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chapter 6 General Remarks Concerning the Data The Presentation Dancing scenes from some 170 sites are discussed in this part of the work. Some sites produced more than one item, and altogether, 396 depictions are presented in the drawings. Table 6.1 presents the distribution of the dancing motif in the six chronological-geographical units according to their arrangement in the figures. Table 6.2 presents the distribution of the motif according to the materials used: pottery vessels, wall and floor paintings, stone slabs, rock carvings, linen, stamp seals, cylinder seals, a stone vessel, and a clay model. In the text the items are arranged according to the six chronological-geographical units. Each site is presented independently, sometimes at length and sometimes briefly, depending on the quality of the data published. Special discussions focus on items that have not been previously identified as representing dance. In the figures, the items are organized mainly according to typological similarities. This method was chosen since many objects were found broken, and their juxtaposition next to betterpreserved examples can help clarify their original appearance. The information relevant to each specific figure is given in the captions and includes the object’s place of discovery, its size in centimeters, and publication references. The items were drawn from either a figure or a photograph , depending on the publication at my disposal. Since this work was done without my being able to examine many of the original objects, sometimes not all the details could be deciphered. Every effort has been made to include all the relevant items in the assemblage. However, the reader should be aware that certain limitations prevented the gathering and presentation of a complete corpus. These include the occurrence of political conflicts in various parts of the Near East; the publication of some of the material only in preliminary reports, some of which were issued decades ago; and the difficulty of accessing publications dealing with southeast Europe. Nevertheless, the items that have been located present a rather large assemblage, 396 depictions of dance from some 170 sites, creating a reliable database for the subject under discussion. The following characteristics of the depictions are relevant to the dance performance, which I examine in detail: 106 The Data 1. The placement of the figures on the vessel. 2. The presentation of the figures, whether frontal or in profile. 3. The position of the body, especially the arms and legs. 4. The presence of costumes, objects, and animals that accompany the dancers. 5. Gender characteristics. 6. The direction of movement, clockwise or counter-clockwise. 7. The relationship of the figures to each other. 8. Architectural or other elements depicted in the dancing scene. The Motif’s Origin and Distribution One can summarize the main features relevant to the origin and distribution of the dancing motif in the ancient Near East and southeast Europe as follows (Tables 6.1 and 6.2): the eighth millennium bc At this stage the earliest evidence for the dancing motif comes to light at three sites in the Levant: carved in limestone on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic scenes from Nevali Çori, painted on a plaster floor at Tell Halula, and incised on a basalt slab at Dhuweila. the first half of the seventh millennium bc The dancing motif becomes common throughout a broader geographical expanse, including northern Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Cyprus. At most sites where the motif is present (Tell Sotto, Umm Dabaghiyah, Köç c sk Höyük, Kuruçay Höyük, and Hacilar), it appears as an applied plastic decoration on pottery vessels. In addition, the motif appears carved on a stone slab at Çatal Höyük, on a painted fresco at KalavasosTenta , and on a painted bowl from Hacilar. the end of the seventh millennium and the sixth millennium bc At this stage the distribution of the motif expands considerably. It is evident in most of the Halafian and Samarra sites in northern and central Mesopotamia. In western Iran the motif is found on the Deh Luran plain and the Susiana plain of Khuzistan. The motif is also found in the northern regions of the Near East, in Anatolia, and in Armenia. Further to the north and west, these items have been discovered in Greece, the Balkans, and southeast Europe. We can note various decorative styles. In Mesopotamia and Iran the motif is presented through the technique of painting on pottery. Three basic styles of painting appear simultaneously: naturalistic...

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