Breaking Images

Human figural representation dates, minimally, from the Upper Paleolithic period in being abundant, varied, and unambiguously present. It often takes the form of fired-clay figurines, among other media, in ever greater numbers and variety during the Neolithic. The developmental trajectory of fired-clay figurines (simply “figurines” hereafter unless otherwise indicated) in the New World is similar to the Old World in that these figurines are ubiquitous at archaeological sites once early village life has begun. That many of these figurines were broken intentionally appears to have occurred in an enormous number of times and places. If intentional breakage has meaning, as surely it must, how are we to interpret the message? Are there commonalities across time and space? Does the figurine record in the Balkan Neolithic, for example, offer insight to Preclassic specialists working in the Maya area, or elsewhere around the world?Gianluca Miniaci's edited volume Breaking Images: Damage and Mutilation of Ancient Figurines takes that broad perspective, albeit primarily focused on case studies from the Old World (especially Egypt), and provides a compelling, even overwhelming, circumstantial case that figurine breakage was a commonplace occurrence, not to be dismissed as merely a by-product of routine use and discard coupled with the ravages of time.The book comprises four parts, beginning with a section entitled “At the Dawn of a Break: The Agency of the Damage” that includes an introductory chapter from the editor. After reading the full volume, it is hard to deny Miniaci's observation that, given the nature of the evidence, we need cross-cultural, comparative approaches in order to see broader patterns and to gain insight into ancient practices that we cannot always see in our own regions. The aim of investigating this topic is to determine at what point broken figurines, rather than being seen as discarded objects with unknown purposes, are “instead considered part of a transformative, generative, and even communicative and associative process” (p. 3). In chapter 2, John Chapman and Bisserka Gaydarska take us further along this path of exploration. They view figurines as embodied objects with potential use-life after breakage (the “fragmentation premise”) and as understandable in terms of “enchainment,” where objects are used to create and maintain social relationships. Chapman and Gaydarska make the point that broken figurines are part of a larger sphere in which intentional damage is inflicted upon material objects, whether pots, stone carvings, or terminations of houses, temples, and human bodies. These authors also spend time comparing the Balkan Neolithic with the New World, using Julia Guernsey's Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica: From Figurines to Sculpture (Cambridge University Press, 2020).The second section, “Beyond Ritual: When the Whole Cracks,” includes an essay by Jeanne Lopiparo and Rosemary A. Joyce on Honduras, the sole contribution in the book that is dedicated to the New World, as well as Urmi Chanda's ethnography of Hindu breakage rituals. Chanda explains that in modern India, rituals of breaking are common and often include clay pots and figurines. Sacrificial acts involving breakage are, in some cultures, ways of communicating with the supernatural and of crossing boundaries, as in funerary contexts. Clay, a substance of the earth, is seen as symbolizing life itself (purified through fire), with the inevitable breakage of pots and figurines as their expected outcome.In the third section, “The Materiality of the Damage: Searching for the Intentionality,” Axelle Brémont categorizes various forms of intentional breakage—intent to damage, to harm, to divide—and their archaeological manifestations, comparing outcomes with post-depositional effects. She concludes that taphonomic processes best explain a pre-dynastic Egyptian collection. In his contribution to this part of the book, Miniaci analyzes faience figurines from the late Middle Bronze Age in Egypt. The quantitative analysis shows patterns in the types of damage and breaking with one such pattern focusing on the damaging or breakage of specific body parts. Most figurines of this kind are associated with funerary contexts, with the damage likely being a part of rituals practiced for the protection of the dead. Similarly, Paulina Wandowicz's experimental study supports the inference of intentional breakage of female figurines from the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Egypt. Monique Arntz looks for intentional damage in figurine collections from Neolithic Syria and Turkey, finding the practice to be present, but overall uncommon, given the time spans. Taking into account the variability of figurine damage and context, Arntz calls for the reconsideration of “any generalized statements that are thought to apply to all figurines in the Neolithic Near East” (p. 218). Ann-Louise Schallin, in a chapter on figurines and other figures from Mycenaean contexts (modern day Greece), finds that the tomb offerings she analyzed remained intact, but that figurines left at cultic sites were broken intentionally (i.e., complete forms left for the dead and broken fragments for the gods). Schallin concludes that the broken examples symbolized agreement/alliance with the gods, whereas complete forms in graves emphasized social cohesion (see Chapman and Gaydarska's discussion of enchainment in chap. 2, pp. 8–16).In the final section of the book on “Inside the Fragmentation: Exploring Methods and Technologies,” the authors use a variety of multi-method approaches. Vanessa Forte combines qualitative and quantitative analyses of breakage with Middle Bronze Age figurines from the Egyptian site of Lahun. Candace Richards and Michelle F. Whitford examine the representation of figures and figurines in museum collections using historical archives and CT scans (specifically on Sir Charles Nicholson's Egyptian collection). Valentina Vassallo uses 3-D digital imaging to reunite dispersed collections (those found in more than one country or museum) and to make figurine collections available virtually. This case study includes a fascinating discussion on nineteenth-century British colonial politics, Swedish archaeologists, and artifacts from Cyprus.Other chapters in the book, like Elisabetta Starnini's essay on prehistoric Europe, Stacy Boldrick's work on medieval sculptural fragments from English churches, and an afterword by Caitlín Eilís Barrett, are equally compelling. Yet this book is greater than the sum of its parts, perhaps a good definition for what makes an edited volume worth producing—and reading. I enjoyed this book from start to finish.I offer a final word about the volume as a physical object. Breaking Images is the second in a series, Multidisciplinary Approaches to Ancient Societies, that includes edited volumes on market exchange, house societies, and ritual practices. It was a pleasure to receive this book, which features a solid cover with high-quality paper stock. The images—and there are many—are well rendered, if drawn, and are otherwise presented as sharp, clear photographs. The text is error-free. The authors’ writing and arguments, although in some instances dense and over-theorized for the evidence at hand, are nonetheless easy to follow.I mentioned above that the book focuses on the Old World. That, in my view, is its main limitation, given the intense focus on figural representation elsewhere. Nonetheless, this volume should be consulted by all who study prehistoric figurines, in whatever time or place. Breaking Images is an outstanding contribution to this growing literature

Ancient history · Art · Classical Antiquity Studies · History