observers to interpret. Eyes could be whorls, faces could be
represented twice on two sides of a pot, and wings could
be depicted with sharp S-shaped swirls. Th ese images indi-
cate that the Shang had a well-known and complex system
of symbols that would be readily recognized by those who
used the bronzes. Th e Shang bronze sculptors oft en com-
bined realistic images with abstract or symbolic images; the
ram’s head was especially popular for decorating kettles and
storage vessels.
Th e Shang was a warlike culture, expanding territory
through conquest, and it is therefore not surprising that along
with making extraordinarily beautiful household bronzes,
they made decorated weapons. Th e most elaborate weapons
tended to be sacrifi cial axes. Th e Shang practiced human sac-
rifi ce, usually by beheading. When a military or civic leader
died, his servants would be ritually executed and interred
with him to serve him in the next life. Th e axes used were
specially made for the purpose and could feature molded hu-
man faces, engraved decorations, and openings for mouths or
other facial parts such as ears.
Th e people of the Zhou Dynasty were a technologi-
cally less advanced group from the west who overthrew the
Shang Dynasty in 1045 b.c.e. At fi rst, the Zhou seemed to
have employed the same bronze makers as had the Shang.
Even so, there was a notable shift in style. Th e Zhou bronz-
es of the 1000s b.c.e. were oft en constructions of multiple
castings, with images exploding into three-dimensional
space. Th e Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,
has an outstanding example of a pot from the late 1000s
b.c.e. with handles arcing up and out, heads thrusting out
of its sides, and a chaos of images rendered on several ver-
tical layers of castings. By the end of the 900s b.c.e. Zhou
bronzes became mostly plain and utilitarian, leading some
historians to believe that advanced casting techniques had
been lost, perhaps with the dying off of the last generation
of Shang artisans.
During the late Zhou (ca. 600–221 b.c.e.), an era of war-
fare, fi ne detail in bronzes made a comeback, possibly sig-
naling infl uence from cultures to the west that reintroduced
advanced bronze-casting techniques. At fi rst, blocky vessels
seem to have been preferred, with symbolic animal faces
and thick, upraised lines in decorative, oft en leafy, patterns.
By the end of the Zhou, bronzes of extraordinary complex-
ity and beauty were again being produced, and casters were
playing with three-dimensional space with the surety of
masters of their craft. An outstanding example produced
during the late Zhou resides in the Hubei Provincial Muse-
um. It is a drum stand about 21.25 inches in circumference
at its base; the base is a platter with an attached cylindrical
post that bears the weight of the drum. Around that post
and fi lling the platter are writhing dragons, their bodies and
limbs driving out into space in myriad angles. Graceful and
full of motion, it is a high point in the art of casting bronze
and represents the sort of detail and skill of the best bronzes
of its age.
ARTS IN OCEANIA
In Australia the native peoples have painted on exposed rocks
since ancient times; their images tell creation stories and relate
their history. Stone Age peoples did not survive long enough
to be able to explain their art to modern historians; too oft en,
when such civilizations have survived, modern people have
not been interested in their culture. For instance, people ar-
rived at Easter Island in the 400s c.e. and began carving small
sculptures; eventually, aft er hundreds of years, they began
erecting mammoth statues along the edges of their island. In
the 1800s c.e. most of the Easter Islanders were shipped away
to Peru as slaves, resulting in the deaths of those who knew
what their written language and their sculptures meant.
Australia off ers a special chance to learn about Neolithic
art from people who still paint in the ancient ways. Th us it is
known that large blocks of stylized images actually tell stories,
with creation stories being common. Many rocks feature im-
ages of hands, made by placing a hand against the surface of
a rock and then blowing pigment around it. In the late 20th
century similar handprints were found in remote caves and
rock surfaces in Borneo, suggesting a possible continuity in
artistic practice from people who migrated to Borneo and
then on to other islands before eventually reaching Australia.
Painted with the handprints in Borneo are elongated fi gures of
humans and large images of animals that are so detailed that
they must have taken days to paint. A few of these paintings
have been dated between 10,000 b.c.e. and 8000 b.c.e. In both
Australia and Borneo there are animal images that, like ones
found in India, depict their insides as well as their outsides.JAPAN, KOREA, AND SOUTHERN ASIA
W hat su r v ive s of a ncient Japa ne se a r t i s pot ter y. On t he isla nd
of Kyushu pottery shards dating to 12,000 b.c.e. have been
discovered. During the Jomon Era (13,000–300 b.c.e.) the
inhabitants of the Japanese islands made elaborately shaped
vessels. During the Yayoi Era (300 b.c.e.–300 c.e.) the Japa-
nese made haniwa, ceramic fi gures varying in height from
about four inches to seven inches. Th ey were usually fi gures
of people wearing their everyday garb, sometimes holding
the tools of their trade. Th ey were set upright in the ground,
surrounding graves; sometimes hundreds of them encircled a
large tomb. Archaeologists think that they represented spirits
that would guard graves against evil. Th ey are notable for the
way in which posture or facial expression gives each one a
unique individuality.
Koreans and peoples along the southern edges of China
tended to adopt Chinese styles and art forms. Most of what
is presently known of ancient Korean art comes from its ce-
ramics. Th e cups, plates, and serving dishes from ancient
Korea show that their makers were well schooled in Chinese
techniques, especially in the use of glazes. Th ey also made
ceramic fi gurines as burial goods and as toys.
Much of the rest of southern Asia was divided between
Chinese and Indian infl uences. For instance, some of the104 art: Asia and the Pacific