The Interpretation of Ancient Symbols 1

Abstract

Two methods of interpreting ancient pictorial symbols are in use: Kubler's “configurational” method of describing internal relationships of images within a style; and the widely used “ethnological” method seeking comparable expressions in verbal form in ethnographic and historical documents. Ethnological analogy may offer only comparisons, but ethnology can also define one end of a tradition of symbolic meaning and can be used to generate premises for deductive reasoning. Disjunction of form from meaning does not invalidate ethnographic analogy, as argued by Kubler, but is a cultural phenomenon which can be studied archaeologically. A ceramic sequence, for example, can reveal a disjunction of form from meaning. Configurational analysis of styles in sequence reveals changes of form and of some fundamental kinds of meaning. Ethnological evidence of traditions of meaning within a culture gives some basis for verbalizing the meaning of earlier symbols. The interpretation of ancient symbols requires the use of both configurational analysis of styles and ethnological analysis of traditions of meaning.