite records excavated from the Hittite capital of Hattusa, near the modern town of Boğazkale (formerly, Boğazköy). These records also contain some of the toponyms and names found in the epic (i.e. Achaea, Atreus, Alexandros, etc.). The events would make such an impression in this region that in the southern coastal regions of Anatolia, a Cilician leader (ca. 8th century BCE) of the later Iron Age would trace his lineage to the seer, Mopsus (Payne, 42-44).

Now, how would these many historical events form the single myth we know as the Trojan War and inspire Homer to sing of it in the Iliad and Odyssey? To quote Harvard classicist Gregory Nagy, "In general, we don't find that historical facts are the kernel of myth but that myth organizes historical facts (Nagy, 27)." Since myth can use history, it would organize these events to form the Iliad (and the Odyssey); thus orally preserving historical details and sung about for generations. With each telling, the bard reciting the Iliad and Odyssey, inspired and guided by the Muses would allow various elements of these epics to evolve, allowing the now gone era to sound that much more fascinating. The role of the bard was to entertain.

While many scholars place the written composition of both the Iliad and Odyssey to the time of Homer, it is this author's opinion that it is very unlikely. The earliest known evidence of these two poems being written and canonized, trace back to the Pisistratid era. Statements made by the 1st century BCE Roman philosopher, Cicero, claim that Pisistratus, an Athenian tyrant who ruled between 546 and 527 BCE, established a Commission of Editors of Homer to edit the "existing" texts of the poems and remove any errors and interpolations, thus canonizing the text specifically for recitation at Athens' annual Panathenaic festival. Socrates allegedly stated that Pisistratus, son of Hipparchus, was the first to bring the Homeric poems into Athens (Bryce, 14-16, 195-196). Whatever these sources tell us, they seem to indicate that the Iliad and Odyssey, in their written form existed in the Pisistratid period. In response to Cicero's assertion in that written copies existed before that, it should be noted that he did live over four centuries after this commissioned event. It is difficult to prove or disprove the comment made.

In the late 19th century CE, archaeologists discovered an ancient deposit (intended for garbage) of tens of thousands of papyri fragments located at the ancient Greek colony of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. Among the manuscripts found were the Iliad and Odyssey. These copies date to as early as the 3rd century BCE and are consistent (with the exception of orthography) with the 10th century CE Venetus A (oldest fully extant manuscript of the Iliad) and the Laurentianus (oldest fully extant manuscript of the Odyssey); which provide the translations we read today. The Oxyrhynchus fragments are the oldest surviving copy.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 21: The Iliad II:745-764. Author's image. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. ]
So, what about the gap between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE? It is this author's opinion that these stories were preserved in art and manufactured goods (see below) instead of being written down and the multiple traditions or variations were sung by one or more bards trained in the Homeric tradition until the mid-to-late 6th century BCE canonization. Evidence for these variants stem from the black and red figure art painted and preserved on Greek vases. For instance, one such varied scene can be found on the so-called François Vase, which is an elaborate Athenian basin painted by Kleitias about 575 BCE and it shows the funeral games of Patroclus. Of the five charioteers named, only Diomedes coincides with the Iliad's competitors in the race (Finley, 28). This confirms Cicero's initial claim that variations of the epics did exist.
François Vase (c 570 BC). Source:
As mentioned above, it is highly unlikely that the Iliad and Odyssey, in their completed and continuously evolving and varied forms, would be written down as soon as the Greek alphabet is adopted and used. Although, it wouldn't be too unrealistic for individuals to be inspired enough to manufacturer products that contains references to these epics, as is the case with the Cup of Nestor, found on the Greek colonized site of Pithekoussai on the Italian island of Ischia. The major events of these epics would be preserved in the figure art of Greek vases as they are orally retold by the traveling bards until one day, when it is commissioned to consolidate and write these epics down.
Featured image: Ulysses at the court of Alcinous. Artist: Francesco Hayez (1791-1882). Source:
By Petros Koutoupis
Sources
Burkert, Walter. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1995. [Print]

Bryce, Trevor. The Trojans and Their Neighbors. New York: Routledge, 2006. [Print]

Chadwick, John. The Decipherment of Linear B. New York: Cambridge UP, 1958. [Print]

Finley, M.I. The World of Odysseus. New York: New York Review, 2002. [Print]

Nagy, Gregory. "Is Homer Historical? An Archaeology Odyssey Interview." Interview by Jack Meinhardt. Archaeology Odyssey May/Jun. 2004: 26+. [Print]

Payne, Annick. Iron Age Hieroglyphic Luwian Inscriptions. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012. [Print]

Wikipedia, 2014. The Cup of Nestor . [Online]

Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor%27s_Cup#The_.22Cup_of_Nestor.22_from_Pithekoussai

[Accessed 4 May 2014]

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The Iliad and the Odyssey, two of the oldest narratives to withstand time. Accredited to Homer, these poetic verses have preserved memories from an era gone by, an age of heroes. Although, it beckons the question, "Through what means?" That is, how did we get the versions we know and enjoy today?

