Parsing the Past: Visual Marks as Cultural Metaphors

Susan Moulton (USA)

Abstract
This paper proposes that in order to understand Neolithic inscriptions, such as those from Tărtăria or Turdaş, it is necessary to consider the human association with “place.” Signs and symbols for nature-based cultures are inseparable from geographical contexts and features which often define culture and an individual’s role within it. The sacred and the mundane cannot be disaggregated as they traditionally are in patriarchal, Eurocentric cultures. Using explanations from extant indigenous people, Prof. Moulton proposes that we must apply a synaesthic approach to decoding marks from the past. Marks function as mnemonic devices, verbal analogies, and glyphic codes derived from shared knowledge, experience and history observed across generations. Signs and symbols function as living elements whose meanings require direct experience of place and commitment to sacred interactions within a specific ecosystem.