pictographic resources
I am still trying to make hay with the idea that starting out with different pictoral traditions, and then round-robin trying to acquire other pictoral traditions is a good way to handle the encoding bias that comes with the fact that our visual system appears to be doing sub-conscious preprocessing during image recognition.
I have begun collecting visual reference materials for these purposes. I do have quite a bit on Christian art, so that's hardly the issue. I have found a couple of nice links on visual materials from the proto-Dynastic and the early Dynastic time of Egypt, for example these reconstructions of the Naqada label, which come from this excellent website on the early dynastic period (including pictures of my beloved Narmer Palette). Now I need stuff from some other cultures, like say the Mayans or maybe Asian art (preferably not Babylonian, due to the complicated interplay in the Ancient Near East). Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest would be cool, too.
Maybe I will have enough material and ideas together by the time the next Interdisciplinary Social Sciences role around; the proposal submission deadline is February 14th, 2008.