Prehistoric Gallery - The Art of Our Ancestors
September 20th 2008 15:29
I was recently directed to an article written by a man called Dinesh D'Souza which made the most outrageous claims about the arts.
I would like to dispute this claim with a few examples:
The Venus Of Tan-Tan figurine was discovered in Morocco and is dated at over 300,000 years old.
Qafzeh burial site in Isreal provided evidence than about 100,000 years ago of there were death rituals involving ochre which suggests a high level of intelligence and the ability for symbolic though.
Blombos Cave in South Africa provided evidence that about 80,000 years ago humans were able to manufacture beads from shells as personal ornaments (more than sixty were found) and to engrave chunks of ochre with geometric patterns and carve bone tools.
The Chauvet Cave in France had paintings depicting horses and other animals around 30,000 years ago. Hundreds of painting represent at least thirteen different species including predatory animals (lions, panthers, bears, owls, rhinos, hyenas, etc) and the animals they hunted (horses, cattle, reindeer, etc). There is also abstract markings (lines and dots), hand stencils, a partial Venus figue, and a human/bison chimera draw on the caves walls. This combination of subjects has led experts in pre-historic art and cultures to believe that there was likely a ritual, shamanic, or magical aspect to these paintings. In some areas the walls were scraped clear, light and smooth as a canvas and some figures have a three dimensional quality due to their outlines being etched into the rock.
The Pech Merle Caves in France date back to 25,000 years ago and feature walls painted in dramatic murals full of life-like images of the woolly mammoth, spotted horses, solid colored horses, bovids, reindeer, handprints, and some humans.
The Venus Of Willendorf was carved around 22,000 years ago.
The Coa Valley in Portugal features thousands of stone etchings from around 20,000 years ago. The etchings depict horses, bovines and other animal, human and abstract figures.
Lascaux cave in France documents the sophisticated animal paintings oh the people that lived there 16,000 years ago. The paintings are realistic images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. People were capable of fine toolmaking, sculpture, cave painting, body ornaments, and long-distance trade.
The Altamira Caves in Spain contain paintings from over 13,000 years ago which depict wild animals in a chiaroscuro style which was an inspiration for Picasso.
Theoretically, modern human behavior is taken to include four ingredient capabilities:
- abstract thinking (concepts free from specific examples)
- planning (taking steps to achieve a further goal)
- innovation (finding new solutions)
- symbolic behaviour (such as images and rituals)
Modern humans (homo sapiens) have been roaming to earth for between 200,000 to 250,000 years ago and there are examples from all around the world that prove we have been an artistc species throughout our existance. There are even examples indicating that our Neanderthal cousins werent that shabby in the creativity department.
Across the world human populations developed independantly and often due to the challenges of climate changes - increasing dry seasons forced us to adapt from hunter/gatherers to farmers and storers. There is evidence of argiculture and planned cultivation as early as 10,000BC in Abu Hureyra, Syria (ancient Mesopotamia).
Our ancestors were not "blithering idiots" who "accomplished virtually nothing", they were highly functioning and capable of planning, innovation, and the ability to comprehend the abstract and symbolic. They were not sitting around for 95,000 years waiting for Christ to hand them the paints and tools. They had many interests and skills other than "primative warfare" and as each generation passed on their legacy to the next they became increasingly developed over time.
Homo sapiens has been on the planet for 100,000 years, but apparently for 95,000 of those years he accomplished virtually nothing. No real art, no writing, no inventions, no culture, no civilization.
How is this possible? Were our ancestors, otherwise physically and mentally undistinguishable from us, such blithering idiots that they couldn't figure out anything other than the arts of primitive warfare?
The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever been born is approximately 105 billion. Of this number, about 2 percent were born in the 100,000 years before Christ came to earth.
It seems as if some transcendent being or force reached down and breathed some kind of a spirit or soul into man, because after accomplishing virtually nothing for 98 percent of our existence, we have in the past 2 percent of human history produced everything ...