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Regarding the Iliad and Odyssey, two of the most well-known Greek stories from which plays and films have been made: “The stories of Achilles and Odysseus would have been passed down orally for about five hundred years before they were written down sometime in the eighth century B.C.“

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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In Ancient Egypt they had dramatic performance that were ritualistic in nature and were played for an audience that consisted of the gods and priests in the temple. Their lack of a true audience and dialogue that addressed each other were the reasons it was not considered true theatre.
http://semiramis-speaks.com/from-ritual-drama-to-ancient-theater/from-ritual-drama-to-ancient-theater-egypt/

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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Epidaurus Theatre, Epidavrou, Tripolis, Greece

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Epidaurus is known as a classical Greek Theatre which still exists today. It was built in 340BC and its construction shows the time period of when they did theatre. It is still in use today because of the great structure that it is. The acoustics of the stone seating created amplified sound for all of the audience to hear. This was something people couldn't figure out for awhile, but has shown to be true from studying the architecture of the stone steps.  The stage is circular, to keep with the choros (circular dance), and is called the orchestra, orchester - a dancer, showing it is a place for dancing and the chorus singing.

Sanctuary to Theater
(among other uses):
"Located on the fertile plain of Argolida, in the eastern part of Peloponnese, the Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus was an important sacred healing center during ancient times. Asclepius, also spelled Asklepios, was believed to possess healing powers that he learned from his father, Apollo. Therefore, the area attracted people from all over Greece who came to be treated by the resident priests. And with time, and as the center developed, prosperity increased, which the priests used to build an impressive complex of facilities, including temples, baths, athletic venues, and the theater."

[In link] Greek Theatre 6AD coming from followers of the god Dionysus, cult ceremonies and exciting occasions.

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There were a couple of things that stood out to me about Spain, the main one being; 'The Dancers of Cogul'. It is one amongst 45 cave paintings in what is called 'Roca Del Moros' a shelter in the rocks in the village of Cogul. The Dancers of Cogul is a drawing of 10 women dancing bare footed in flowing skirts and naked upper body around a nude man. Interestingly, the human figure seems to be of great importance and takes prominent place in these cave paintings which is very reflective of Levantine art. Both men and women are shown to be with skirts whilst displaying a naked upper body. They are also known to be quite phallic. Dance seems to be a main theme expressed even amongst hunting and human battle with 'very wide strides' or 'flying running'.

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Discovered over one century ago, the rock paintings found on the walls of this natural shelter are among the earliest known examples of the style known as Levantine rock art.

This is a natural shelter formed by a stone block which projects from the side of a small ridge. In 1907 the rector of El Cogul discovered this series of paintings, which feature 45 human and animal figures (bulls, goats, deer), drawn in shades of red and black and grouped into various scenes. Particularly noteworthy is the depiction of the so-called 'phallic dance' showing a group of nine women around a naked man. The women are wearing long skirts and are bare-breasted. Around the outside of this scene are various figures of deer, bulls and hunters which appear to belong to an earlier period. There have been suggestions that this was once a shrine or a sacred site, which would explain both the superimposition of the figures and the existence of Iberian and Latin inscriptions.

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Roca dels Moros in Cogul, El | spain.info USA

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Discovered over one century ago, the rock paintings found on the walls of this natural shelter are among the earliest known examples of the style known as Levantine rock art. This is a natural shelter formed by a stone block which projects from the side of a small ridge.

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This is so interesting! Although through digging up more research, I found that this was very cult-like, it was still so interesting. I found that a festival that was held here was actually the birth place of tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama. The festivals were for poets to come and write, produce and (probably) act in three tragedies based on a single theme. Each poet would also present a satyr play "which treated a heroic subject in a burlesque fashion," (sounds a lot like Saturday Night Live if you ask me!) Check this link out if you want to read a bit more about the festival!

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Table of Contents

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Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Tragedy of some form, probably chiefly the chanting of choral lyrics, was introduced by the tyrant Peisistratus when he refounded the festival (534/531 bc), but the earliest tragedy that survives, Aeschylus' Persai, dates from 472.

