The Semiotics of Central Zagros Iron Age Pins Head

Pins of Central Zagros in Iron Age are categorized into two main groups of Straight Pins and Headed Pins. The second group has three subgroups: 1-Castting Pinheads, 2- Openwork Pinheads and 3- Dis-headed Pins. These Pinheads contain various motifs such as humans, animals, imaginary creatures combined, herbs, geometric and abstract shapes. many scholars began to propose various interpretations concerning the nature, function, and symbolic meanings of these motifs. Among them, one can point out to the theories that attributed them to Mesopotamian gods & Iranian gods and myths. None of the ideas has been presented based on the analysis of all sorts of disc-headed pins; therefore, they are not able to provide a fairly comprehensive theory that can be regarded as true for all of them and /or present a viewpoint about the beliefs of those people who made them. Therefore, in the present study, as a substitute for the traditional symbols of these works, the method of Saussure’s structuralism semiotic method was used and 145 disc-headed pin from various museums of the world were studied. Trying to achieve common semantic categories, the analysis process was based on analyzing the structural relationships of the set of designs on the pinheads including, A. go togetherness (rational relations between the motifs) and B. replacement (the possibility of presenting one motif as another). The results of the analysis indicate three possible categorizations such as groups of male, female, and human-like central motifs and separate motifs associated with each of these groups. Another group of pins also displays common motifs between women and men’s groups in the form of a common affiliation with the domination of the female groups on the male groups conveying concepts such as bonding and birth. With regard to the characteristics of the eastern state of art, these groups can be attributed, respectively, to female and male goddesses, as well as pseudo- humans with horns, the underworld god who is neuter and dominates both male and female group.
Keywords: Central Zagros Pins, Head-Pin Motifs, Saussure’s Semiotic Method, Syntagmatic & Paradigmatic.
 
Introduction
Pins of Central Zagros in Iron Age are categorized into two main groups of Straight Pins and Headed Pins. The second group has three subgroups: 1-Castting Pinheads, 2- Openwork Pinheads and 3- Dis-headed Pins. These Pinheads contain various motifs such as humans, animals, imaginary creatures combined, herbs, geometric and abstract shapes. many scholars began to propose various interpretations concerning the nature, function, and symbolic meanings of these motifs. Among them, one can point out to the theories that attributed them to Mesopotamian gods & Iranian gods and myths. None of the ideas has been presented based on the analysis of all sorts of disc-headed pins; therefore, they are not able to provide a fairly comprehensive theory that can be regarded as true for all of them and /or present a viewpoint about the beliefs of those people who made them. The question of this research should be to review the motifs of this pins with the aim of providing a new semiotic interpretation the motifs that were applied on the pins head. The hypothesis of the present study is also existence of a comprehensive and orderly semiotic system on this pins head in which the motifs are depicted corresponding to different gods.
 
Identified Traces
Central Zagros pins are part of the Luristan bronzes with stunning motifs on their pins head. These motifs reflect the thoughts of the people who made and used them. In relation to these motifs, various theories have been put forward which are all based on traditional semiotics and do not provide any comprehensive theory. In this research we created a set of pins head and trying to achieve common semantic categories, the analysis process was based on analyzing the structural relationships of the set of designs on the pinheads including, A. go togetherness (rational relations between the motifs) and B. replacement (the possibility of presenting one motif as another). The results of the analysis indicate three possible categorizations such as groups of male, female, and human-like central motifs and separate motifs associated with each of these groups. Another group of pins also displays common motifs between women and men’s groups in the form of a common affiliation with the domination of the female groups on the male groups conveying concepts such as bonding and birth. With regard to the characteristics of the eastern state of art, these groups can be attributed, respectively, to female and male goddesses, as well as pseudo- humans with horns, the underworld god who is neuter and dominates both male and female group.
 
Conclusion
Pins of Central Zagros in Iron Age are categorized into two main groups of Straight Pins and Headed Pins. The second group has three subgroups: 1-Castting Pinheads, 2- Openwork Pinheads and 3- Dis-headed Pins. These Pinheads contain various motifs such as humans, animals, imaginary creatures combined, herbs, geometric and abstract shapes. many scholars began to propose various interpretations concerning the nature, function, and symbolic meanings of these motifs. Among them, one can point out to the theories that attributed them to Mesopotamian gods & Iranian gods and myths. None of the ideas has been presented based on the analysis of all sorts of disc-headed pins; therefore, they are not able to provide a fairly comprehensive theory that can be regarded as true for all of them and /or present a viewpoint about the beliefs of ancient men who made them. Therefore, in the present study, as a substitute for the traditional symbols of these works, the method of Saussure’s structuralism semiotic method was used and 145 disc-headed pin from various museums of the world were studied. Trying to achieve common semantic categories, the analysis process was based on analyzing the structural relationships of the set of designs on the pinheads including, A. go togetherness (rational relations between the motifs) and B. replacement (the possibility of presenting one motif as another).
The results of the analysis indicate three possible categorizations such as groups of male, female, and human-like central motifs and separate motifs associated with each of these groups. Another group of pins also displays common motifs between women and men’s groups in the form of a common affiliation with the domination of the female groups on the male groups conveying concepts such as bonding and birth. With regard to the characteristics of the eastern state of art, these groups can be attributed, respectively, to female and male goddesses, as well as pseudo- humans with horns, the underworld god who is neuter and dominates both male and female group.