1. Read the text and translate it into Ukrainian.
2. Answer the following questions:
1. Where is the city of Teotihucan located?
2. When did Teotihucan reach a peak of creativity?
3. Where did the Aztecs incorporate Teotihucan?
4. How did Teotihucan function?
5. What does “Teotihucan” mean?
6. What have archaeologists identified at Teotihucan?
7. What was the city of Teotihucan notable for?
8. What were the rituals surrounding Xipe Totec worship designed for?
9. Where were sacrificial practices reflected?
10. How did the figure of Xipe Totec look like?
3. Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following words and phrases:
magnificent religious architecture
to reach a peak of creativity
to remain a dominant force
to exert a powerful influence
extensive excavations
to filter down
to be deliberately aligned
to be notable for
to revolve
to ensure the fertility
invariably
to take delight in
visible
similarly
4. Give English equivalents to the following words and phrases:
розкішний та винятковий
стародавній
брати початок
залишатися домінуючою силою
відмовлятися від
очевидно
навмисне
жахливий
оточувати
забезпечувати достаток
здирати шкуру
гинути
відчувати захоплення
кровопролитний
жертва
зап’ясток
5. Make up sentences of your own with the given words and phrases.
6. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A |
B |
creativity |
removing by digging |
site |
the ability to produce offspring |
to remain |
to forsake completely, desert, leave behind |
to abandon |
to stay behind or in the same place |
excavation |
a person ardently enthusiastic about or devoted to something |
deliberately |
always, without exception |
fertility |
the ability to create |
devotee |
the central or essential part of something |
kernel |
the piece of land where something was intended to be located |
invariably |
carefully thought out in advance |
7. Summarize the text in English. Unit 26 text
The style of the ancient Celts influences Northern European artisans
The Celts were one of the many peoples of central and northern Europe whose artistic traditions were overshadowed by the classical art of the Greeks and Romans. Yet the richness and diversity of their style was widely influential and is important to the evolution of western art.
From the sixth century bce, central Europe was a cultural melting pot of tribes and settlers with ancestry and traditions from both the east and west. The dominating culture to emerge was that of the Celts. At their peak, these powerful people managed to occupy Rome (386 bce) and Delphi (279 bce) but, as the Roman Empire expanded, the Celts were pushed westward, until they settled on the fringes of the continent in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany in present-day France. Their artistic heritage is as rich, complex, and enduring, as the people who created it. When Northern Europeans produced superbly crafted ornaments and accessories in the seventh century, their work reflected a style inherited from the Celts, and is quite distinct from the influence of the classical ancient civilizations.
The style is essentially abstract, full of densely packed spirals, knots, and mazes interlaced to form hypnotic patterns. Stylized heads with bulging eyes were another feature, and this may reflect their practice of headhunting. Ribbon-like creatures with fierce, snarling jaws were images from their own fables, which brought the fire-breathing dragons of the east into western mythology. These patterns had important symbolic meanings. Spirals are linked with sun worship and thought to represent the motion of the sun as it passes through the sky. They are found on ancient tombs known to have solar alignments. Knot designs were used to offer protection against curses and spells, and were believed to be particularly effective in warding off the evil eye. The more complicated the knot, the greater the degree of protection it provided, so it was common to wear a complex knot design as a clasp or buckle. Examples of fine
8 Belt Buckle from the Ship Burial at Sutton Hoo
Artist unknown, c.600
Anglo Saxon
Celtic metalwork have been found buried in graves, or deposited in lakes and rivers, where they were given as offerings to the gods.
The abstract nature of the designs meant that they could easily be absorbed into very different cultures contemporary to the Celts, including Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Germanic tribes. In England, the discovery of two remarkable ship burials at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia yielded a rich array of armour and jewellery. These Anglo-Saxon artifacts had many affinities with Celtic designs, as is particularly noticeable in this sumptuous golden buckle buried with a king. The Celtic influence is seen in the coiled interlacing and stylized bird-heads. Similar designs using motifs of this type are also common in Scandinavia.
The wide diffusion and enduring nature of this style was due, above all, to its adaptability. The ancient Celts may have focused initially on metalwork, but their descendants adapted the patterns to use on a wide variety of artwork. In Britain and Ireland, Celtic interlace was featured on crosiers, chalices, stone crosses, and Biblical manuscripts. While the components of barbarian ornament came from pagan beliefs and had magical overtones, Christian Celtic artists were happy to claim them for their own. Giraldus Cambrensis wrote in the thirteenth century of one Celtic piece: "Here you will see intricacies so fine and subtle, so exact and yet so rich in detail, so full of knots and coils, with colours so bright and fresh, that you will not hesitate to declare that you have gazed upon the work not of man, but of angels."
TASKS.