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The thesis discusses bird depictions in the Aegean Bronze Age. The iconographical study is based on a catalogue of almost 2000 objects showing bird images from Crete, the Cyclades, the Greek Mainland and the Dodecanese dating to EB I - LB IIIC. Three research aims are addressed. The first aim is the reliable and accurate identification of the depicted bird species by finding a middle ground between the two approaches that have prevailed in past scholarship, which either consisted of overambitious attempts at species identification or resorted to overgeneralised accounts of bird imagery. A systematic identification methodology, based on a combination of techniques from iconography, ornithology and in particular anthropological studies of folk taxonomies, is developed. The second aim is the interpretation of any specific symbolic functions and ideological roles of birds in different regions and periods. This analysis rests on the combined study of media and find contexts as well as the chosen bird species and iconographical associations. The third aim is the reconstruction of types of ontologies prevalent in different regions. Based on a structuralist model of ontologies developed by the anthropologist Descola, the bird depictions are studied by looking for features that are typical of analogical, naturalist, totemic or animist art. Each research aim has yielded numerous results, which deepen our understanding of biological knowledge and cultural diversity in the Aegean Bronze Age. First, the vast majority of bird depictions can be identified as belonging to one of the following folk-taxonomical groups: columbids (doves), birds of prey/corvids, waterbirds, wading birds, owls, hoopoes, galliformes, swallows and seabirds. Second, the existence of a multitude of particular functions and roles of birds is revealed. These vary significantly according to time and regions, mirroring historical developments and the presence of different cultural attitudes towards birds. Third, marked regional differences are detectable with regard to ontologies. Cretan and Cycladic bird art is consistent with animist iconography discernible because of a pronounced artistic naturalism, an emphasis on movement and agency, and the presence of shamanic imagery. The images from the Greek Mainland can be characterised as being consistent with an ontology termed analogical by Descola because of a preference of stylised and modular depictions and the persistence of symbolic functions through time. This work lays a foundation opening up a new perspective on interpreting iconography of the Aegean Bronze Age.

Mochica cultural reconstructions have been based largely on the analysis of funerary ceramics that contain fineline thematic iconography but context has for the most part been ignored. Previous "ethnographic readings" of Moche fineline themes have not examined the content of non-funerary iconography in specific archaeological contexts, or the relationship between living and funerary iconography based on the contextual data. This investigation addresses these problematic issues by analyzing the artistic content found upon living-context ceramics from the sites of Pampa Grande, and the Huacas de Moche. The content is then examined in relation to funerary iconography, and the living contexts from which it was derived, testing the fundamental premises underlying reconstructions of the ancient Mochica culture.

This paper explores the framing of Christianity through Old Norse religion via material culture as exhibited by the iconography of the façade of the stave church at Urnes, Lustrafjord, Norway. This paper addresses fluidity between belief systems while considering the geographical origins of the façade’s carvers, the performativity of the structure’s imagery in relation to its proximity from the hamlet at Urnes, Eddic poetry, and the inherently religious social practices of Old Norse religion. It suggests that although the carvings have been interpreted as Christian imagery that is executed in a Viking Age or Late Iron Age style, they are more believably read as pagan in content. This is explored through analysis of the interoperability of Christianity and Old Norse religion during the early years of Norwegian conversion.

Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century portraits from the Italian peninsula that depict women with keyboard instruments have been discussed as an apparent trend by feminist art historians and musicologists. While the connection between these portraits and the well-known iconography of the musical St. Cecilia has been noted, the association between keyboard instruments and the female body has been less frequently explored. In this study, I use methodologies from feminist theory and gender studies, most notably gender performativity, in order to explore how an artist's dialogue between the portrait subject and her instrument creates and is created by complex relationships ingrained by the dominant patriarchal structures that circumscribed women's lives at the time. To realize these interpretive goals, I have chosen two paintings that are less often discussed in art historical and musicological literature: the self-portrait attributed to Marietta Robusti, and St. Cecilia Playing the Keyboard in the style of Artemisia Gentileschi.

Este trabalho propôs analisar a cerâmica ritual produzida pelos Mochica, sociedade que ocupou a costa norte peruana entre os séculos I e VIII d.C., com base em três eixos principais: o papel mediador de personagens geralmente entendidos como xamãs, ou sacerdotes; os rituais de sacrifício humano e os processos de verticalização do poder político; e as dinâmicas de transformação e suas implicações nas relações entre entes humanos e não humanos. Estes temas, observados na iconografia e morfologia dos artefatos estudados, orientaram o processo de identificação dos conjuntos cerâmicos selecionados para esta pesquisa. A análise pautou-se na identificação de atributos de personagens classificados como xamãs, curandeiros e sacerdotes, com o objetivo de problematizar a utilização de tais categorias no estudo da cultura material relacionada às práticas rituais Mochica. O debate sobre xamanismo foi inspirado pela teoria antropológica contemporânea que discute o \"multinaturalismo ameríndio\". A reflexão centrou-se nos conceitos de transição, movimento e transformação, temas estruturantes das práticas xamânicas e organização sociocosmológica andina. / This dissertation proposes the analysis of ritual ceramic produced by the Mochica, society that occupied the Peruvian north coast between I and VIII centuries, based in three main axis: the mediator role of characters commonly interpreted as shamans or priests; the human sacrifices rituals and the increase of political power processes; and the transformation dynamics and their implications in the relations between humans and non-humans. This themes, observed in the iconography e morphology of the artifacts served as guide for the identification process of the selected ceramic conjuncts which were used in this study. The analysis was guided in the identification of characters classified as shamans, healers and priests, with the objective of problematize such categories in the studies of material culture related to Mochica mortuary practices. The debate about shamanism was inspired by contemporary anthropological theory that concerns to \"multinaturalismo amerindio\". Transitions concepts, movement and transformation, shamanic practices and cosmological of Andean organization are the topic of thoughts in the research.

