'Figure it out!' Psychological Perspectives on Perception of Migration Period Animal Art

Abstract

In this article we explore some perceptual-psychological and semiotic aspects of the Migration Period 'animal art'from the northern Germanic cultural area. Primarily, it is suggested that this art, which has been described as using symmetry and 'split representations', is laden with 'ambiguous figures' (including 'embedded figures' and 'reversible figures'). The ambiguous quality of the art is suggested to be presenton a perceptual level, but also on a compositional (structural) and iconographic level. Psychological (and neurological) processes involved in the perception of ambiguous figures and their effects are presented: Gestalt formation, unconscious processing, subliminal perception, motivated perception, and changed states of consciousness. It is suggested that this art instigated,or at least referred to such processes. In addit ion,on a semiot iclevel, t heart is suggested to contain information-condensation ('hyper-texts'), cryptic information, and to have had other semiotic functions.