Ghost of a flea: Adonis from Chernitz

April 16, 2005

Adonis from Chernitz

I shall leave it to Flea-readers to decide if a penis can be "short, but impressive" as this is a matter of personal preference as much as objective measurement. I am better placed to offer an opinion about ancient pornography, or rather "pornography", unearthed at Leipzig and the role of comparable predispositions in scientific analysis of archaeological remains.

Since its discovery on August 19, 2003, the partially intact "Adonis from Chernitz" -- as it has been dubbed -- has been creating quite a stir at the state office of archeology in Dresden. Sculptors have carefully recreated the curve of the figure's buttocks and other anatomical minutiae are also clearly visible. Archeologist Harald Staeuble is amazed at the detail. He's not the only one. The find is clearly a remarkable one -- and is the oldest clay figure ever found anywhere in the world.

And the project is becoming ever more fascinating as archeologists continue uncovering additional fragments while sifting through the Stone Age garbage pit. One fragment, which extends from the left calf to the pelvis, appears to be part of a female statue; Adonis, apparently, had a girlfriend. In fact, in an article soon to be published in the journal Germania, Staeuble speculates on how the pieces could fit together. He writes that "there is strong evidence that this is a copulation scene."

Ooh! The thought! I do not think it takes a radical postmodern turn of mind to conclude we cannot reliably write much about the the mind of the person who sculpted this early "Adonis" without taking into account the mind of the archaeologist doing the writing. Imagine for a moment these objects had been unearthed in, say, Victorian England or Afghanistan under the Taliban and it is easy to understand that perspective has quite a bit to do with interpretation. It is more difficult to see the prejudices we sensible, ostensibly less biased folks bring to our analyses of similar material. To even describe objects such as the Adonis and his friend as "pornographic" is to decide in advance that some representations should be categorized separately from others on the basis of their sexual subject matter.

In fact, to do so is to have decided that a copulation scene is primarily about sex in the first place. That this may sound ridiculous ("What else would an image of two people doing it be about if not about sex?") only shows how taken-for-granted are our ideas about the privileged, and segregated, place of sex has in contemporary thought. Some archaeologist of the far future might assume a crucifix was about torture ("What else would an image of a man being tortured be about if not torture?") and in making this assumption would have no clue about the weight of symbolism carried by such an image while being all too confident about what such an image "must" mean. There is no reason to believe we are any closer to the intent or understanding of the artist or audience for the Adonis from Chernitz. The image may have nothing to do with sex let alone the illicit fascination of "pornography".

Posted by Ghost of a flea at April 16, 2005 08:27 AM

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