The festivals were attended by all Athenian citizens (likely women as well as men) and visitors from throughout Greece. In the tragic competition, each of three tragic poets wrote, produced, and probably acted in three tragedies on a single theme. Each poet also presented a satyr play, which treated some heroic subject in burlesque fashion. Judges, chosen by lot, awarded a prize to the best poet. In comedy, introduced in 486, five poets competed for the prize, each with one play. The satyr play was always the work of a tragic poet, and the same poet never wrote both tragedies and comedies. In 440 comedy was also introduced into the Lenaea, the minor festival of Dionysus held in January, and tragedy was added 10 years later.

Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.

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Great Dionysia, also called City Dionysia, ancient dramatic festival in which tragedy, comedy, and satyric drama originated; it was held in Athens in March in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine. Tragedy of some form, probably chiefly the chanting of choral lyrics, was introduced by the tyrant Peisistratus when he refounded the festival (534/531 bc), but the earliest tragedy that survives, Aeschylus' Persai, dates from 472.

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In Ancient Greece, artists created practical vessels to hold oil (lekythos) or water (hydra). But, as the Greeks do, they painted stunning depictions of their culture on the outside of them. This includes everything from an athlete running to stories of ancient Greek mythology. The pottery was so well constructed that archeologists have been able to recover over 100,000 of them. Ancient Greek pottery dates all the way back to 1000 BC. These pieces of pottery have helped historians put together a clear picture of the Greek's everyday life as well as the wild mythical beliefs that dictated their behavior. Lastly, they added inscriptions that can date all the way back to the 8th century bc. These point to the earliest versions of the Greek alphabet.

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The pottery of ancient Greece from c. 1000 to c. 400 BCE provides not only some of the most distinctive vase shapes from antiquity but also some of the oldest and most diverse representations of the cultural beliefs and practices of the ancient Greeks. Further, pottery, with its durability (even when broken) and lack of appeal to treasure hunters, is one of the great archaeological survivors and is, therefore, an important tool for archaeologists and historians in determining the chronology of ancient Greece. Whatever their artistic and historical value though, the vast majority of Greek vases, despite now being dusty museum pieces, were actually meant for everyday use and, to paraphrase Arthur Lane, it is perhaps worth remembering that standing on a stone pavement and drenched with water, they would have once gleamed in the Mediterranean sun.

Materials & Production

The clay ( keramos) to produce pottery ( kerameikos) was readily available throughout Greece, although the finest was Attic clay, with its high iron content giving an orange-red colour with a slight sheen when fired and the pale buff of Corinth. Clay was generally prepared and refined in settling tanks so that different consistencies of material could be achieved depending on the vessel types to be made with it.

Greek pottery was invariably made on the potter's wheel and usually made in separate horizontal sections: the foot, the lower and upper body, the neck, and finally the handles, if necessary. These sections were then joined together with a clay 'slip' after drying and it is possible in many cases to see the prints of the potter impressed on the inside of the vessel. The piece was then put back on the wheel to smooth the join marks and add the final shaping. Therefore, all vases were unique and the small variations in dimensions reveal that the use of simple tools and not cut-out templates was the norm.

Pots were fired several times (in the same kiln) in order to achieve the required finish & colouring.

Next, the pot was decorated. This process depended on the decorative style in vogue at the time, but popular methods included painting the whole or parts of the vase with a thin black adhesive paint which was added with a brush, the marks of which remain visible in many cases. This black paint was a mix of alkali potash or soda, clay with silicon content, and black ferrous oxide of iron. The paint was affixed to the pot by using a fixative of urine or vinegar which burned away in the heat of the kiln, binding the paint to the clay. Another technique, used more rarely, was to cover the vessel with a white clay paint. Alternatively, only lines or figures were added in black using a thicker version of the black paint mentioned above and applied with a stiff brush or feather; in consequence, a slight relief effect was achieved. Minor details were often added with a thinned black paint giving a yellow-brown colour, a white pipe-clay, and a dark red of ochre and manganese. The latter two colours tended to flake off over time.

The finished pot was then ready to be put in the kiln and fired at a temperature of around 960 °C, which is relatively low and explains the 'softness' of Greek pottery (in comparison to, for example, Chinese porcelain). Pots were fired several times (in the same kiln) in order to achieve the required finish and colouring. First, the pot was fired in an oxidising fire where good ventilation to the kiln ensured that the orange/red of the clay came to the fore. Then the pot was re-fired in a kiln starved of oxygen (reduction process) by adding water or damp wood inside the kiln. This ensured that the painted colours, particularly the black, darkened in colour. A third firing, again with good ventilation, re-reddened the clay of the pot whilst the painted areas, now protected by a thin wash, kept their original colouring. This complicated process obviously required excellent timing from the potter so as not to spoil the vase with unseemly discolouring.

