Here we come to a central question, the crux of this study: how should an imitation be interpreted in the milieu of its prototype? Could it be considered an original? In this case, the producer is unlikely to have understood the original meaning of the copied artefact, and in e ect actually created a completely new object, strange and possibly even unrecognizable in the context of its prototype. Sometimes they combine traits of quite di erent prototypes. The second category is characterized by derivative imitations – objects that correspond only partly to prototypes. It is also possible that the maker understood the language of symbols and the place of the imitation manufactured in the hierarchy of surrounding objects. We may suppose that the producer of a direct imitation was aware of both the function of the object and a customer’s cultural background. copies of the original with smaller deviations such as slightly misunderstood decorative details and/or inscription. The rst comprises direct imitations, i.e. It is possible to distinguish two main kinds of imitations. Such translators included single individuals of Scandinavian origin living among the Greeks and local Scandinavian interpreters of available Byzantine prototypes. These were the translators of Byzantine culture who helped to explain the social world of the centre for those on the periphery in a comprehensible language of symbols. The role of intermediaries should not be underestimated, and needs to be investigated. It may also have occurred to individuals who had never been to Byzantium but had adopted a certain oral narrative or received visual information from a native or perhaps a visitor to Greece. The idea of reproducing a certain Byzantine prototype could have emerged both while visiting the Byzantine Empire and after returning home. The copies included some types of glass beads, crosses, vessels and circular pendants as well as coins. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries both original Byzantine objects and their copies circulated in Scandinavia. Clearly the Empire had been viewed as an exemplary aristocratic centre and was worthy of imitation by local Scandinavian elites. Many objects are from richly furnished graves, the burials of individuals who enjoyed a distinctive, high-status social position in society. Most of this material derives from two areas: Middle Sweden and Gotland. This is supported by archaeological evidence in the form of Byzantine gold coins, amethyst beads, silk and jewellery dating from the sixth to eighth centuries AD. Surrounding cultures regarded Byzantium as a successor of the Roman Empire as well as an economic, social and cultural capital. Of course, this might be true, but adoration, admiration, idolatry and envy are just some of the other traditional reasons for copycat behaviour. There is a well-known aphorism that states: ‘Imitation is the sincerest of attery’.
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