Art 222
Paleolithic Art
Hunter-Gatherer Lifestyle
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PALEOLITHIC ART - HUNTER-GATHERER LIFESTYLE
The class discussed a few examples of paleolithic art to consider how the first humans used representation. Most of the images could be interpreted as celebrating or seeking to encourage fertility. We interpret artwork like this by referring to practices of modern hunting-and-gathering cultures. Nineteenth-century anthropologists studied the shaman of Siberia and suggested that these images also were meant as vehicles of spirits into other realms, perhaps to communicate with animals, the dead, or other kinds of spirits, for the purposes of healing, hunting and acquiring other kinds of knowledge.
 | The female figure found at Willendorf in Austria was called a Venus because of her pronounced female sexual attributes. Whether this small figure was meant as an amulet, a toy, or some ritual image of a woman or goddess is not clear. |   |
 | This limestone image of a female carved into the cliff wall at Laussel, in the Dordogne, in France, carries an object that perhaps is a horn, or, by virtue of its lunette shape, might evoke the moon. It dates to roughly 20,000-18,000 bce, and seems more imposing than its mere 17 inches of height. | |
 | These images from Lascaux date from roughly 15,000 bce. In the mysterious well scene at Lascaux, the simply-drawn male figure has been interpreted as a shaman, either dead, or in some sort of trance. Click on image for a larger version. |  |
Other aspects of the Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle are known through 
studies of contemporary peoples. One of the most lively areas of study is the field of the Paleolithic diet. In evolutionary terms, the human body is probably far better adapted to the diet of these earliest people, and less well adjusted to the diet allowed when grain and animals are cultivated. Art produced by contemporary hunter-gatherer societies is highly prized today.
| Since farming is modern (c10,000 years) and wheat grain is a TOTALLY
modern product deliberately cross-cultivated over time from the ancient
grass like forms, grain products would have played little active part in diet. And it is farming which forms the pivotal point at which the entire structure of societies altered forever. If you have a co- operative hunter-gatherer society, where men are dependent on the successful - and willing - activities of the women, then women tend to have a high and equal social status. Where you get settled communities forming, and territorial and property rights and claims emerging, the status of women plummets. They are no longer vital providers, but part of the property and part of the territory - which is, naturally, dominated by the more aggressive male. The other food factor relevant being that of dairy produce. Without farms, there was no domestic cow, and in earlier times, only a total kamikaze pilot would have dared to steal milk from the wild buffalo, which stood 7 feet at the shoulder and the evidence suggests
that their temper was, to put it mildly, unpredictable.
So, if you look at the hard evidence, it supports an omnivore diet. No wheat, no dairy. Meat, where available, fish, when available, shellfish, eggs, ditto; fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and a rag bag of oddments which would have been occasionally on the menu. Hardly a limited die t-- the newer records suggest that early man had seasonal access to over 200 different types of fruit and vegetable -- look in your fridge and figure out how many varieties you actually eat today. Dec Twohig |
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