Potters & Painters

Painter and potter ( kerameus) were usually, although not always, separate specialists. However, lasting partnerships existed such as between the potter Ergotimos and painter Kleitas. Many individual potters and less frequently, painters, have been identified with certainty through their signatures (most commonly as "...made this") although the majority of Greek vases are unsigned. However, Professor J. D. Beazley, working in the 20th century CE, identified more than 500 unsigned artists distinguishable through their particular style. Beazley's systematic and comprehensive cataloguing of Greek pottery has also allowed for the study of its evolution in techniques, designs, and decoration.

A good Greek vase probably cost only a day's wages.

Painters often worked in collective workshops, generally under the supervision of one 'master' potter (which suggests form was actually more important than decoration for the Greeks). Although artists were free from centralised political control or restrictions, they no doubt were driven by the market demand for particular styles, subjects, and fashions. Many potters and artists were prolific in their output and in some cases over 200 vases may be attributed to a single artist. The majority of pottery workers would have been paid no more than any other manual labourer and a good vase probably cost only a day's wages. Certainly though, a few artists would have been in great demand and their goods were sold not only locally but far and wide throughout the Mediterranean. Potters themselves sometimes relocated to other cities, particularly colonies, often taking with them their regional style. There was also some rivalry between artists as indicated by one signed comment on a vase, "better than Euphronias could ever have done".

Shapes

Although Greek pottery provides us with a wide range of shapes from cups to plates to massive amphorae, many of the forms remained relatively constant over centuries. This is primarily because Greek potters were producing wares for practical use - holding wine, water, oil, and perfumes - and once the optimum practical shape had evolved, it was copied and maintained. However, despite this restriction in form, the Greek potters and painters could express their versatility in the decoration of the vase.

The most common forms of pottery were amphorae for storing wine, large kraters for mixing wine with water, jugs ( oinochoai) for pouring wine, kylixes or stemmed cups with horizontal handles for drinking (especially practical if lifting a cup from the floor when reclining on a lounger at dinner), hydra with three handles for holding water, skyphoi or deep bowls, and lekythoi jars for holding oils and perfumes. Precisely because these objects were for practical use, handles (when present) are generally sturdy affairs, yet the potter, by using carefully considered shapes, often managed to blend these additions into the overall harmony of the vessel and was aided in this endeavour with subtle decorative additions by the painter.

Decorative Styles: Proto-Geometric Pottery

Greek pottery, particularly in terms of decoration, evolved over the centuries and may be categorized into four broad groups:

These groups or styles, however, did not pass abruptly from one to the other but rather in some cases ran contemporary for decades. Also, some city-states and regions were either slow to catch on to new styles or simply preferred the 'old' style decoration long after they had gone out of production elsewhere. In addition, some cities and regions were consistently a little eccentric in their decoration (notably Laconia- Sparta, Cyprus, Crete, and Boeotia) and preferred to follow their own artistic path rather than imitate the styles of the more dominant centres such as Athens and Corinth.

The first distinctive Greek pottery style first appeared around 1000 BCE or perhaps even earlier. Reminiscent in technique of the earlier Greek civilizations of Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean mainland, early Greek pottery decoration employed simple shapes, sparingly used. Proto-Geometric pottery, however, differs from Minoan and Mycenaean in shape. The centre of gravity of the vase is moved downwards (creating a more stable vessel) with the feet and neck more articulated.

The most popular Proto-Geometric designs were precisely painted circles (painted with multiple brushes fixed to a compass), semi-circles, and horizontal lines in black and with large areas of the vase painted solely in black. A new motif on the bases of vessels was the upright triangular points which would endure for centuries and become a staple feature of the later black-figure pottery design.

Geometric Pottery

From around 900 BCE the full Geometric style appeared and favoured the rectangular space on the main body of the vase between the handles. Bold linear designs (perhaps influenced by contemporary basketwork and weaving styles) appeared in this space with vertical line decoration on either side. It was in this period that the Maeander design first appeared (perhaps inspired by the practice of wrapping leaves around the rims of metal bowls), destined to become forever associated with Greece and still going strong on everything from plates to beach towels even today. The lower portion of Geometric vessels were often painted in black and separated from the rest of the vase using horizontal lines. An interesting Geometric style shape appeared which was the circular box with a flat lid, on top of which, one to four horses acted as a handle.

The black stylized figures became more & more precisely engraved & were given ever more detail, grace & vigour.

From the 8th century BCE, Geometric pottery decoration began to include stylized human figures, birds, and animals with nearly all the surface of the vase covered in bold lines and shapes painted in brown and black. Towards the end of the period in the 7th century BCE, the so-called Orientalising style became popular in Corinth. With its eastern trade connections, the city appropriated the stylised plants (e.g. lotus, palm, and the tree of life), animal friezes (e.g. lions), and curved lines of Egyptian and Assyrian pottery to produce its own unique Greek version. The rest of eastern Greece followed suit, often preferring red on a white slip background. Athens also followed the new trend and it became widespread with, for example, the Cyclades also producing pottery in this new freer style, often on very large vases and with more spacious decoration.

