Solar symbolism in the cultures of Eurasia. Archetype and chronology of formation

Abstract

The symbolism of the spiral and the meander is well known from the ornaments on Minoan and Mycenaean artifacts, while the roots of this symbolism can be traced chronologically much deeper than these cultures and have been fixed since the Paleolithic era. This symbolism has always been of interest to researchers, as it is evidence of the archetypal use of these symbols in the process of formation of religious views of Homo sapiens from the Paleolithic era to the present. In the proposed work, possible ways of formation of this symbolism are considered on the basis of the trajectory of the Sun's movement above the horizon line observed by the priests of various cultures and the represented path of the Sun's movement below the horizon line.

Keywords

• sun
• spiral
• meander
• solar symbolism and semantics