Ancient Art of the Amur Region

Fülszöveg

Recent archaeological finds near the Amur
River in the Russian Far East have uncovered
a very ancient culture that relates directly
to the present-day peoples living in the same
general area of Siberia. For the first time
this rich and astonishing cultural heritage is
described in words and splendid illustrations
by the Soviet archaeologist and writer
Alexei Okladnikov, an outstanding scholar
who has devoted more than forty years to
studying the distant past of the peoples
of Central and Northern Asia.
There can hardly be another place in the
world where an ancient art is so closely
interwoven with contemporary life. Most
of the archaeological and ethnographic
objects shown in this book belong to two
periods—the Neolithic (fourth to second
millennia B.C.) and the present nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. The astonishing
similarities in the exquisite work of the
artists who transformed everyday objects
into works of art show the historical
continuity of... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Recent archaeological finds near the Amur
River in the Russian Far East have uncovered
a very ancient culture that relates directly
to the present-day peoples living in the same
general area of Siberia. For the first time
this rich and astonishing cultural heritage is
described in words and splendid illustrations
by the Soviet archaeologist and writer
Alexei Okladnikov, an outstanding scholar
who has devoted more than forty years to
studying the distant past of the peoples
of Central and Northern Asia.
There can hardly be another place in the
world where an ancient art is so closely
interwoven with contemporary life. Most
of the archaeological and ethnographic
objects shown in this book belong to two
periods—the Neolithic (fourth to second
millennia B.C.) and the present nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. The astonishing
similarities in the exquisite work of the
artists who transformed everyday objects
into works of art show the historical
continuity of this culture and of its
traditions.
Mysterious stone carvings on rocks convey
facial features from long ago that are basically
like those of the modern tribes. Ancient clay
vessels have the same spiral, zigzag, meander,
circular, and geometric patterns that are still
in use today. Modern shaman ritual objects
—decorated rugs, robes, shirts, and drum-
sticks—evoke ceremonial practices that have
continued over the centuries. The power
of nature and the might of animals can be
felt equally in old stone carvings and recent
folk art cult figures of bear, tiger, elk,
serpent, bird, and fish—the creatures who
were feared but who also provided the
necessary food in the great chain of life.
Delightful birch-bark boxes of all sorts
and splendidly embroidered and appliqued
ceremonial gowns made offish skin, cotton,
silk, or brocade come from the modern world,
but the decorations are immemorial. A find
for archaeologists and a delight for lovers
of the beautiful, this exceptional book brings
the work of the Nanai, Olcha, and Nivkh
peoples into clear focus. Vissza