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