At the end of the 7th century BCE, Proto-Corinthian pottery reached new heights of technique and quality producing the finest pottery yet seen, in firing, shape, and decoration. The black stylized figures became more and more precisely engraved and were given ever more detail, grace, and vigour. The celebrated black-figure pottery style was born.

Black-figure Pottery

Although first produced in Corinth, then with fine examples made in Laconia and southern Italy (by Euboean settlers), it would be the potters and painters of Attica who would excel above all others in the black-figure style, and they would go on to dominate the Greek market for the next 150 years. Not all figures were painted black as certain colour conventions were adopted, such as white for female flesh and purple-red for clothes and accessories. A greater interest in fine details such as muscles and hair, which were added to the figures using a sharp instrument, is characteristic of the style. However, it is the postures of the figures which also mark out black-figure pottery as the zenith of Greek vase painting. The finest figures are given grace and poise and often illustrated in the moments before actual movement or resting after exertion.

The famous vase by Exekias, with Ajax and Achilles playing a board game during the Trojan War, is an excellent example of the dignity and energy black-figure painting could achieve. In addition, black-figure vases often told, for the first time, a narrative. Perhaps the most celebrated example is the Francois Vase, a large volute krater made by Ergotimos and painted by Kleitas (570-565 BCE) which is 66cm high (26 inches) and covered in 270 human and animal figures depicting an astonishing range of scenes and characters from Greek mythology. Typical other vessels of the black-figure style are amphorae, lekythoi, kylixes, plain cups, pyxides (small lidded boxes) and bowls.

Red-figure Pottery

The black-figure technique was replaced by the red-figure technique (red figures created by painting their outline with a black slip background) around 530 BCE which would endure for the next 130 years or so. The two styles were parallel for some time and there are even 'bilingual' examples of vases with both styles but the red-figure, with its advantage of the brush over the graver, could attempt to more realistically portray the human figure and eventually it became the favoured style of Greek pottery decoration. Perhaps influenced by contemporary wall painting techniques, anatomical detail, diverse facial expressions, greater detail in clothing (especially of folds, following the new fashion of the lighter chiton dress which also fascinated contemporary sculptors), greater attempts at portraying perspective, the overlapping of figures, and the depiction of everyday life such as education and sporting scenes are all characteristic of this style.

The shapes of red-figure vessels are generally those of the black-figure style. An exception is the kylix which becomes shallower and with a shorter foot, almost becoming a third handle. In addition, the painted narrative is to be read by turning the cup in the hand. Other minor modifications are the hydra, which becomes a little fuller in figure and the slimmer neck- amphora. Lekythoi of this period commonly had a white background as did (more rarely) cups and boxes.

New Media

Into the fourth century BCE, perhaps in attempting to copy the innovations in perspective of contemporary fresco, the red-figure style would reveal its limitations and vases would degenerate into over-packed scenes with strange floating perspectives. Significantly, pottery painting would no longer be linked intrinsically to the form which it decorated and so ceased to exist as an art-form in its own right. Consequently, artistic attention and excellence would turn away from the confinements of pottery to other more open media such as wall-painting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, then, we may say that not only has Greek pottery given us some of the most distinctive, influential, and beautiful shapes and designs of antiquity but it has also given us a window into the lives, practices, and beliefs of a people long gone and of whom we very often have no contemporary written record. These everyday objects, unlike those other archaeological survivors literature, sculpture, and architecture, allow us to feel a little closer to the ordinary people of the ancient world, those who could not afford fine art or precious jewellery but could indulge in possessing a finely made object such as a Greek vase.

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The pottery of ancient Greece from c. 1000 to c. 400 BCE provides not only some of the most distinctive vase shapes from antiquity but also some of the oldest and most diverse representations of the cultural beliefs and practices of the ancient Greeks.

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Interesting! Belly Dancing as a community style for several different occasions, influenced from African styles of dance as well. Folk dancing in Turkey was one of the most popular ways to initiate rites of passage in life, celebrations, weddings, funerals, and other cultural events.

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What do you see when you imagine belly dancing?
It's Probably Not What You Think.

The belly dance is not a dance of seduction - nor did it begin that way. Throughout Middle Eastern history, Oriental dance (the proper term for belly dance) has been a family dance done at such occasions as weddings, births, and festivals. Men, women, and children in those cultures have always belly danced for fun, not to entertain or arouse an audience.

You've Come A Long Way, Baby.

