Blog Post #2
The belief in spiritual beings, or Animistic theory hypothesized by E.B. Tylor, caught my interest for the reason that primitive religions believed in spirits the upper paleolithic people saw through dreams. It is astonishing to think that they use these visions to draw on the walls inside of the dark cave where they believed to be the realm of the spirits. I like this theory because it explains about how the upper paleolithic people bring these visions to life by painting the animals on the walls. The question I ask myself when I see the images is this: is there any meaning behind the paintings? Some theorists argued that there is no meaning behind the murals, that it is just drawings with no significance behind it. Since the artwork has no message on what it is trying to tell us, I believe there is some messages behind one of the pieces of wall art.
One example is the red hand stencil from the Chauvet Cave (40,000-10,000 BCE).
While it is just a hand print on the wall, there could be a reason behind it. The person left finger tracings as a boundary marker used by hunting-gathering communities to claim an area they are exploring to avoid any conflict from neighboring communities. While scholars believe it to be the case, it could also be that the hand print was there as a way to link its owner into the spirit world. They spray paint their hand onto the wall to build a connection with powerful spirits in the spirit world. This is done so to maintain a good relationship with the spirits to ask for their guidance to help cure the sick, to make sure the hunting goes well, forecasting the weather, and reclaiming a lost soul.
One way to contact a spirit is by having the shaman, a ritual specialist in hunter-gatherer communities, send his/her soul to the spirit world where their spirit helper, in a form of an animal, offers help and protection. The shaman enters into a trance in order to make contact with a spirit.
There is also cave art of animals drawn on walls, one being the man with a bison in the shaft at the Lascaux cave in France (15,000-10,000 BCE).
This could be a shamanic scene where the figure wearing a bird mask is lying on the ground in a trance next to the bison and a small bird drawn below the masked man. The bird symbolizes the shaman's spiritual voyage after his confrontation with a bison, who appears to be injured from a spear that impaled the animal. It could also mean the bird spirit helps the man send his soul to heaven during the shamanic ritual. This art piece is evidence of shamanic practice and totemic belief that took place within the artist's dream.
Ancient humans held a belief in spirits which resulted in drawing animals they saw in their dreams. These visions would help hunter-gatherers improve their chances for survival by altering their states of consciousness for a successful hunt.
Sources:
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/clottes/meanings.php
https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/prehistoric-art-totemic-belief-and-shamanistic-practice/
https://www.ancient.eu/article/787/the-meaning-of-european-upper-paleolithic-rock-art/
One example is the red hand stencil from the Chauvet Cave (40,000-10,000 BCE).
One way to contact a spirit is by having the shaman, a ritual specialist in hunter-gatherer communities, send his/her soul to the spirit world where their spirit helper, in a form of an animal, offers help and protection. The shaman enters into a trance in order to make contact with a spirit.
There is also cave art of animals drawn on walls, one being the man with a bison in the shaft at the Lascaux cave in France (15,000-10,000 BCE).
This could be a shamanic scene where the figure wearing a bird mask is lying on the ground in a trance next to the bison and a small bird drawn below the masked man. The bird symbolizes the shaman's spiritual voyage after his confrontation with a bison, who appears to be injured from a spear that impaled the animal. It could also mean the bird spirit helps the man send his soul to heaven during the shamanic ritual. This art piece is evidence of shamanic practice and totemic belief that took place within the artist's dream.
Ancient humans held a belief in spirits which resulted in drawing animals they saw in their dreams. These visions would help hunter-gatherers improve their chances for survival by altering their states of consciousness for a successful hunt.
Sources:
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/clottes/meanings.php
https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/prehistoric-art-totemic-belief-and-shamanistic-practice/
https://www.ancient.eu/article/787/the-meaning-of-european-upper-paleolithic-rock-art/
I like how you introduced the theory that struck you the most. It grabs the reader's attention well and introduces your post. The example of the spray-painted hand expertly exemplifies the theory you outlined. It is quite possible that the hand was used to connect the owner to the spirit world. Your post encourages me to further consider E.B. Tylor’s theory about Animalistic Worship through dreams. Like anyone else, I ask myself the same questions you ask yourself when looking at these paintings: what do they mean? What is their significance to today? One of the things I enjoy about art is that it is subjective, especially since there is no written record of the paintings or their significance to the upper paleolithic people. The paintings could mean anything, they could mean just as you suggested: They link the artist to the spirit world, or maybe they symbolize their claim to a specific hunting boundary. Your theories opened my mind to other considerations of the artwork that I may have missed while concentrating on another theory that I firmly believed.
ReplyDelete