There is a reason why your instructor will tell you to not believe everything you read on Wikipedia. If you read the opening statement for figureheads, which is what you will find if you Google “carved prows”, you will see that it tells you that figureheads were largely made between the 16th and 20th centuries. (Wikipedia) There is but one small paragraph to encompass the carved prows from a variety of cultures including what they symbolized. One small paragraph that covers the period from 800 – 1100 A.D. I won’t ask you to take my writing as Gospel, but rather as a blink of the eye into two cultures at two different time periods that are vastly similar and yet vastly different. The culture, history, and religious beliefs are infinitely …show more content…
(Curry) Prior, during, and after the Viking Age was the time of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Charlemagne is crowned by the first Roman Emperor and Irene of Athens is the Byzantine Empress. The Norse people, who belong to the Germanic ethnicity group, were natives of Norway. (Minahan) They were a people who lived within a class system similar to that of other European nations that included: aristocracy, peasants and slaves. They were also master shipbuilders. Due to limited land suitable for farming, they also fished, hunted and maintained livestock. Prior to and during the Viking Age, the Norse were known to also trade with countries in order to obtain grain, textiles and items of luxury like precious metals and iron. However, when these items could not be easily obtained through trade; the Norsemen would get what they wanted or needed through …show more content…
Both countries have historically shared the superstition of gods, spirits and other aspects of mythology. And, like Norse carvings, ancient Maori carving share a rare survival. Because the people would submerge works of carved art, including canoe prows in swamps during non-peaceful times, some very rare examples were inadvertently preserved. It is thought that the Maori people are descended from areas of eastern Polynesia as they share similar stylistic traits. Over time though, the Maori have developed put their own spin on the traditional Polynesian carving and is now known as the classic Maori style. The classic Maori style is more intricate, bold and is also three-dimensional where the Polynesian carvings were more sparse and simplistic. A difference between the Maori and the Norse and their mythological beliefs is that Maori mythology indicates that the carved posts are representative of people who became were turned into a carved wooden form versus the mythological serpent but both are believed to make the ship or canoe more powerful.