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Crossing the Boundaries: Triple Horns and Emblematic Transference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Miranda J. Green
Miranda J. Green*
Affiliation:
SCARAB Research Centre, University of Wales College, Newport
*
[email: m.aldhouse-green@newport.ac.uk]
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Abstract

This paper explores one aspect of the way in which cult-iconography of the later Iron Age and Roman periods in non-Classical Europe broke the rules of mimetic (life-copying) representation, with, reference to a particular motif: the triple horn. The presence of three-horned images within the iconographic repertoire of western Europe during this period clearly illustrates two aspects of such rule-breaking. On the one hand, the image of the triple-horned bull – well-known in the archaeological record, particularly of Roman Gaul – exemplifies a recurrent Gallo-Roman and Romano-British tradition in which realism was suppressed in favour of emphasis to the power of three. On the other hand, the triple-horned emblem is not confined to the adornment of bulls but may, on occasion, be transferred to ‘inappropriate’ images, both of animals which are naturally hornless and of humans. Such emblematic transference, with its consequence of dissonance and contradiction in the visual message, on the one hand, and the presence of symbolism associated with boundaries and transition, on the other, suggests the manipulation of motifs in order to endow certain images with a particular symbolic energy, born of paradox, the deliberate introduction of disorder or chaos and the expression of liminality. The precise meaning conveyed by such iconographic ‘anarchy’ is impossible to grasp fully but – at the least – appears to convey an expression of ‘otherness’ in which order imposed by empirical observation of earthly ‘reality’ is deemed irrelevant to other states of being and to the supernatural world.

Cet article examine la manière dont au cours de la période de l'Age de Fer et de la période romaine, au sein de l'Europe non-classique, l'iconographie liée à culte transgresse les règles de la représentation mimétique (représentation qui imite la vie), et traite en particulier du motif de la triple corne. Durant cette période, la presence d'images à trois cornes au sein du répertoire iconographique de l'Europe occidentale, illustre clairement deux aspects de cette transgression. D'une part, l'image du taureau à trois cornes – bien connue des études archeologiques, en particulier dans la Gaule romaine – est un bon exemple d'une tradition gallo-romaine et romano-britannique récurrente dans laquelle le réalisme a été supprimé pour mieux mettre en valeur la puissance du chiffre trois. D'autre part, l'emblème de la triple corne ne se limite pas à l'orttementation des taureaux, mais peut parfois être appliqué à des images inappropriées Comme celles d'humains et d'animaux qui ne possèdent pas de cornes à l'état naturel. Un tel transfert emblématique, avec les dissonances et contradict qui s'ensuivent dans le message visuel, d'une part, et la présence du symbolisme associé aux notions de transgression et de transition, d'autre part, suggère qu'on a manipulé ces motifs afin de doter certaines de ces images d'une énergie symbolique particuliére née d'un paradoxe, et qu'on a délibérément introduit du désordre et du chaos ainsi qu'une expression liminale. Il est impossible de saisir la signification précise contenue dans une telle anarchie iconographique, mais cela semble – pour le moins – évoquer une notion d'altérité, dans laquelle l'ordre imposé par l'observation empirique de la réalité du monde n'est pas jugé pertinent face aux autres façons d'être et au monde surnaturel.

Dieser Aufsatz untersucht einen Aspekt der Art und Weise, in der die Kultikonographie der späteren Eisenzeit und römischen Periode im nicnt-klassischen Europa die Regeln mimetischer (naturgetreuer) Repräsentation brachunter Bezug auf das spezielle Motiv des dreifachen Horns. Das Auftreten dreifach gehörnter Motive im ikonographischen Repertoire Westeuropas in dieser Zeitperiode zeigt deutlich zwei Aspekte solchen Regelbruchs. Zum einen veranschaulicht das Bild des dreifach gehörnten Stiers, das vor allem im römischen Gallien archäologisch gut belegt ist, eine Wiederkehrende gallisch-römische und romano-britische Tradition, in der Realismos hinter eine Betonung der Macht der Drei zürückstand. Zum anderen ist das dreifach gehörnte Emblem nicht auf das Verzieren von Stieren beschränkt, sondern kann gelegentlich auch auf ‘unpassende’ Motive übertragen werden, etwa Tiere, die in der Natur hornlos sind, oder Menschen. Solche emblematische Übertragung, die zum einen zu Dissonanz und Widerspruch in der bildlichen Botschaft führt, und zum anderen zusammen mit Symbolen auftritt, die mit Grenzen und Übergangen assoziiert sind, legt eine Manipulation von Motiven nähe. Dies geschah zu dem Zweck, bestimmte Bilder mit einer besonderen symbolischen Energie auszustatten, die einem Paradox, der bewussten Einführung von Unordnung oder Chaos und dem Ausdruck von Liminalität entstammte. Es ist unmöglich, die exakte Bedeutung vollkommen zu begreifen, die eine solche ikonographische ‘Anarchie’ zum Ausdruck bringt, aber sie scheint jedenfalls eine ‘Andersheit’ zum Ausdruck zu bringen, in der die Ordnung, die eine empirische Beobachtung irdischer ‘Realität’ nahe legt, gegenüber anderen Seinszustanden und der übernatürlichen Weit für irrelevant gehalten wird.

Keywords

cultGallo-RomaniconographyritualRomano-Britishshamanismtriple horns
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , 1998 , pp. 219 - 240
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 Sage Publications 

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