Pages: 63-72

The paper sets the boundaries of applying the concept of “composition” in the studies of the Palaeolithic art. The question of the appropriateness of this concept has long been discussed by both archaeologists and art historians. The present study is based on the analysis of mobile art objects only, since, first, their format is predetermined by their limited size, and, second, most of them were made by one person in a short time. The author identifies four ways of how separate images can be combined into an integrated “text”, from the scenes characterized by an organic combination of individual images into a single narrative to the scenes which show neither organic interaction between individual images nor between the “text” and the shape of the object. The conducted analysis shows that it is impossible to completely abandon the use of the term “composition” in the description of mobile art objects.

Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, mobile art, composition.

Information about author:

Sophia Zintchenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Arts. National Research University Higher School of Economics, School of History. Petrovka St., 12, Moscow, 107031, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]