古希臘的藝術(shù)家們給遠在千里之外的另一個大陸上發(fā)現(xiàn)的猴子作畫

古希臘的藝術(shù)家們給遠在千里之外的另一個大陸上發(fā)現(xiàn)的猴子作畫

Ancient Greek artwork depicting monkeys endemic only to regions of Africa have long mystified archaeologists. How might artists have seen non-human primates found thousands of miles away, and what does that tell us about the ancient world? Now, an analysis of two Minoan frescoes attempts to answer those very questions.

長期以來，只有非洲地區(qū)才有猴子的古希臘藝術(shù)作品一直讓考古學家感到困惑。藝術(shù)家們是如何看到幾千英里之外發(fā)現(xiàn)的非人類靈長類動物的呢?這又告訴了我們關(guān)于古代世界的什么信息呢?現(xiàn)在，對兩幅米諾斯壁畫的分析試圖回答這些問題。

Madison Dapcevich

The first is an incredibly detailed piece of art discovered at the 3,600-year-old settlement of Akrotiri, Thera, in which a small, black-faced monkey is seen climbing in a “landscape context”. With a white band on the animal’s forehead and coupled with long arms and legs, the painting is so accurate that researchers were able to identify the species as vervet monkeys, which are endemic to East Africa. On the nearby island of Crete, other blue-painted primates are depicted with a narrow waist, thick chest, and a hairless nose indicative of one of several subspecies of baboons, all of which are also only found in Africa. But if neither primate is native to the Mediterranean, how would ancient artists have known to paint them?

第一個是在有3600年歷史的阿克羅蒂里村落發(fā)現(xiàn)的一件令人難以置信的精細藝術(shù)品。在這幅畫中，一只黑臉小猴子在“風景背景”中攀爬。這幅畫在動物的前額上有一條白色的帶子，再加上長長的胳膊和腿，這幅畫是如此的精確，以至于研究人員能夠確定這是一種非洲東部特有的長尾猴。在附近的克里特島上，其他藍色的靈長類動物也被描繪成腰細、胸厚、鼻子無毛，這表明它們是狒狒的幾個亞種之一，而所有這些亞種也只在非洲發(fā)現(xiàn)。但是，如果這兩種靈長類動物都不是地中海的本土物種，古代的藝術(shù)家怎么知道要把它們畫出來呢?

B. Urbani/Antiquity

“Both primate groups were probably originally represented at Minoan sites after having been observed in the African mainland,” write the authors in the journal Antiquity, noting that the artist either saw the monkeys directly or spoke with someone who had. The paintings provide a new understanding of Minoan frescoes and the interconnectedness of the ancient world, contributing to evidence that ancient Greeks had contact with people, or at the very least wildlife, of Africa.

兩位作者在《古物》雜志上寫道:“這兩種靈長類動物在非洲大陸被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，很可能最初都出現(xiàn)在米諾斯文明遺址。”他們指出，藝術(shù)家要么直接看到了這些猴子，要么與曾經(jīng)見過猴子的人交談。這些壁畫提供了對米諾斯壁畫和古代世界相互聯(lián)系的新理解，為古希臘人與非洲人有過接觸，或至少與野生動物有過接觸提供了證據(jù)。

Of course, monkeys aren’t blue. The researchers add that cultural perception influences how colors are categorized, so it could be that the artist thought of blue as more of a grey. Other Minoan artwork depicts grey objects, such as fish scales, also as a blue coloring. However, it could be that the color was borrowed from the ancient Egyptians who used blue in “sacred contexts”, a notion that is further evidenced by other pieces of Minoan artwork associating baboons with the gathering of flowers “as well as using swords and playing music on lyre-like instruments.”

當然，猴子不是藍色的。研究人員補充說，文化感知會影響顏色的分類，所以有可能藝術(shù)家認為藍色更像是灰色。其他米諾斯藝術(shù)作品描繪的灰色物體，如魚鱗，也是藍色的。然而，這種顏色可能是從古埃及人那里借用來的，古埃及人在“神圣的環(huán)境”中使用藍色，這一概念在米諾派藝術(shù)的其他作品中得到了進一步的證明，這些作品將狒狒與采集鮮花聯(lián)系在一起，“還用劍和豎琴一樣的樂器演奏音樂”。

Minoan societies flourished during the Bronze Age from about 3,000 BCE to 1,100 BCE. The culture is largely characterized by its unique art and architecture that spread to other cultures around the world. The findings “strongly suggest” that Minoans were familiar with at least two species of cercopithecid monkeys, furthering the idea that Mediterranean societies may have been extensively interconnected with the rest of the world.

約公元前3000年至公元前1100年的青銅器時代，米諾斯社會繁榮昌盛。文化的主要特點是其獨特的藝術(shù)和建筑，傳播到世界各地的其他文化。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)“有力地表明”，克里特人至少熟悉兩種長角猿，這進一步證實了地中海社會可能與世界其他地方有著廣泛的聯(lián)系。

B. Urbani/Antiquity