| The Origins of Monsters: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction: Image and Cognition in the First Age of Mechanical Reproduction Subjects: Art Prehistoric; Art Ancient; Archaeology and art; Animals Mythical in art; Cognition and culture; Rostovtzeff Michael Ivanovitch 1870–1952; It has often been claimed that "monsters"--supernatural creatures with bodies composed from multiple species--play a significant part in the thought and imagery of all people from all times. The Origins of Monsters advances an alternative view. Composite figurations are intriguingly rare and isolated in the art of the prehistoric era. Instead it was with the rise of cities, elites, and cosmopolitan trade networks that "monsters" became widespread features of visual production in the ancient world. Showing how these fantastic images originated and how they were transmitted, David Wengrow identifies patterns in the records of human image-making and embarks on a search for connections between mind and culture. David Wengrow is professor of comparative archaeology at University College London. His books include The Archaeology of Early Egypt and What Makes Civilization? |