Este trabalho busca a elaboração de um quadro interpretativo que possibilite analisar o desenvolvimento do esquema decorativo presente nas salas do trono dos palácios construídos pelos reis assírios durante o período que veio a ser conhecido como neo-assírio (934 - 609 a.C.). Entendemos como esquema decorativo a presença de imagens e textos inseridos em um contexto arquitetural. Temos por objetivo demonstrar que a evolução do esquema decorativo, dada sua importância como veículo da retórica real, reflete a transformação da política e da ideologia imperial, bem como das fronteiras do império, ao longo do período neo-assírio. / The aim of this work is the elaboration of a interpretative framework that allow us to analyze the development of the decorative scheme of the throne rooms located at the palaces built by the Assyrians kings during the period that become known as Neo-Assyrian (934 - 609 BC). We consider decorative scheme as being the presence of texts and images in an architectural setting. Our objective is to show that the evolution of the decorative scheme, considering its importance as a royal rhetorical vehicle, reflects the transformation of the imperial ideology and politic, as well as the frontiers of the empire, during the Neo-Assyrian period.

Esta dissertação está centrada no estudo da iconografia da cerâmica marajoara, mais especificamente, na iconografia das tangas cerâmicas pertencentes a diversos acervos e coleções, com o objetivo de refletir sobre figuração durante a fase marajoara. Partindo de uma abordagem que integra Arqueologia, Antropologia da Arte e Etnologia, compreendemos as tangas enquanto objetos de composição, transformação e fabricação corporal, o que também permitiu identificar, em sua iconografia, uma forma de conceber imagens e corpos caracterizada pela integração de figuras aludindo a diversos seres e suas partes anatômicas, e também pela utilização de recursos gráficos que sugerem transformações corpóreas. Assim, as características expressas nesta iconografia foram interpretadas como uma forma de materializar princípios cosmológicos referentes à transformabilidade dos corpos, característicos das sociedades ameríndias, que colocam a transformação corporal como o centro de suas preocupações. / This dissertation focuses on the study of the iconography of marajoara pottery, specifically on the iconography of ceramic tangas, to reflect on figuration during the marajoara phase. This work benefits from an approach that integrates Archaeology, Anthropology of Art and Ethnology, enabling us to understand the tangas as objects of composition, transformation and bodily fabrication, and to identify in their iconography a way of conceiving images and bodies, which was characterized by the integration of figures alluding to diverse beings and their anatomical parts, as well as the use of graphic resources that suggest corporeal transformations. Thus, the characteristics expressed in tanga iconography were interpreted as ways of materializing cosmological principles regarding the transformability of bodies, typical of societies that place body transformation at the center of their concerns.

Este trabalho buscou sistematizar e analisar artefatos da cerâmica ritual Mochica e Nasca, pertencentes a coleções de diversos museus, cuja morfologia ou iconografia pode ser atribuída às representações de personagens portando ou tocando flautas de pã. Partimos da premissa de que estas representações aparecem em um conjunto de artefatos cerâmicos produzidos de acordo com uma normatização rígida, controlada por elites de poder político-religioso de uma sociedade hierarquicamente estruturada. Assim, a forma como os músicos estão representados na cerâmica pode revelar muito sobre seu papel social, sua relação com as estruturas de poder locais, bem como sobre a simbologia desse instrumento sonoro nas cosmovisões Mochica e Nasca, nos Andes Pré- Colombianos. / This paper aims to systematize and analyse the artifacts pertaining to a variety of museum\'s collections, which iconography or morphology can be ascribed to depictions of characters holding or playing panpipes on Moche and Nasca ritual pottery. We start from the premise that these representations appear in a set of ceramic artifacts produced according to a rigid standardization, controlled by elites holding the political and religious power. Thus, the way these musicians are displayed on pottery can reveal much about their social role, the imaginary place they hold in the minds of the Moche and Nasca peoples, their relation to the worldview and with their local power structures, as well as the symbolism of this instrument to these societies in the Pre-Columbian Andes.

Neste estudo, pretendo realizar um ensaio interpretativo sobre grafismos presentes na cerâmica arqueológica Tupi que compõem parte do acervo de museus e instituições de pesquisa do interior paulista. Para tanto, proponho um diálogo com outras áreas do conhecimento, como a antropologia da arte e a etnohistória. A primeira contribui para o entendimento das relações estabelecidas entre sujeito (pessoa) e objeto, também entendido enquanto agente social, segundo a teoria de Gell. A segunda propõe a leitura crítica de documentos etnohistóricos, entre eles registros de cronistas (a fim de compreender em que contextos sociais o uso de tais peças era recorrente) e também documentos etnográficos, sobretudo àqueles que apresentam narrativas mitológicas das populações de matriz cultural Tupi, pois como apresentou Tochetto (1996), acredito que estes motivos são representativos de fatos e personagens mitológicos. / In this study, I intend to carry out an interpretative essay on Tupi archaeological pottery painting, in which integrates the collection of museums and research institutions in the country side of the state of São Paulo. Therefore, I propose a dialogue with other areas of knowledge, such as Anthropology of Art and Ethnohistory. The first one contributes to understand the relations established between the person and the object, also understood as social agent, according to Gell\'s theory. The second one proposes a critical view of ethnohistorical documents, among them chroniclers\' records (in order to understand in what social contexts the use of such pieces was recurrent) and ethnographic documents, especially those that present mythological narratives of the Tupi peoples. As Tochetto (1996) presented, I believe that these motifs are representative of mythological facts and characters.