Belly dancing may have originated as a fertility ritual. 17,000 year-old rock engravings found in the caves of Addaura, near Palermo in Sicily, depict what appears to be a ritual fertility dance, as do ancient Egyptian tomb paintings and Greek sculptures.

In Sparta, women danced for Artemis, who was a goddess of the moon and of fertility. Referred to as the Kordax, their dance emphasized the rotation of the hips and stomach. Hebrews, on the other hand, danced the Shalome - a dance based on a legend whose heroine embodied both motherhood and fruitfulness: the myth of the Seven Veils of Ishtar (more on that later).

Many early civilizations believed that women were almost solely responsible for procreation. In some cases, women were feared because they seemed to command the mysteries of nature. Tribes in the South Seas, New Guinea, East Polynesia, Africa, and Greece not only thought that conception would be impossible, but that the human race would die - unless the women performed the fertility dance.

The Dance of the Seven Veils

Consider the myth of the Seven Veils of Ishtar. This legend began in 4,500 BC, out of fear that winter might never end. It's a tale found, with variations, in a number of different cultures. The essential idea of a " belly dancing" woman, however, remains intact in all.

A Babylonian goddess of love and sensuality, Ishtar represented all women. She was chaste, yet fertile. She was a life-giver and a great nurturer, yet she was known as the mother of darkness and destruction.

According to the story, Ishtar's husband dies and descends into the land of darkness, (in some cases referred to as the " womb of the Earth" ). Ishtar covers her body with seven veiled costumes, and sets off to retrieve her husband.

Appropriately dressed, she deceives her way into the underworld, through forty-nine gates. To gain admission at each seventh gate, she dances in a way that emphasizes her abdomen, rolling it in circles. Each time she does so, she gives up a jewel and a veil.

Meanwhile, in her absence, no crops grow, and no festivities take place. Ishtar makes her way through the gates, determined to reach the forty-ninth - and determined to find her man. Despite the hardships, Ishtar triumphs. When she returns with her husband and her seven veils, the people celebrate and the crops flourish.

Meet the Mothers.

In traditional Muslim society, women often gathered to perform a type of belly dance after the evening meal, a dance they called " Raks-sharki" . After feeding their husbands and sons, the women would convene in a separate location to dance (such activity was not permitted in the company of men).

That traditional, "after dinner" dance was important because it enabled mothers of eligible bachelors to meet the young women in the community. It also developed the muscles needed for childbirth. As such, young women displayed their readiness for marriage by dancing for the mothers.

How Belly Dance Became Westernized

Eighteenth century French explorers traveling in Egypt witnessed performers of a curious dance, which these Frenchmen termed " dance du ventre" (" dance of the stomach" ). The French painter Delacroix, on a visit to North Africa in 1832, made this observation about the dancers:

" They are closer to nature in a thousand ways. Their dress, the form of their shoes. And so beauty has a share in everything they make. As for us in our corsets, our tight shoes, our ridiculous pinching clothes, we are pitiful."

Coming to America

Belly dancing was introduced to America in 1893, by promoter Sol Bloom, at the Chicago World's Fair. Some credit Bloom with coining the term " belly dance" , a term he used to call attention to the exotic-looking dancers (remember that this was an era in which a woman's exposed ankle was considered shocking). The dance was an immediate hit. It spread to Coney Island in 1908, and soon moved on to other major metropolitan areas.

Of course, given the social climate, the dance was not always well received. The Victorian women of the late 1800s, dressed head to toe in corsets and layered gowns, were repulsed by such " obscenity".

The Cart Pulls The Horse.

Western colonialists from Europe influenced many parts of the Middle East. In some countries, men and women broke with tradition and began socializing in mixed company. Nightclubs sprung up, which led to a newly Westernized belly dance - replete with the sequined bra/belt combination created by Hollywood movie makers - as a form of entertainment. In fact, many credit the film industry, especially the Egyptian film industry, with changing Middle Eastern belly dance into what it is today.

You Oughta Be In Pictures.

In the eighteenth century, Egypt was a British colony, so when movie making began in the West, an Egyptian film industry quickly developed (no pun intended). Screen writers, looking for new ideas, were intrigued by the informal dancing seen throughout Egypt.

Many talented dancers were recruited, dressed in costumes, and put in movie dance scenes. Soon, Hollywood conceptions of entertainment and glamour changed both the nature of the dancing and the costumes. Such dancers as Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca quickly became international stars.

A new type of belly dancer emerged, one who would perform on-stage in the clubs and cabarets of Cairo. Such dancers inspired many Westerners to appreciate (and even learn) the dance. And that's why belly dancing is sometimes referred to as " Egyptian Dance".

Belly Dance Today

The Veil Prevails.

Throughout the history of the belly dance, veils have been worn to conceal the body, which symbolizes both sexuality and worldliness. In Muslim society, modern Arab women are still required to wear veils in obedience to Islam.

