"the time Homo sapiens arrived on the scene some 300,000 years ago, we were the ninth homo species, joining habilis, erectus, rudolfensis, heidelbergensis, floresiensis, neanderthalensis, naledi, and luzonensis."
Did you know all that? Married to an archaeology lecturer for 27 years, I did. We emerged from the Rift Valley in Africa and our Eve was called Lucy, she was at a certain time considered the 'mother of us all'. When I say certain time I mean that was the thinking at a particular timeline, explanations may have changed but this 'walking upright creature' from more than 3.2 million years ago may have been your forebearer.
What am I talking about, well Andrew gave me a book for Xmas - The Dawn of Everything - A New History of Humanity. So with the aid of my light round my neck, I read the first chapter this morning with the cat bleating in my ear.
It will be fascinating to read about such things as 'is capitalism a good thing?' do we necessarily need to be governed and policed by the state and most funny of all is our Western Society the good thing it is supposed to be? Considering we have raped and pillaged across the world in our greed for power and goodies.
That is only the first chapter;) But something has always struck me about the artwork, say 20,000 years ago compared to the dull brown (it's the varnish) Dutch portraits of the great and the good. One of the books I once owned was a Victorian album of photos of the treasures you could find at the Uffizi Gallery, amongst them was this Roman boar. You can find more information about him here and his restoration after a fire. He reminds me of the great Welsh Celtic Twrch Trywth boar.
He dates a mere 2000 years back, give or take a decade or two.
The following female and male bison from the Tuc D'Audoubert Caves 14 thousand years ago. a replica of which lies in the front entrance of the British Museum.
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| Chauvet Cave |
No. Capitalism is NOT a good thing. It never is. Wherever it is incorporated, it becomes the driving force of the enterprise. It is not about good, or helping your fellow citizens or working together to achieve a common aim...it is about profit. It taints everything.
ReplyDeleteYet Debby that is what has driven America to its present stage. Most of capitalism is dreadful it hasn't a heart as you say. Its problem is that it can't always sustain itself and has to experience a chart that goes up and down.
DeleteIt can't sustain itself when it runs out of people to prey on. I'm sick right now, and probably shouldn't be commenting at all...perhaps just get myself to bed and read for a while. I'm sure when I feel better, my black mood will improve.
DeleteYou will get better, it just takes time;) Bed is the best place for you.
DeleteThose artists, all that time ago! And yet in the age of the universe it is nothing. It bothers me.
ReplyDeleteIt should at least make you look at so called 'ignorant peasants' with new eyes Tasker. You can get the book on Audible by the way. Though of course they were trading in the Neolithic age, with superior hand axes and amber beads, the market was already being created.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds so interesting, Thelma. My library has it so I will check it out. We've always been led to believe that we are so superior but that's hogwash, I think.
ReplyDeleteYes the idea that as time goes by we become more intelligent is hogwash as you say Ellen.
DeleteThe mural from the Chauvet Caves is enthralling. I don't think I have ever seen that image before. 32,000 years ago is like last week in the entire panoply of human history.
ReplyDeleteWerner Herzog made a film called "Cave of Forgotten Dreams", which is probably the only way ordinary people can see it. Our breath in such cave systems has a disastrous effect on the walls of rock.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMUlNeLApU
The genes of some of those cave artists probably went on to become the Michael Angelos and Titians of the future . . . The artistic gene, like the music gene, is very strong. The Chauvet cave takes some beating. Though I do have a soft spot for Altimira. It was fascinating how deep into the cave systems some of these paintings were - we were taught that it was about initiation. The animals have their eyes shut so I imagine they are drawn from death and not from life.
ReplyDeleteYes in the Chauvet cave Jennie, the drawings were added over hundreds of years, they drew what they saw. I think the other thing I saw that made a great impression was the 'Lion Man' which I believe is the oldest representation of a 'ritual' man/animal ivory statue. The BM blurb says his body was so manhandled that it shows. A storyteller telling the tale of whatever whilst this creature was handed around.
ReplyDeleteThe Life of Man is astounding and I will be reserving that book. When I was in Crete we visited a site where hominem biped footprints had been recently found and had been dated to 5.7 million years ago. An Italian film crew were there making a documentary so that should be available to watch soon. For some context the previous earliest biped footprints were found in Tanzania and are a mere 3.6 million years old. We have Boxgrove man down the road. At least we have his shin bone which has been dated to half a million years old. The Cretan footprints are interesting because it shows how far n from the equator hominems had travelled. I started reading Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner last night. Brilliant. Neanderthal man had a huge brain - some 1800 cubic centimetres apparently. Meanwhile our brains are probably shrinking due to lack of exercise. When I swim our instructor always finishes the sessions with different stroke combinations that make my brain fizz and in yoga we do moving meditations involving many different arm and leg and head movements which to begin with I found almost impossible but now do with ease. I loved knitting the all over fair isle vest so much that I’ve borrowed a book from the library on Latvian mittens and will be casting on a pair today using five double pointed needles as instructed. I love learning new skills and in my head I hear my mum’s voice telling me there is no such word as can’t. It’s finding that space between the skull and scalp which feels amazing and makes you believe that nothing is impossible or that everything I possible. Sarah x
ReplyDeletePoor old Neanderthal man lost out in the survival stakes, though apparently some of us carry his gene. There is a lot to learn from past history, sadly it only has a fragmentary nature, bits of the jigsaw missing.
DeleteAs for knitting I was supposed to knit Matilda some fingerless gloves in one of these new fuzzy yarns in black! Black is difficult to see and I failed but am now trying again but without several needles (I'll just sew it up).