yes, momodot, make my neurons churn!  :)  the cultural aspects of art are very interesting, and you made me think of another example:  we don't just reach back in time, but we also view and acquire items as art that are no such thing in their contemporary culture of origin, where they're instead purely functional items.  i don't know how meaningful that is -- we often completely shift the meaning of the item when we do that.  maybe something becomes art a lot more easily when its original cultural context is removed?