ARTS 353 



159); the comparatively high finish shown on the pottery of 

 Butmir (Serajewo) only places in more glaring contrast the 

 unsightly plumpness of the only carved idol found belonging 

 to the end of the neolithic period. 



As we have seen, the employment of copper and bronze in 

 the metallic period gave rise to an important era in the history 

 of human civilisation. But the general advance in civilisation 

 was not at first accompanied by a corresponding advance in 

 art, indeed the latter for a long period remained under the 

 influence of its neolithic predecessor. The oldest metal imple- 

 ments were merely unadorned copies of those of the Stone Age ; 

 subsequently, first under the influence of the people of the 

 south and south-west, and later on spontaneously, ornament 

 appeared on manufactured objects, and acquired a character 

 definitely denoting the Bronze Age. The ornamentation of 

 pottery was thus entirely by way of linear designs with the 

 exception of two localities, which developed independently a 

 culture of their own in the Bronze Age. These were North 

 Scandinavia with its highly finished bronze statuary, and the 

 coasts and islands of the ^Egean Sea in the south, where a mar- 

 vellous delicacy of execution both in drawing and sculpture was 

 developed. The most beautiful examples have been unearthed 

 at Hissarlik (Troy), Mycenae and Tiryns, and at the recent ex- 

 cavations in Crete. They include not only carved objects in 

 bronze, the noble metals, amber, marble and alabaster, but also 

 the oldest painted vases partly decorated with geometrical orna- 

 ments and partly with pictures of men and all kinds of animals. 



In the earliest Iron Age, which ushers us nearly into the 

 domain of history, metal work is only prominent in contrast to 

 works of art ; the latter, as far as the drawing of men or animals 

 is concerned, is far inferior to Mycenaean art. On the other 

 hand, high praise^ must be accorded to the women potters of 

 the Hallstatt period, as they were evidently filled with the 

 desire of imitating in their clay designs the workers'TfTbronze 

 wKcTTiad preceded them. Their ornaments included small 

 figures of men and animals, as did those of the last named. 

 They also tried to make vessels in the shape of mammals and 

 birds, and could not resist ornamenting the faces on their urns 

 with earrings and necklaces of bronze. 



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