How is this possible? Were our ancestors, otherwise physically and mentally undistinguishable from us, such blithering idiots that they couldn't figure out anything other than the arts of primitive warfare?
The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever been born is approximately 105 billion. Of this number, about 2 percent were born in the 100,000 years before Christ came to earth.
It seems as if some transcendent being or force reached down and breathed some kind of a spirit or soul into man, because after accomplishing virtually nothing for 98 percent of our existence, we have in the past 2 percent of human history produced everything ...
I would like to dispute this claim with a few examples:
The Venus Of Tan-Tan figurine was discovered in Morocco and is dated at over 300,000 years old.
Qafzeh burial site in Isreal provided evidence than about 100,000 years ago of there were death rituals involving ochre which suggests a high level of intelligence and the ability for symbolic though.
Blombos Cave in South Africa provided evidence that about 80,000 years ago humans were able to manufacture beads from shells as personal ornaments (more than sixty were found) and to engrave chunks of ochre with geometric patterns and carve bone tools.
The Chauvet Cave in France had paintings depicting horses and other animals around 30,000 years ago. Hundreds of painting represent at least thirteen different species including predatory animals (lions, panthers, bears, owls, rhinos, hyenas, etc) and the animals they hunted (horses, cattle, reindeer, etc). There is also abstract markings (lines and dots), hand stencils, a partial Venus figue, and a human/bison chimera draw on the caves walls. This combination of subjects has led experts in pre-historic art and cultures to believe that there was likely a ritual, shamanic, or magical aspect to these paintings. In some areas the walls were scraped clear, light and smooth as a canvas and some figures have a three dimensional quality due to their outlines being etched into the rock.
The Pech Merle Caves in France date back to 25,000 years ago and feature walls painted in dramatic murals full of life-like images of the woolly mammoth, spotted horses, solid colored horses, bovids, reindeer, handprints, and some humans.
The Venus Of Willendorf was carved around 22,000 years ago.
The Coa Valley in Portugal features thousands of stone etchings from around 20,000 years ago. The etchings depict horses, bovines and other animal, human and abstract figures.
Lascaux cave in France documents the sophisticated animal paintings oh the people that lived there 16,000 years ago. The paintings are realistic images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. People were capable of fine toolmaking, sculpture, cave painting, body ornaments, and long-distance trade.
The Altamira Caves in Spain contain paintings from over 13,000 years ago which depict wild animals in a chiaroscuro style which was an inspiration for Picasso.
Theoretically, modern human behavior is taken to include four ingredient capabilities:
- abstract thinking (concepts free from specific examples)
- planning (taking steps to achieve a further goal)
- innovation (finding new solutions)
- symbolic behaviour (such as images and rituals)
Modern humans (homo sapiens) have been roaming to earth for between 200,000 to 250,000 years ago and there are examples from all around the world that prove we have been an artistc species throughout our existance. There are even examples indicating that our Neanderthal cousins werent that shabby in the creativity department.
Across the world human populations developed independantly and often due to the challenges of climate changes - increasing dry seasons forced us to adapt from hunter/gatherers to farmers and storers. There is evidence of argiculture and planned cultivation as early as 10,000BC in Abu Hureyra, Syria (ancient Mesopotamia).
Our ancestors were not "blithering idiots" who "accomplished virtually nothing", they were highly functioning and capable of planning, innovation, and the ability to comprehend the abstract and symbolic. They were not sitting around for 95,000 years waiting for Christ to hand them the paints and tools. They had many interests and skills other than "primative warfare" and as each generation passed on their legacy to the next they became increasingly developed over time.
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Comment by Chris Champion
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In his wonderful, Pulitzer-winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond writes, "African and European skulls of half a million years ago were sufficiently similar to skulls of us moderns that they are classified in our species, Homo sapiens."
So if Homo sapiens has been on the planet for 500,000 years rather than 100,000 as D'Souza claims, the credibility of the rest of his argument is shaky at best.
