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Masks of Europe
| Content Provider | IGNCA - Man and Mask |
|---|---|
| Description | In the Paleolithic caves of Lascaux and Trois Freres (10-15,000 BC), dancing figures with the feet of men, equipped with horns or antlers, and wearing the hides of animals are depicted amongst a swarm of animals. One of these figures carries a bowed instrument, while another man, with a bird's head, is in what appears to be a trance position at the feet of a wounded bison. It has been conjectured that these figures constitute a record of shamanic ceremonies related to the hunt, and, judging from the size of footprints found in the caves, to initiatory rites of passage held in the caves. An antlered mask made from the skull of a red deer in England around 7500 BC may well indicate a continuance of this tradition, as may the antlered and masked Celtic "Lord of Beasts" given form several thousands of years later. Stone pig and bird masks have been found as artifacts of the Vinca civilization (ca. 5000 BC) in the former Yugoslavia, and these are thought to have been worn in association with goddess worship and fertility rites. The man-masked-as-animal appears and reappears in many contexts throughout the history of European civilizations: in rituals and in celebrations of myth and legend, as characters in ribald dramas, and as creatures in popular mummeries and carnival processions. It is a recurring motif in the history of masking in Europe-a rich and varied history with shifts in direction following a drift from sacred to secular concerns and contexts, and with many chapters in which the mask is lost, regained, lost again, and once more "discovered." |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Ancient Human Practice Anthropology Anthropomorphic Art Work Art History Ceremonies and Practices Decorative Mask Disguise Drama Theraphy Halloween Harvest Festival Lascaux Museum Object Ornamentation Paleolithic caves Performance Performing Art Ritual Mask Sculpture Trois Freres Vinca Civilization Yugoslavia |
| Content Type | Image Text |
| Resource Type | Visual Artwork |
