Doctoral research student

Karina Iwe (Germany, 1983)

M.A. in Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Classical Archaeology and Ancient History

Kiwe@gshdl.uni-kiel.de

A Study of the Animal Style of Scythian Nomadic Horse-Riders in Central Asia.

My project, titled “A Study of the Animal Style of Scythian Nomadic Horse-Riders in Central Asia”, deals in particular with the classification and development of multi-figured animal scenes in different regions of the Eurasian steppe belt during Scythian times.

The project investigates material culture of the Iron Age (9th-3rd century BC). In the regions of Scythian nomadic horse-riders, several areas can be recognised which share common traits but also retain their local features. Thus, the emergence of nomadic horse-riders was accompanied by the appearance of a specific art style which dominated the Eurasian steppe belt for about 600 years. Nomadic life of Scythian horse-riders engendered a very intense perception of the natural surroundings. The Animal Style is, so to speak, its non-written document – a document of the interaction between nature/perceived environment and society. It reflects shared ideas of the human mind and the relationship between the individual, society and landscapes.

The aim of this project is to understand the meaning of multi-figured scenes within the Animal Style in societies of the Eurasian steppe belt. The questions to be addressed include: Which changes within the style can be recognised over time? Under which conditions did specific changes occur within the art style? Are there connections between art and objects and if so, are they visible? Are clear similarities and differences observable for regional and supra-regional levels? Does the style have an underlying meaning? What can we infer about the society, modes of thinking, and beliefs by investigating art of the Scythian period?

Since April 2010
Member of the Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel

2008 – 2009
(Magister Artium) Freie Universität Berlin. Subject of the master’s thesis: The Animal Style of the elite burials in the mountains of Altai. Supervisors: Prof. H. Parzinger, Prof. W. Schier

2006 – 2007
University College of Dublin (Ireland), Department of Archaeology

2002 – 2005
University of Leipzig, studies of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Classical Archaeology and Ancient History, Intermediary examination 'Zwischenprüfung'

2006 - 2007
Student assistant at several scientific and rescue excavations in Kazakhstan (Shanyrak/ Archaeological Institute of Almaty), Ukraine (Alma Kermen/ Freie Universität Berlin, Prof. F. Fless), Greece (Keros/ Prof. C. Renfrew) and Ireland (Dublin/Company)

2006
Exhibition office Museum for Pre- and Early History Berlin “Under the Sign of the Golden Griffin. Royal Tombs of the Scythians”

2002 - 2005
Student assistant at archaeological excavations in Saxony, Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Hamburg