COMPOSITE HUMAN-ANIMAL FIGURES IN EARLY URBAN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA: SHAMANS OR IMAGES OF RESISTANCE?
Authors
McMahon, A
Publication Date
2022Journal Title
Oxford Journal of Archaeology
ISSN
0262-5253
Publisher
Wiley
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
AO
VoR
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McMahon, A. (2022). COMPOSITE HUMAN-ANIMAL FIGURES IN EARLY URBAN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA: SHAMANS OR IMAGES OF RESISTANCE?. Oxford Journal of Archaeology https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12251
Abstract
Summary: Urban growth in northern Mesopotamia in the early fourth millennium BC was accompanied by an increase in clay container sealings, reflecting the intensified movement and management of resources and manufactured items. The diverse imagery impressed into these sealings includes a human‐ibex grasping a pair of snakes, a bird‐human, and other composite figures. The human‐ibex in particular has been identified as a ‘shaman’, but this is not an appropriate term. The early fourth millennium BC was a period of enormous social and economic upheaval generated by the growth of cities and institutions. Composite figures may have expressed resistance to increasingly structured lived experiences, acknowledging the paradoxes of urban living and affirming the continued presence of the unexplainable.
Keywords
Original Article, Original Articles
Identifiers
ojoa12251
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ojoa.12251
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/338164
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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