Anyway, I'd like to point out that the saluki is thought to be the oldest breed of dog due to its clear depiction on 7,000-year-old carved seals from the Tepe Gawra region in what is now Iraq. For anyone interested, there is more on that here.
An example of a saluki on a Tepe Gawra carved seal, and more about the breed, can be found here.
The saluki being arguably the best-looking as well as the oldest dog, score one more for art and one less for D'Souza
Regards,
Chris
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Comment by Norm
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Comment by Lilla
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Indeed, not so uncivilised to have coexisted without a skerig of pollution for 95,000 years, say whot?
Morgan, I read a very interesting fact about this here little lady, Venus Of Willendorf, in that it is believed to be a self portrait (without mirrors) and why, perhaps so rounded?
Thanks for the fine culture on this lovely Sunday afternoon.
Lilla ...
Comment by Lilla
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks for the info and links on the Saluki Dog - for an ancient breed they are extremely graceful and elegant . . . no wonder our ancestors were inspired by them!
D'Souza got the 100,000 figure from a debate he had with Christipher Hitchens (the infamous atheist) who said Carl Sagan estimated homo sapiens had been around for 200,000 years but he thought it was somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 (ie no more)
i will have to track down the Jared Diamond book you mentioned, it is amazing how long some of these artefacts have survived!
i think its safe to say the world has been spinning well in excess of 6,000 years and humans have displayed sophistication ever since they evolved!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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haha poor Dinesh!
hes a very good public speaker but unfortunately many of his points are fairly pointless!
i was watching the 10 part series on YouTube of the debate he had with Hitchens in New York (The Kings College) and he seemed to genuinely believe the humans had no capacity for compassion before Jesus taught them how to do it . . . very strange!
the first part is HERE if you havent seen it before
hi Norm,
its all so familiar isnt it?
if you dont believe what i believe you must be less than human . . .
hi Lilla,
oh i love that version of human evolution!
very cynical but very funny!
thanks for the info on Ms Willendorf, i did not realise it was a self-portrait . . . that shows an amazing level of self-awareness . . . i knew the figurine was symbolic of fertility and reproduction
so true about the pollution, i was reading some of Carl Sagans "Cosmos" and he says technically animals are a parasite onto plants . . . modern humans seem to be doing their best to prove him right!
thanks for the comments everyone!
Comment by RubySoho
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It seems as if some transcendent being or force reached down and breathed some kind of a spirit or soul into man, because after accomplishing virtually nothing for 98 percent of our existence, we have in the past 2 percent of human history produced everything ...
Like seriously WTF? It only seems like some supernatural being breathed a spirit into man because you have been raised to believe that a supernatural being breathed a spirit into man.
It's like saying, I can't explain why we are here, therefore God must have put us here.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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HAHAHAha i totally agree!
i also thought the explanation went completely against the teaching of creation while it was so busy trying to stick it to atheism . . .
correct me if im wrong but Christians dont typically believe god was just day-tripping through our solar system and came down to an existing planet and selected an existing species to breath a soul into do they?
i seem to remember something about adam and eve and ribs and dust and creating everything from new . . .
Comment by RubySoho
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Watching D'Souza debates makes me feel like he might actually be an atheist working undercover.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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BAHAHAhaha ahhhh i can relate . . . somehow it seems possible
sometimes i feel like contracting myself out to a Creationist lobby group to help them but together a feasible hypothesis where the bible fits in around evolutionary fact . . . they are so ready to throw their hands up and say it doesnt have to make sense because they have "faith", so nobody seems to get over any of the major hurdles
Comment by RubySoho
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What I can't stand is when they try to claim that science and reason and sense are on their side...and then put forward arguments like D'souza does. They want our respect but refuse to play by the first rule of argument and debate, ie your argument has to make sense and must be sustained by evidence or rationality. There is no rationality or evidence to back up a claim like "some supernatural being breathed a life force into man". And yes, you are right, it does go against the teachings of creation. But I don't know if D'souza is a creationist. I know the Catholic Church has accepted evolution.