As belly dancing has become accepted in some of its originating countries, however, it has been ever more common at weddings, birth announcements, and other important celebrations. In present-day Egypt, in fact, it's customary for a newlywed couple not only to hire a belly dancer for their wedding, but also to have their photo taken with their hands on the dancer's stomach - another throwback to the dance's significance as a fertility rite.

Men, women, and children all belly dance at such events, although the men and women dance in separate groups, with arms outstretched (though all will sometimes dance in a circle formation).

Bring On the Dance!

In many parts of the world, travelers and locals alike fully expect to see a belly dance. You won't experience typical Moroccan nightlife without participating in one. Similarly, it's nearly impossible to visit Hawaii and not see its native belly dance: the Hula. The latter, in fact, derives from the Polynesian form of belly dancing, which arrived with Hawaii's earliest settlers back in the fifth century.

Belly Dance Retakes The West.

Interest in belly dancing has surged in recent years. Some attribute that to an influx of immigrants, now free to enjoy their native dance in Middle Eastern restaurants in the West. The belly dance has been a standard form of entertainment at such venues in American cities since the 1960s.

We Can Work It Out.

Belly dancing has also swept the exercise industry. The dance strengthens the abdominals, thighs, calves, arms, back, buttocks, and hips. Under-exercised muscles, which are otherwise hard to tone via traditional methods, respond rapidly to belly dance.

Participants can even correct poor posture with the dance's unique, isolated movements. And because people usually find it more interesting than most other forms of exercise, it's become an enjoyable and sustainable way to lose weight and tone muscles - for those of nearly any age group or fitness level.

Not surprisingly, it can even be used during pregnancy - through the third trimester - to ready the stomach muscles for childbirth.

As it has for thousands of years, the belly dance thrives. In both the West and the Middle East, professional dancers perform at nightclubs, weddings, and other events. But the ancient art of Oriental dance is still seen, in many parts of the Middle East, as an informal dance, one that people of all ages do for fun when with friends and family. And it is a dance that you can learn to do for fun, entertainment, or fitness.

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What do you see when you imagine belly dancing? The belly dance is not a dance of seduction - nor did it begin that way. Throughout Middle Eastern history, Oriental dance (the proper term for belly dance) has been a family dance done at such occasions as weddings, births, and festivals.

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The Origins of Theatre - The First Plays (continued)

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A Mongolian artist performs a traditional throat-singing Tuva Khoomei.

On Sept. 30, 2009, UNESCO added the art of Chinese Mongolian Khoomei singing to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Khoomei, the superb art of throat-singing, has spread throughout Chinese Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang area, Mongolia and seven republics of the Russian Federation known as the circle of Mongolian Culture, including Tuva, Tatar, Khakass, Bashkir, Kalmykia, Buryatia and Yakutia.

Khoomei is one of the oldest historical forms of vocal music, which is why studies on Mongolian Khoomei is vital to the search for the origin of the Mongolian nationality and establishing a time frame for Mongolian prehistory. Between May and July 2012, when a team from the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences surveyed and mapped the site of Xinglonggou in Inner Mongolia, they excavated and repaired a pottery statue made in the later period of Hongshan culture more than 5,300 years ago.

The first piece of prehistoric pottery statue discovered in China, scholars disputed "the pottery statue's placement and functions, its identity and the meaning of its mouth movement." On the basis of historical materials and the understanding of artistic traditions of the Mongolian nationality's music, I think the pottery statue's mouth movement depicts a figure exerting strength to sing loudly and in particular to perform Khoomei singing. This pottery statue can be said to be a representative of the "originator of Khoomei art" based on its long history.

In fact, Khoomei has long been popular on the Mongolian Plateau within today's Chinese territory. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the Chronicle of Zuo recorded Khoomei singing.

During the medieval period, Tiele people, an ancient nationality in North China, lived a nomadic lifestyle on the Mongolian Plateau. Because they preferred to ride high-sided wagons, they were called people of high-sided wagons. The famous The Ode to the Tiele is a beautiful pastoral for the prairie created by people of high-sided wagons. The singing methods applied by people of high-sided wagons have combined traditions of Mongolian long tune and Mongolian Khoomei. The emergence and development of long tune and Khoomei are related to the worship and simulation of the wolf totem by people of the prairie.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Mongolian Khoomei began to popularize in the south. In the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the court established a specialized agency for managing Mongolian music known as the "Shibang Division." Written in the late Qing Dynasty, Liu E's vivid description of Mongolian Khoomei in The Travels of Lao Can attempted to capture its essence for posterity.

