Creativity and Craft: Mimesis and Illusion at the Late Bronze Age / Early
Iron Age site of Vukovar Lijeva Bara, Croatia
Dr Jo Sofaer
University of Southampton
This paper explores creativity in ceramics through a discussion of mimesis the relationship between original and reproduction - at the Late Bronze Age /
Early Iron Age site of Vukovar Lijeva Bara in Croatia. Mimesis existed in
optical illusions generated through decoration, the shape of vessels and its
role in the expression of cosmological narratives, and in a subtle play between
‘original’ vessels and ‘copies’ made specifically for the mortuary ritual. These
were not separate but inter-related aspects where the relationship and tension
between original and reproduction acted as a fundamental impulse for
creativity.