A Preliminary Study On The Origin Of The Round-Spiral/ Circular Swirl Pattern Of Tianshan Area Prehistoric Painted Pottery In The World System Of Eurasian

In the early part of the late prehistoric period in Tianshan area(approximately 7th to 3rd century BC),painted pottery with round-spiral pattern appeared and popularized in the eastern Tianshan Mountains of Tianshan,mainly distributed in the East Tianshan region across Xinjiang,China.The circular swirl pattern of painted pottery that suddenly became popular has aroused the attention of academic circles.This pattern appeared in painted pottery,dating back to the Neolithic Age.It has a long history and once popular on painted pottery in the east and west of Eurasia.Therefore,to study the circular swirl pattern in the Tianshan area,it is necessary to place it in the entire Eurasian Painted Pottery World System for long-term and large space observation and comparison.In the Yellow River Basin of the East,the Orient circular swirl pattern of the color pottery series represented by the Miaodigou—Majiayao—Tangwang Culture;in the west,the round-spiral pattern of colored pottery represented by the Cucuteni—Tripolye—Minoan Culture sequence.In the 2nd millennium BC,the colored pottery culture of the Yellow River basin entered Tianshan area from the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the Hexi Corridor,and then revived in Tianshan area.Although the round-spiral pattern of painted pottery at this period declined in the middle reaches of the Yellow River which its earliest prosperity,it laid the foundation for the westward spread of the Tangwang Culture circular swirl pattern of painted pottery that inherited the eastern tradition.In the Tangwang Culture colored pottery with roundspiral pattern,the diagonally symmetrical arc-edge triangular round-spiral pattern has revived which popular for thousands of years,and it has been accepted by the local people in the process of interaction with Turpan Basin and its surrounding areas.The circular swirl pattern of painted pottery in the Cucuteni—Tripolye Culture in western Eurasia is very similar to the Miaodigou—Majiayao—Tangwang Culture,which has attracted the attention of academic circles,and some suspect that they may exist relationship of spread between them.By combing the times and characteristics of the two,it can be seen that the western painted pottery of round-spiral pattern has not expanded to the east.In the western part of the Eurasian steppe,the linear geometric patterns carved on pottery are widely popular.Later,the painted pottery with round-spiral pattern flourished in the Aegean civilization,which had an impact on the circular swirl pattern style on the Eurasian steppe in the 1st millennium BC.There is a long distance between the region popular the circular swirl pattern of painted pottery in western Eurasian and the region spread circular swirl pattern of painted pottery in Tianshan area.There is no evidence that there is a direct connection between the two region which popular painted pottery with the circular swirl pattern.In the late 1th millennium BC,some Greek round-spiral pattern were popular in the Eurasian steppe.They were loved by the grassland people and used them decorated some animal-patterned ornaments and other artifacts.They may have influenced this period the style of Tianshan area painted pottery with the circular swirl pattern.The round-spiral pattern in the prehistoric painted pottery in Tianshan Area has absorbed the traditional structure of the oriental Tangwang Cultural,and was influenced by the wave pattern decoration trend of the grassland,combined with its own half-agricultural and half-pastoral social economy and the spirit of nature worship faith,on the basis of local culture,created a colorful Tianshan area colored pottery circular swirl pattern decoration system.