The Classification of the signs in the ornamentation of Lithuanian folk bands

ENThe another authors in the previous investigations of the ornament of Lithuanian traditional bands has tried to make the description of the general features of patterns. But the problem of the principles and cannons of the creation of the different signs is still existent. The task of this study is to present the classification of the signs of traditional Lithuanian pick-woven bands, which can reveal the laws of they creation. We analyse the decorative (the fundamental elements of the ornament, the ways and principles of their evaluation, the cause of the vahety of the signs' contours) and semantical - decorative (the symbolical bases of the patterns, the reason for vahety of the sign forms) phnciples of structuhng the signs. For analysation we have used original methodology, established by adopting in creative way not only common methods of ornament analysis but the specific investigations of the textile design also. The smallest ornamental elements of the signs of the Lithuanian pick-up woven bands, it is: the dot (made by one thread), and a more sophisticated element - a vertical cross (of three threads) in height and width. By extending them in three directions: vertical, horizontal and diagonal, a vahety of signs forms is formed. Some most primitive geomethcal patterns are very close to mentioned elements, it is: a square, a thangle, horizontal and diagonal lines. According to these elemental dot or cross development in three directions we can find three types of contours. The contours of the different signs may be combined in four ways: 1) only diagonal, 2) only horizontal, 3) combined of diagonal and horizontal directions, 4) vertical, horizontal and diagonal direction.We present the classification of the signs which reveals the principles of the evaluation of the signs in Lithuanian bands and explains the difference of their forms, which is based on the four levels of their sophistication: 1) the most ancient, primitive, archetypal signs (a rhomb, a diagonal cross, serpent, herring-bore, rhomb with two horns at two tops, zigzag, “frog", rosette, "horses heads", rake, meander, diagonal line, V sign, a star, five - diamond - star, swastika, "roof’, “cats foot"), 2) the signs of complex construction, but simple in plastic form - they consists of the some joint archeatypal signs (for example, rhomb with diagonal cross and four dots inside, double rhomb with horns on two opposite tops, rhomb with bent rake - teeth, half frog - half five diamond star, rhomb with square - like horns, half swastika - half rosette and half swastika - half frog, “the owl's eyes”, rhomb between herring - bones, 3) the signs highly sophisticated in plastic form or stylisation, there are 6 different styles of their plastic decoration (I- The ornament with bordered main line, II - The ornament with double or more lines, III - the ornament of very wide line with a square's design inside the contour, IV - the signs with rake - teeth stylisation, V - the decoration of dots, VI - the signs with the serrated silhouette), 4) the mostly sophisticated signs with linked construction and highly complicated in stylisation of the plastic form. It is clear that in traditional ornamentation the possibilities of these principles of signs' structuring is not exploited totally. There is a wide field for creating a new patterns, using traditional cannons.