Description
Book SynopsisThis volume is primarily concerned with the re-analysis of the wall paintings from the Jordanian Chalcolithic period (ca. 4700-3700 BC) settlement site of Teleilat Ghassul, first excavated in 1929 by scholars from the Pontifical Biblical Institute Rome and latterly by Australians from the University of Sydney. The seven major paintings were re-analysed using a methodology based on contextualisation, digital reconstruction, experimental replication and subject analysis. A comprehensive theoretical framework was constructed from published and unpublished materials from the site, consisting of geographical and environmental datasets, topographic, settlement-location and structural contexts. These included material/artefactual associations, technological issues and a comprehensive symbolic regional comparative analysis of the artworks themselves. The interpretive structure, reconstructed and re-evaluated scenes, and replication studies, have revealed numerous insights into the artistic traditions and cultic practices of South Levantine Ghassulian Chalcolithic culture, with considerable relevance to the ongoing debate on such matters as prehistoric societal makeup and art historical scholarship. This study has provided intriguing glimpses into the lives of a brilliantly artistic and deeply ritualised society, shedding new light on this little-known and still mysterious people.
Trade Review'In conclusion, this book offers a very important contribution not only to our understanding of the Teleilat Ghassul wall paintings, but also more generally to the study of socalled ‘artistic’ representations in pre- and proto-historic societies, emphasising and rigorously applying the method of integral analysis and the contextualisation of findings, which alone can bring us closer to restoring meaning to the material expressions of cultures and ideologies physically, culturally and historically very remote from ourselves.' – Marcella Frangipane (2023): BiOr no. LXXIX 3/4
Table of ContentsChapter 1.1. Introduction Chapter 1.2 History of Research Chapter 2.1 Geographical and Environmental Context Chapter 2.2 Society, culture and ritual context Chapter 2.3 Prehistoric Artistic Context Chapter 2.4 The Wall art of Ghassul: Discovery and Archaeological Context Chapter 3.1 Settlement, Structural and Ritual Context Chapter 3.2 Subject Matter: New Interpretations Chapter 4.1 Ghassulian Technological innovation Chapter 4.2 Replication Studies Chapter 5.1. Subject Analysis, Symbolism and Significance Chapter 5.2. Art History and Cultural Significance Chapter 6. Summary and general conclusions Bibliography