Fan Ziye is from the Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 636, August 20, 2014

Translated by Zhang Mengying

http://sscp.cssn.cn/xkpd/ysx_20173/201408/t20140820_1298070.html

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Tracing the artistic traditions of Mongolian Khoomei in China-SSCP

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A Mongolian artist performs a traditional throat-singing Tuva Khoomei. On Sept. 30, 2009, UNESCO added the art of Chinese Mongolian Khoomei singing to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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The morin khuur, a Mongolian folk instrument, is not only a national instrument but also an important part of their heritage and culture. It has been played for centuries by the nomadic people of the grasslands and now has found its place on the big stage.

The most ancient string instruments are said to hail from the nomadic cultures of the East. They discovered that sound can be achieved by rubbing the strings of two bows together. The Mongolian people also have a legend that explains the origins of the morin khuur. The favourite white horse of a boy was killed by an evil khan. During the night, the spirit of the horse came to him in his sleep, telling the boy to make a musical instrument out of its body. The neck of the first morin khuur was made out of the horse's bone, the string out of horse hair, and the main body covered with horse skin. The two then remained inseparable.

The literal translation of the instrument's name is "horsehead fiddle," as traditionally the neck of the morin khuur is carved into the shape of a horse. The instrument is played sitting down, held between the knees of the player. There are two strings on the morin khuur: one made of 130 hairs of a male horse and one made of 105 hairs from a female horse. Traditionally, the morin khuur was played while telling epic poems or stories, often performed by shamans. Now, this tradition is upheld by young musicians, most of whom come from Mongolia. Battulga Wanchindorj is a music student, hailing from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia and currently training at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He completed his initial training at home and then moved to Russia to pursue a professional career. He introduced his instrument, which is a modern version of the morin khuur, where the strings are made of nylon and the whole body is made of wood.

The music of the morin khuur often comes paired with throat singing. Battulga is talented at both and performs songs on the morin khuur as well as folk songs using throat singing. Not every morin khuur player is able to use throat singing. It is a separate discipline that requires years of training from a young age. Battulga suggests that throat singing was a tactic used by Mongolian warriors. "It might not sound particularly scary now, but imagine if a whole army of soldiers began singing at the same time."

The morin khuur traveled to Europe with the famous 13th-century traveler Marco Polo, who was in China during the rule of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty. The morin khuur has spread into other parts of the world with the Mongol people. Apart from Mongolia, it is also played in the south of Russia and in Inner Mongolia in China. The modern morin khuur has been adapted to play any type of music, ranging from traditional tunes to classical pieces.

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An Introduction to Folk Instruments: The Mongolian Morin Khuur

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The morin khuur, a Mongolian folk instrument, is not only a national instrument but also an important part of their heritage and culture. It has been played for centuries by the nomadic people of the grasslands and now has found its place on the big stage.

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Apache Tribe: Covering parts of AZ, TX, CO, NM, and Northern Mexico

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Apache Tribe: Covering parts of AZ, TX, CO, NM, and Northern Mexico

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They believed before each annihilation (the great flood), instructions for survival were given by spirit powers and as the new world began, the tribe received songs and ceremonies designed for living in the newly formed world.
https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2329&context=gradschool_dissertations

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Khoomei and The Morin Khuur: Of all the arts, the Mongols themselves loved and cultivated music, developing a unique form of singing known as throat singing or Khoomei. The origins of their musical arts dates back about 5000 years ago. The long vibrating notes gives these songs a deeply meditative quality that carries over the grand distances of the steppes. Mongolian songs express the singer’s deep feelings for their horses, natural beauty, love of family or the nomadic life.

Long songs may be accompanied by the other key element of Mongolian traditional music, the Morin Khuur or horse-head fiddle. These Chinese-derived two-string fiddles have elaborately carved horses’ heads crowning the fiddle. The Morin khuur can sound the deep tones of the cello or it can emulate the neighing of a Mongolian horse. This instrument is highly honored and respected as the symbol of The Nation of Mongolia.

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Chingiss Khaanii Magtaal/Praise of Chinggis Khaan - Batzorig Vaanchig , Adiyadorj Gombosuren

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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Dendera Temple Complex, Qism Qena, Qena, Egypt

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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These temples were used by ancient Irish Druids for spiritual purposes. Druids were believed to be the intermediaries between the Celtic Gods and the people. They played a huge role in Celtic culture.

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Celtic Druids were among some of the most high ranking people group in ancient society and used stone carvings for rituals as well as oral story telling. These stories are responsible for many folklore stories we still know today, only because other societies (like the Romans) decided to annotate some of the details of this mystical ancient culture.

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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Newgrange, Newgrange, Donore, County Meath, Ireland

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This is the location of the oldest and most famous Ancient Irish Temple, dating even before Stonehenge.