Discovering the Reasons Behind Cave Art

Annette Laming-Emperaire divides the archaeological was of studying primitive art into two ways: the first is by laying out artifacts in chronological order, dividing them by size, or age. The second way to look at the art is by taking at the artifacts in the order that they are found, and creating a story behind each artifact found, how it was made, what it was for, and how it was used.

The first school seems much more logical to use. I think that the approach of finding facts about the artifacts is most reliable, but I would find it close to impossible to find a handful of artifacts and not make up images in my head of how they were being used. I think that both types for research are important and will prove to be beneficial. With the first school finding facts about the artifact (or at least somewhat close estimates about age and how long it has been in the cave), the second form of studying focuses more on the culture that the tool came from and whoever was making paintings in the cave. By trying to predict what these early people were doing, we may eventually stumble on a hypothesis that is likely.

Laming-Emperaire explains different theories have about why people created these cave paintings. She gives examples about how there may be important to what species and sex of an animal is in each cave. No one is sure if the sex and species of each cave painted animal was thoroughly thought out of if it was just a coincidence that we are looking too far into.

I agree with Laming-Emperaire when she writes about cave art possibly having religious reasons behind them, and that they were created by people trying to understand the world in which they were living. Laming-Emperaire writes, “They could be mythic and recount for example the origins and history of a certain human group in its rapport with the animal species; they could solidify a very ancient metaphysics and express a system of existence where each species, animal or human, has it role, and where the sexual division among beings plays a primordial role; they could be religious and bring supernatural beings onto the scene.”

Experiencing the Other World

In Chapter 6 Ellen D. writes about the importance of feelings, how feelings affect our daily lives, and how we live with these feelings. As you continue through the chapter there is a section called, “Art and the Experience of the Extraordinary” (pg. 134).  This section of the chapter definitely peaked my interest.

Ellen D. writes about how there are “two worlds”.  The ordinary world that all humans know and share, and then there is the extraordinary world which fulfills humans needs for intensity. As Ellen says, these “intense” emotions that we strive to feel is what makes us feel that we are living.

As the section continues Ellen beings to write about the other world and how different cultures have different ways of reaching it. One way is through dance, the example she gave is about the Kalahari !Kung people who perform healing dances. During one of these dances, the energy of the dance will bring community health. The dancers will fall into a trance in which they might see God, animals, or spirits. While in a trance a person may reach a mental state of ecstasy. Other cultures will reach this euphoric state through alcohol, rapid over-breathing, drugs, or hypnosis. Eskimos would slip in and out of trances during periods of starvation/exhaustion.

Drugs are used when a person is attempting to visit the other world for a long period of time. Some cultures go on pilgrimages that may last for a few days, during this time they may be led by a shaman who will guide their way through the spirit world.  These rituals use very strong hallucinogenic plants that may be either eaten or drink. In the New World there are many primitive societies that follow shamanistic religions and use these drugs to grow spiritually or reach different forms of enlightenment.

I love learning about shamanism and the different uses of drugs because the territory to the “other world” is explored by these people that spend a lot of their lives trying to master and understand the other world. People have different accounts of what they see/experience during these trances based on their own life. I really like that because no one will see the exact same thing as someone else, so each experience is unique to that individual. In the Western world people will use these drugs as a way to try to escape from their lives rather than learn something from it.



What I find aesthetically pleasing...

For as long as I can remember I have always LOOVED storms. They are something that I find extremely aesthetically pleasing. Ellen D. even mentioned them in our reading for the week and that people search out intensity and love it.  I think that storms definitely provide people with intense emotions. Sometimes they can be scary, but I find them mostly exciting and awesome to watch.

I mentioned in my first blog about how I spent my summer with my boyfriend backpacking though Nicaragua. We were in Nicaragua during part of the raining season, this meant that there were lightning storms every night!! Even if it wasn’t raining, you could always see lightning strikes happening in every direction. This was one of my favorite things about our entire trip. I saw some of the best lightning I’ve ever seen. We actually got caught in the middle of the most intense storm I’ve ever been in on a boat in the middle of Lago Nicaragua. Before the storm actually hit us I was watching the lightning in the distance out on the deck, a couple hours later we ended up right in the middle of it! Everyone that was outside had to cram into this little room on the top story of the boat we were on. From then on it was an intense storm the entire boat ride until we reached our destination the next morning.

