The images of the bronze sofa from the ostentatious burial of Hochdorf – manifestation of an analogical view of the world?

Abstract

The pictorial program of the Hochdorf bronze sofa has been subject of numerous attempts at interpretation. The present analysis is carried out against the background of the work of the anthropologist Philippe Descola, who distinguishes people’s understanding of being on the basis of their conceptions of physicality and interiority. Different ways of understanding the world and the cosmos have a decisive influence on the production of images, which is subject of the first part of this article. The second part follows the question of which ontological blueprint our own understanding of the world and history follows according to Descola and what consequences this could have for the interpretation of prehistoric communities such as those of the early Iron Age.