Creativity evolved earlier than thought and elsewhere
Max Phillips
Don't have much time to post anymore, but wanted to share with you some
highlights from U.S.News & World Report's Special Collector's Edition
MYSTERIES OF SCIENCE (2002), William F. Allmanąs article "The Dawn of
Creativity," p55-59.
THE CONVENTIONAL IDEA IS:
"The modern, biological form of Homo sapiens appeared in the fossil record
about 100,000 to 130,000 years ago."
"As most textbooks still have it, signs of truly human behavior --
spirituality, art work, sophisticated use of the environment and the dense
network of family and friends that make up society -- did not appear until
around 40,000 years ago. At that time, a 'cultural explosion' occurred in
Europe."
BUT RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS SUGGEST:
"The dawning of human creativity may have occurred earlier and was far more
widespread."
DATA: 70,000 year-old finely worked bone awls and points found a South
African cave overlooking the Indian Ocean.
DATA: 70,000 year-old delicate bone harpoons found in Africa.
New materials -- bone, antler, and ivory -- were added to the older wood and
bone to make new items -- e.g., spear points, sewing needles, and flutes --
tens of thousands of years before the Ice Age paintings in Europe.
DATA: A harpoon site in Congo, Africa "is littered with the remains of a
species of giant catfish who descendants still swim in nearby waters."
"The site suggests that the humans who made the harpoons understood the
lives of their prey -- and were capable of planning ahead to take advantage
of it. The ancient humans ... knew that the catfish spawn at only certain
times in the year, during which they are plentiful and easy prey, and they
timed their visits to the area accordingly."
łThe spear points, [Iziko-South African Museum Christopher] Henshilwood
says, are far more carefully worked and polished than they need to be. The
tool makers, it seems, were aiming for beauty.˛
BEAUTIFUL ART A NECESSITY, NOT JUST A NICETY
The new thinking proposes a link between human creativity (as seen in
artistically designed and executed artifacts) and sociability. Meaning that
individuals owning and displaying beautiful- but- not- necessarily-
utilitarian things łshape how people perceive one anotherąs status and
worldview.˛
Randall White of New York University points out that the Lascaux cave
paintings in France łare only the midway point of human art history.˛ łThe
dawn of art, he says, began tens of thousands of years earlier [than in
Europe] and used the human body as a canvas. Ivory beads were sewn into
clothing and pierced carnivore teeth were used in belts and headbands.˛
One bead, one hour: łIt probably took about an hour, [archaeologist Randall]
White [of New York University] says, to make a bead. Such a time-consuming
process would never be undertaken unless personal adornment was a vital part
of human existence. ŚWe have this image of art being the result of people
having lots of free time,ą says White. ŚBut thatąs totally contrary to what
we see. For these people, art was a necessity.ą˛
JUMP TO EUROPE 30,000 YEARS AGO, THEN TO AUSTRALIA 60,000 YEARS AGO
DATA: łIn one experiment, researchers walked through three ancient caves
while whistling through several octaves and mapping where the sounds
resonated off the walls best. They found that those places in the caves with
the best acoustics nearly always had art nearby, whereas places where sound
was dampened typically did not have art.˛
DATA: łIn another experiment, researchers found that near the front of the
famed Lascaux cave, where the cave art is dominated by horses, bison and
other hoofed animals, a clapping noise gets echoed back and forth among the
walls, producing a sound not unlike a stampede. Near the rear of the cave,
however, where the images are dominated by panthers and other stealthy
creatures, the walls reflect sound in such a way that it is muted.˛
The older idea: The European cave paintings were limited to the łhunt
ritual.˛ The newer idea: Their function was greater. łThe Ice Age galleries
may have been part of elaborate ceremonies that perhaps rivaled the best
modern-day multimedia displays.˛ Resulting in social cohesion that enabled
humans to outlast Neanderthals.
DATA: łNor was the ancient flowering of art confined to Ice Age Europe. Cave
paintings also occur in Africa in the same era, and a study by Australian
archaeologist Rhys Jones suggests that some Australian rock paintings date
back 60,000 years. Not only would this be the oldest artwork known: its
presence in Australia implies humans could build sophisticated boats 60,000
years ago.˛
HYPOTHESIS: CAVES AND ROCK SHELTERS WERE THE FIRST CATHEDRALS
łSome of the most mysterious markings in ancient artwork -- the strange
circles, dots and chevrons on the animals or by themselves -- may be the
result of the painter being in a hallucinatory trance.
Strange circles, dots and chevrons (flattened V shapes) on the animals or by
themselves łmay be the result of the painter being in a hallucinatory
trance.˛
DATA: łSouth African archaeologist David Lewis-Williams studied the rock art
of Africaąs !Kung San people, who continue to create rock paintings today.
He found the painter in many cases is a shaman using drawing as a part of a
trancelike state to ward off spirits. The markings reflect the spots and
shimmerings that appear to him during the trance.˛
DATA: łIn one Ice Age work there are two human-like figures who seem to be
wearing headdresses of antlers. ONe stares cross-eyed toward the viewer; the
other might be playing a musical instrument.˛
DATA: łIn another cave, some bison seem to have been laboriously painted on
a vaulted rock ceiling known as the ŚSanctuary.ą by performing a chemical
analysis, researchers found that although the animals were rendered in a
very similar style, the paintings were done hundreds of years apart -- in
the same way that a modern painting of a cross might reflect art symbolism
from the Middle Ages.˛
EVOLUTION OF SPIRITUALITY MAY DATE BACK 100,000 YEARS AGO
DATA: łAt one Israeli site dating back nearly 100,000 years, a man is buried
with an antler placed in his hands.˛
This may be łan ancient precursor ... to the tomb offerings of King Tut or
rosary beads in modern-day burials.
DATA: łAt another site, a woman is buried with her legs deliberately pulled
up beneath her and a small child lying at her feet, a paring that suggests a
spiritual concern about their being joined after death.˛
(Max comments: I hope they didnąt kill the child to bury it with its
mother!)
MORE EVIDENCE THAT CAVE ART REPRESENTS MORE THAN JUST HUNTING RITUAL
DATA: łTiny hand prints of children are found as much as a mile deep within
some Ice Age caves, notes NYUąs White.˛
DATA: łIn one cave a side chamber with only a 4-foot-high ceiling is covered
with the footprints of children.˛ (Also from White.)
CONCLUSIONS:
1. A dense integration of society was the only setting out of which the
łcultural explosion˛ 40,000 years ago could occur. Without an artifact (say,
łthe bead˛) łplaying a role in maintaining the function of a larger group,
suggests White, it would have been discarded.˛
2. łSophisticated tool-making and culture became prevalent only when human
society grew to the point that such practices became important for
survival.˛
3. The agricultural / domestication revolution that took place 8,000 years
ago was a similar łwave˛ of human evolution. At that time łhumans around the
globe abandoned their hunting- and- gathering way of life and settled into
farming communities. In that instance, the ancients KNEW ABOUT DOMESTICATING
PLANTS LONG BEFORE THEY BEGAN TO FARM, imply recent studies, and took up
agriculture only in response to changing climate, a growing population and a
dwindling food supply.
4. MORE DATA: łThe University of Connecticutąs McBrearty has found stone
blades that appear to date back more than 250,000 years, yet examples of
more rudimentary tool-making exist elsewhere up until some 40,000 years ago
-- suggesting that there wasnąt an important social network [250,000 ya] to
perpetuate the tool design or pass it along to others.˛
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Not bad, huh?
Max, creationist by faith alone, evolutionist by evidence alone