The Zoomorphic Arts of Ancient Central Eurasia

• Other Authors: Andreeva, Petya (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: The arts; History of art / art & design styles; animal art; human-animal relations; migration; ecological perspective; Xianbei; Northern Wei; Northeast Asia; Chu culture; zhenmushou; regionalism; funerary sculpture; lacquer; hybrid animals; material culture; Eastern Zhou; Early China; China; Hexi Corridor; tombs; Buddhist caves; cave temples; Wei-Jin; Dingjiazha; Silk Roads; Dunhuang; Jiuquan; Siberia; animal style; nomadic art; Peter the Great; Saka; Scythian; archaeological science; Iron Age; hare; Han mortuary art; Eastern Han tomb reliefs; animals in mortuary art; zoomorphic art; Saka nomadic tradition; horse and weaponry gear; etched carnelian beads; Iron Age agropastoral settlements; world-systems analysis; Pazyryk Culture; Animal Style; Eurasia; Scytho-Siberian; deer/horse imagery
• Online Access: DOAB: download the publication; DOAB: description of the publication

The volume focuses on the zoomorphic art and design systems of ancient China and Central Asia. It offers a glimpse into convergent and shifting concepts of zoomorphism across political and cultural boundaries, and places special emphasis on nomadic cultural spheres. The papers explore the role of animals in one's creative process and the factors that might have contributed to the formation of a zoomorphic image system across different parts of ancient Central Eurasia. The reprint presents studies that span the disciplinary boundaries of Art History, Archaeology, Socio-Cultural Anthropology, and covers archaeological sites and museum collections from a vast geographical domain, from southern China to Kazakhstan and Siberia.