Seriously, someone needs to tell him that the reason Franklin and Galileo and other scientists of their eras were Christian was because they really didn't have much choice. I haven't seen part 2 of the debate yet, so maybe Hitchens already has.
It looks like a pretty good debate. Not as good as The Great Orble Debate Of The Millenium Which Will Have People Talking For Years To Come, but then it wasn't moderated by our pious and persecuted moderator extraordinaire, so we can't really blame them for that.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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i did a bit of googling and found out Dinesh is a Roman Catholic who was formerly in a relationship with Anne Coulter (!?!) . . . he seems to contradict himself a fair bit . . . i found this article criticising his assertion that Genesis supports the Big Bang theory HERE
in that debate Hitchens goes on to dispute Einstein was a "theist" . . . i think he calls him a "deist" and a "spinozist"
Comment by RubySoho
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I'm amazed that people still try to claim Einstein was a theist when he himself actually called it a lie. D'souza strikes as somewhat of a dim wit. I mean really, he accosts Hitchens for "presuming God does not exist" and not giving evidence. That's a bit rich coming from a believer. Um how about you presuming that God does exist...and not providing evidence?
And where should the burden of proof lie anyway?
Comment by RubySoho
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HahahahahahahaHAHA!
Comment by Jarrah
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Yeah, carbon dating has always been a respected and accurate scientific practice... ha ha hah ah aa ha ha ha ha
sorry.
ha ha ha ha hah ahah ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
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By the way, I loved your post very much, Morgan
Comment by RubySoho
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The way i see it if they want to deny science and sense and reason and say "we don't need it, we have faith", then I say good luck to them.
What I can't stand is when they try to claim that science and reason and sense are on their side...and then put forward arguments like D'souza does.
That was for you Jarrah.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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they can also tell from the age of the rock layers and the bones of extinct animals in remote sites
in the case of Altamira the cave was completely sealed by a rockfall 13,000 years ago
on what basis do you dismiss the process of carbon-dating?
hi Wilson,
i saw some aerial photos of that lost tribe!
i guess god didnt "breath" the spirit of industrialisation into every human at the same time . . .
Comment by Jarrah
Back to the Eighties
Anyone who has studied any science can tell you that no dating is accurate.
eg.
'Oh its approximately 150 - 300 thousand years old...'
Gee, thats only an era margin of 150 thousand years!
lol
Comment by Jeff Musall
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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carbon-dating works on half-lives so the older the specimen the wider the date range will be in years
in specimens under 10,000 years the margin of error is plus/minus 40 years
the Chauvet paintings were given a range of 30,000 to 32,000 which is a margin of error of plus/minus 1000 years, the equivalent of about 8%
i dont think ive seen any margins of errors much larger than that
im not sure what example you are referring to with the figures you gave?
Blombos and Tan-Tan had their ages determined based on the layer of sediment they were excavated from which gives larger periods of time
Comment by Morgan Bell
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haha dim wit!
i cant imagine Coulter being in a loving human relationship in any way shape or form . . . i presume it was a publicity stunt or some kind of a financial merger? lol
proof of resurrection would be interesting to see!
actually any documentaries where they match real evidence to myths and legends is usually fascinating - you can often find the exact point where the rumours and exaggerations became bigger than the man!
hi Jeff,
hey, you know me, im happy to look up anything im given a link or reference to . . . even if they are propaganda sites . . . i like gathering as much information as i can!
(sometimes even for entertainment purposes
Comment by RubySoho
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About D'souza being a 'dim wit', I mean he was talking about free will and being responsible for our decisions...then he goes on to say that the price for exercising our free will to reject God is eternal punishment in hell. I mean COME ON! How can an educated man use that sort of twisted logic?
