'The true meaning of "devilish grimaces" in Caribbean artwork was lost in translation to the first European tourists and was in fact friendly and welcoming, scientists said yesterday. Early visitors to the Caribbean 500 years ago believed that the bared-teeth motif used in local arts and crafts was "an abominable expression, deformed and ferocious".
But it is now believed that what Europeans mistook to be frighteningly aggressive was actually depicting a smile. Bridget Waller, of the University of Portsmouth's Department of Psychology, and Alice Samson, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, have analysed the artwork of the Taino culture of the Greater Antilles in the pre-Columbian Caribbean.
They found that in the 1400s, visitors believed the bared teeth expression carved on to wooden seats and shells used in bracelets and necklaces was anti-Christian.
But research of the culture of the Bahamas, Cuba and Hispaniola, published in the latest issue of Current Anthropology, has shown that the Europeans were unaware of the context of local art.
Caribbean bared-teeth grimace 'was a friendly and welcoming smile'
Not Growling but Smiling: New Interpretations of the Bared‐Teeth Motif in the Pre‐Columbian Caribbean
For those who would like a bit of culture.................:cheeky:
But it is now believed that what Europeans mistook to be frighteningly aggressive was actually depicting a smile. Bridget Waller, of the University of Portsmouth's Department of Psychology, and Alice Samson, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, have analysed the artwork of the Taino culture of the Greater Antilles in the pre-Columbian Caribbean.
They found that in the 1400s, visitors believed the bared teeth expression carved on to wooden seats and shells used in bracelets and necklaces was anti-Christian.
But research of the culture of the Bahamas, Cuba and Hispaniola, published in the latest issue of Current Anthropology, has shown that the Europeans were unaware of the context of local art.
Caribbean bared-teeth grimace 'was a friendly and welcoming smile'
Not Growling but Smiling: New Interpretations of the Bared‐Teeth Motif in the Pre‐Columbian Caribbean
For those who would like a bit of culture.................:cheeky: