The Minoan pottery caught my interest, probably for its distinctive style and decoration. As I was doing more research, looking for images to share I happened upon the fact that the Kamares ware apparently had a votive type history and a nice well preserved collection of them were found in the caves of Kamares. The article brought out the fact that pottery ends up being an excellent means of dating as it is one thing that endures over time.
The emerging overall view of art history so far leads me to conclude that mankind has a real drive to create. The motivation might be practical as the use of the above jars for storage, it might be religious as a means of showing respect or devotion, it might be political or it could be as a part of commerce or trade. Regardless, humankind is productive and apparently endlessly creative. Even natural disaster such as earthquake, political turmoil, religious upheavel and war has never ended the desire or ability to create. It may have slowed it, bent it, redirected it, but never destroyed it!
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ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusions. Practicality most likely began the Kamares ware creations. Then there were an endless amount of creativity thereafter. I wonder if the role of human competitiveness played a part then, as it does today. Such as having the, "keeping up with the Jones'" or "My pot looks better than yours" attitude.
ReplyDeleteI also agree, and also chuckled at the comment of "my pot looks better than yours". It seems that pottery is a enduring artifact that gives great insight into the past, both in the time and the means used to create it, and the manner in which it is decorated.
ReplyDeleteYou know I never thought about art like that before. I mean yes we can estimate the approximate time when everything was made, but we also get insight into to other cultures through out time. One day pople will look at the art of our time and make assumptions about our culture.
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