According to D'souza we have free will and if we reject our free will then God will reluctantly (yes, he used the word reluctantly), punish us for making that decision which he gave us the right to make. It seems to make perfect sense to him.
"Salvation is the gift of God". That's not to say that God gives us the gift of salvation, but that God himself is the gift. Jeppers creepers, that God character is one hell of a narcissist huh?
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Bill Maher?
as in left-wing, friends with Michael Moore, criticising Dick Cheney . . .
THIS Bill Maher?
wow imagine the dinner conversation . . .
Comment by Anonymous
Makes me proud to be a woman...lol
Oh, to have the spare time that she does...
Looks like shes sucking you in too Morgan...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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oh i was sucked in ages ago . . .
Comment by RubySoho
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Although I'd like to know exactly what is I am sucking Morgan into...and who else have I sucked in? Do I have amazing powers of which I am unaware? lol youself, simpleton, you have just made think my words actually have an impact on some people. Nothing like pissing people certain people off to make more me determined. No such thing as bad publicity didn't you know that?
And on that note, I am off to Readings Hawthorn to listen to a panel discussion on "The Great Feminist Denial". Should give me plenty more material for my "self-righteous ignorant rants" specifically designed to piss off anonymous snipers who somehow think they are on a first name basis with me.
Yes Morgan, THAT Bill Maher.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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you are the last person i would call ignorant!
i hope the panel discussion inspires yet another fascinating post!
keep up the good work!
Comment by alt_ed
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Oh yes, Ruby's my kind of ignorant foot-long Yum Yum!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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sounds like a Nigella recipe! haha
you are lucky Ruby has a good sense of humour my little friend . . .
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Ruby Slut-Ho!
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Hey Morgan, the panel was pretty good, I've been sick the last few days and still am not too good so I pumped myself full of cold and flu tablets and was a bit dazed. Catherine Deveny was there and I always have time for her....probably my favourite writer at the moment.
It's good to see women talk about feminism and that it attracted so many people, even on this wet and dreary evening, that many had to sit on the floor. It was also great that there were a few men in the audience.
I haven't read the book, The Great Feminist Denial, but it came out a couple of weeks ago and deals with the backlash against feminism that we have discussed here before. The author Monica Dux, was talking about how feminism gets blamed for everything from anorexia to cancer if you can believe that. Cancer, wow. I mean, I knew it could give you AIDS, but cancer, who'd have thunk it?
Sorry, this thread has gone way off topic now...
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i just wrote a long response about how hard it is to be the Moderator but fate intervened with an internet error . . . fate? . . . the hand of god? . . . well, someone who doesnt appreciate me writing like Kylie Mole haha
hi Ruby,
sounds like an interesting book, i might have to see if i can get my hands on a copy!
or maybe i should start writing a book like that?
Comment by Anonymous
Case in point...
Comment by RubySoho
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"Case in point" nothing my friend. In order to have a case, you actually have to make a point.
Comment by alt_ed
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BAHAHAHA!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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im confused, what exactly is your point?
hi Ruby,
it is strange that an anonymous user would seek out this particular post to deate you on the merits of feminism . . .
hi alt_ed,
i saw a dimmo once threaten to be able to track down any anonymous user through their IP address . . . the skills you get putting together powerpoint presentations for telstra . . .
Comment by alt_ed
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dimmo's a regular little gates Protégé! hahaha
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Comment by Lilla
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I found the ultimate pic by mistake, can you believe it ! .. it should look like this perhaps?
There is another one I really liked floating around too ... the final male morphs into a female (who is the last one standing on the right hand side)... I think I like that one the best, even though it defies the natural order or the actual biology of creation *chuckle*
toodles.
Lilla ...
Comment by Morgan Bell
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hey thats another good one!
as we become more accomplished we gravitate towards enlightenment . . . or something like that!
thanks for coming back and sharing!
ill see if i can find the male/female morphing one, sounds like it would definately be my cup of tea!