Another thing I find aesthetically pleasing is rainbows. I am such a sucker for rainbows, I think they’re awesome. Anytime I see one I have to take a little time to stare at it and admire how beautiful they are. It's honestly a hazard if there's a rainbow while I'm driving because I just can't stop looking at them! I actually just had a dream during my nap earlier today that I saw a rainbow and was thrilled about it while everyone else in my dream was unimpressed.

I find a lot of things in nature to be very aesthetically pleasing. I can’t help to get excited about seeing awesome trees, mushrooms, flowers, rainbows, water falls, and whatever else nature has to surprise me with.

My Special Bookshelf

One of my favorite things that I have made special is my bookshelf.

I’ve had this bookshelf in my room for about 5 years now and I hope to keep it many more years. My dad is the person who built the bookshelf, so that’s already one thing special about it. The top shelf usually consists of my journals, sketchbooks, and some books. Also an old clock that I found in the basement of the house I grew up in. The second shelf has a mirror covering most of it, but there are a couple jars on the shelf filled with cool rocks that I’ve found I varies places, along with some little bottles that my dad collected when he was a kid.

The third shelf down has row of books, an old camera that belonged to my dad, and a skull that my boyfriend found while we were in Costa Rica (we think it’s possibly a dog skull).

The bottom three shelves contain more books, notebooks, National Geographic magazines, letters, a container full of spools, and an unsuccessful piece I made in my glass blowing class last year.

I usually have the same basic layout to my bookshelf, with random stuff on the top shelves, and all my books/magazines on the bottom, but the things on the shelves definitely change. During my move to Humboldt I got rid of a lot of things off my shelf, and the things that remain mean a lot to me. The side of my bookshelf usually has different photos of me and friends or cool places I’ve been/want to go.

In my old room my bookshelf use to be across from the bed so it would be one of the first things I saw when I woke up, now it’s next to my bed so it’s one of the first things I see when I walk in my room. I really enjoy just having it there to look at. There are so many memories within the items on the shelves, in the pages of my journals/sketchbooks, and not to mention the wonderful stories within my favorite books on the lower shelves. I really can’t imagine my room without this bookshelf I’ve spent a lot of time making it extra extra special.

Anthropologists Analyzing Creative Expression

In What is Art Ellen Dissanayake writes about when the earliest forms of art were discovered and how they were hardly seen as art at all. She writes that Homo erectus was the first hominid that made specialed tools that were used to express themselves. It was discovered that Homo erectus chose to use a stone called “puddingstone” to work with because it is appealing. This is evidence that appearance may have mattered to the Homo erectus because pudding stone was not something that was easy to come by. Things like this help anthropologists figure out how important creative expression may have been to this earlier beings. During the Lower and Middle Paleolithic times there are fossils of coral that have been found. These pieces of coral are unusual and may have been thought as important because of their uniqueness. Because of this I think that art began with things that were unusual, but also attractive to the eye. Homo sapien sapiens would use fossils to decorate with, what they made with these fossils would probably be called art. Anthropologists could look at these pieces of art, or decorations, created by Homo sapien sapiens and be able to analyze it.

Shanidar Cave, Iraq- a famous prehistoric burial site

By 70,000 B.P anthropologists were able to identify differences between artifacts and which ones were made by which group. Burial sites were an awesome place to find artistic expression because it was when the use of flowers as decoration was introduced. Flowers are pleasing because they give a variety of colors and scent. If an anthropologist discovers a burial with flowers on a grave they could analyze how the flowers are places, what kinds of flowers, and whether or not there are patterns. Through this anthropologists may discover a meaning behind the flowers on the grave that shows the decorations as a creative expression, but also something that has more meaning.

Another example of an art that anthropologists can analyze is body modification. Different cultures may have a certain kind of art that is specific to that culture, especially when it comes to body modification. In Chapter 1 of What is Art there is a section where Ellen focuses on body modification and the reasons for doing it. She lists many reasons, and with these reasons and anthropologists could learn a lot about a culture just by looking at its members. Tattoos, piercings, body paint, beads, and feathers may all hold significance to a culture, but the meanings to each piercing, tattoo, etc. may vary by culture.

Neck Rings- an example of body modification