ORNAMENT DEVELOPMENT TRENDS AND LIFE PACE (reflections on prehistoric art)

Abstract

The paper summarizes the trends of the decorative and applied arts development from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages in the Asian part ofRussia. The specificity and congruence of these trends reflect the pace of life which influenced the ethnopsycological state and social conscience of the ancient peoples inWestern Siberiaand the AmurPrimorye region. The pace of life is connected to the lifestyle. This interconnection is based on the paleoeconomics orientation in different regions ofNorthern Asia. The stable life inWestern Siberiaand the South of the Russian Far East was conditioned by fishing and different types of production. The pace of this lifestyle was reflected in the decorative art trends. In Primorye and Lower Amur regions, in forest-steppes ofWestern Siberia, the representational content of the ornament considerably changed during the Early Iron Age. The presented hypothesis proposes that militarization of the society was the driver of the social conscience and life pace transformation. Peculiarities of ceramic ware decoration development in the forest-steppe and taiga landscapes ofWestern Siberiain the Iron Age are outlined. The causes of this phenomenon are provided. The hunters ofEastern Siberiamountain-taiga regions had a fundamentally different life pace which specificated the decorative art on that territory.

Keywords

• ornament, decorative art, neolithic, bronze age, early iron age, middle ages, economics, mentality, eastern side of the ural mountains, baraba, western siberia, eastern siberia, transbaikal, amur region, primorsky region, far east