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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > Pre-history
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Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit - The Origin of Creativity and Belief (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R730
Discovery Miles 7 300
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Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit - The Origin of Creativity and Belief (Hardcover)
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The magnificent prehistoric art discovered in caves throughout
France and Spain raises many questions about early human culture.
What do these superbly rendered paintings of horses, bison, and
enigmatic human figures and symbols mean? How can we explain the
sudden flourishing of artistic creativity at such a high level? And
in what ways does this artwork reflect the underlying belief
system, worldview, and life of the people who created it? In this
fascinating discussion of ancient art and religion, Dr. David S.
Whitley—one of the world's leading experts on cave
paintings—guides the reader in an exploration of these intriguing
questions, while sharing his firsthand experiences in visiting
these exquisite, breathtaking sites. To grasp what drove these
ancient artists to create these masterpieces, and to understand the
origin of myth and religion, as Whitley explains, is to appreciate
what makes us human. Moreover, he broadens our understanding of the
genesis of creativity and myth by proposing a radically new and
original theory that weds two seemingly warring camps from separate
disciplines. On the one hand, archaeologists specializing in
prehistoric cave paintings have argued that the visionary rituals
of shamans led to the creation of this expressive art. They
consider shamanism to be the earliest known form of religion. By
contrast, evolutionary psychologists view the emergence of
religious beliefs as a normal expression of the human mind. In
their eyes, the wild and ecstatic trances of shamans were a form of
aberrant behavior. Far from being typical representatives of
ancient religion, shamans were exceptions to the normal rule of
early religion. Whitley resolves the controversy by interweaving
the archaeological evidence with the latest findings of
cutting-edge neuroscience. He thereby rewrites our understanding of
shamanism and its connection with artistic creativity, myth, and
religion. Combining a colorful narrative describing Whitley's
personal explorations at key archaeological sites with robust
scientific research, Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit makes for
engrossing reading. It provides a profound and poignant perspective
on what it means to be human.
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