Saturday, April 09, 2005
Ancestors
Recent discoveries and interpretations of my ancestors' graves in Southern France, associated with cave paintings from fifty thousand years ago, gave me
pause to think about modern notions of what it means to be human.The enduring beauty of the depictions of animals that inhabited the region then--including bison and reindeer--is all the more remarkable in that these
works of art went undisturbed through so many generations, enabling us to "communicate" so to speak with those who expressed themselves so eloquently
given the mediums available.
What was previously viewed by many as simply art, or perhaps magic ritual to ensure successful hunting, was enlightened by the discovery of a meticulously arranged burial site suggesting the noble leader interred facing the painting had been charged in death with a task of communicating with the spirit world--an ambassadorial task if you will--the gratitude of his people for all the animals that provided for their material and psychic needs. Oddly, it is possibly the message conveyed to their descendants that is of greatest importance
today. Maybe their primitive ways weren't so ignorant after all.
pause to think about modern notions of what it means to be human.The enduring beauty of the depictions of animals that inhabited the region then--including bison and reindeer--is all the more remarkable in that these
works of art went undisturbed through so many generations, enabling us to "communicate" so to speak with those who expressed themselves so eloquently
given the mediums available.
What was previously viewed by many as simply art, or perhaps magic ritual to ensure successful hunting, was enlightened by the discovery of a meticulously arranged burial site suggesting the noble leader interred facing the painting had been charged in death with a task of communicating with the spirit world--an ambassadorial task if you will--the gratitude of his people for all the animals that provided for their material and psychic needs. Oddly, it is possibly the message conveyed to their descendants that is of greatest importance
today. Maybe their primitive ways weren't so ignorant after all.
