Download or read book The Splendour of Lascaux written by Norbert Aujoulat and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 12 September 1940, four teenagers accidentally stumbled across a hole in the hillside overlooking the village of Montignac, France.This opening the entrance to the Lascaux Cave and its network of chambers brought to light stunning 17,000- year-old paintings that vividly depicted a whole host of animals and figures.The discovery was to become one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century. By the 1950s, however, the sheer number of visitors to the cave was causing the paintings to deteriorate, forcing the Ministry of Cultural Affairs finally to close it to the public in 1963. A key figure at Frances National Centre for Prehistory, Norbert Aujoulat has been fascinated by the Lascaux Cave ever since his first visit back in 1970 and has spent several years researching its ancient art. In successive chapters, he takes us on a thorough exploration of the historic site, detailing the geological and archaeological background of the area and guiding us through the individual chambers and paintings from their very beginnings right up to the present day. By capturing the beauty and essence of these world-renowned masterpieces, this richly illustrated and extensive study enables each and every one of us to experience the magical atmosphere of Lascaux for ourselves.
Download or read book Lascaux written by Norbert Aujoulat and published by . This book was released on 2005-06-07 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discovered by chance by two boys in France in 1940, the cave of Lascaux, with its radiant wall paintings of bison, aurochs, horses, and deer, offers us the most astonishing view we have of the shadowy, powerful animal world of the Old Stone Age some 18,000 years ago. In the early 1960s, when it became clear that the paintings were beginning to fade as countless tourists flocked to see them, the cave was sealed, ancient atmospheric conditions were restored, and even scientists were allowed to enter the cave only a few hours each week. Today this prehistoric monument remains closed to the public. Following 10 years of research on the Lascaux cave, the prehistorian and geologist Norbert Aujoulat offers us his stunning interpretation of the paintings. In this lavishly illustrated volume, packed with new photographs, maps, and explanatory diagrams of the paintings, he takes us on a journey from the entrance of the cave back to its deepest and most hidden parts. In the process, he provides us with new insight into these remarkable works, tracing the birth of ancient mythologies, and of art.
Download or read book A Cognitive and Anthropological Response to the Death of Painting written by Bruce Rimell and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The alleged 'death' of painting has shaped the recent course of art, but the model of the human mind upon which it rests is no longer considered accurate. Cognitive science has shown that the mind is not a blank slate but content-rich, and as such humans bear an array of innate expectations of reality and non-reality, which apply to painting as well as other human behaviours such as religion or music. This creative thesis takes in a series of case studies tracing the prehistory of painting in light of these cognitive propensities, from the beginnings of human culture, to Bushman rock art and the experiences of painters today, to uncover a perennial function for painting which cannot die: the ubiquitous sensation of an 'otherworld' beyond the canvas or rock face. This approach to painting demands its rehabilitation as a humanising self-expression in a world increasingly estranged from art, abandoning artistic ideology in favour of an image-based communion with human nature.
Download or read book The History of Experience written by Wolfgang Leidhold and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-14 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a wide arc from the Paleolithic to the present day, this book explores the changing structure of human experience and its impact on the dynamics of cultures, civilizations, and political ideas. The main thesis is a paradigm shift: the structure of human experience is not a universal constant but changes over time. Looking at the entire range of human history, there are a total of nine transformations, beginning with conscious perception and imagination in the Paleolithic and ending, for the time being, in modern times with the discovery of the unconscious. In between, this book explores six more transformations that took place in different regions and at different times, which include a sense of order, self-reflection, the eye of reason, spiritual experience, as well as the experience of creativity and of consciousness. As such, The History of Experience presents both a cross-cultural and comparative theory of experience and cultural dynamics, and an exploration of rich materials from East and West. This book is of great use to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in the relationship between history, human experience, culture, and political order.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Seeing written by Liliana Janik and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-01-28 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Archaeology of Seeing provides readers with a new and provocative understanding of material culture through exploring visual narratives captured in cave and rock art, sculpture, paintings, and more. The engaging argument draws on current thinking in archaeology, on how we can interpret the behaviour of people in the past through their use of material culture, and how this affects our understanding of how we create and see art in the present. Exploring themes of gender, identity, and story-telling in visual material culture, this book forces a radical reassessment of how the ability to see makes us and our ancestors human; as such, it will interest lovers of both art and archaeology. Illustrated with examples from around the world, from the earliest art from hundreds of thousands of years ago, to the contemporary art scene, including street art and advertising, Janik cogently argues that the human capacity for art, which we share with our most ancient ancestors and cousins, is rooted in our common neurophysiology. The ways in which our brains allow us to see is a common heritage that shapes the creative process; what changes, according to time and place, are the cultural contexts in which art is produced and consumed. The book argues for an innovative understanding of art through the interplay between the way the human brain works and the culturally specific creation and interpretation of meaning, making an important contribution to the debate on art/archaeology.
Download or read book Utopia Social Theory and the Future written by Keith Tester and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-17 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the light of globalization's failure provide the universal panacea expected by some of its more enthusiastic proponents, and the current status of neo-liberalism in Europe, a search has begun for alternative visions of the future; alternatives to the free market and to rampant capitalism. Indeed, although these alternatives may not be conceived of in terms of being a 'perfect order', there does appear to be a trend towards 'utopian thinking', as people - including scholars and intellectuals - search for inspiration and visions of better futures. If, as this search continues, it transpires that politics has little to offer, then what might social theory have to contribute to the imagination of these futures? Does social theory matter at all? What resources can it offer this project of rethinking the future? Without being tied to any single political platform, Utopia: Social Theory and the Future explores some of these questions, offering a timely and sustained attempt to make social theory relevant through explorations of its resources and possibilities for utopian imaginations. It is often claimed that utopian thought has no legitimate place whatsoever in sociological thinking, yet utopianism has remained part and parcel of social theory for centuries. As such, in addition to considering the role of social theory in the imagination of alternative futures, this volume reflects on how social theory may assist us in understanding and appreciating utopia or utopianism as a special topic of interest, a special subject matter, a special analytical focus or a special normative dimension of sociological thinking. Bringing together the latest work from a leading team of social theorists, this volume will be of interest to sociologists, social and political theorists, anthropologists and philosophers.
Download or read book The Lascaux Cave Paintings written by Fernand Windels and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book What Is Paleolithic Art written by Jean Clottes and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-04-25 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The noted archaeologist explores the varieties of prehistoric cave art across the world and offers surprising insights into its purpose and meaning. What drew our Stone Age ancestors into caves to paint in charcoal and red hematite, to watch the likenesses of lions, bison, horses, and aurochs as they flickered by firelight? Was it a creative impulse, a spiritual dawn, a shamanistic conception of the world? In this book, Jean Clottes, one of the most renowned figures in the study of cave paintings, pursues an answer to the “why” of Paleolithic art. Discussing sites and surveys across the world, Clottes offers personal reflections on how we have viewed these paintings in the past, what we learn from looking at them across geographies, and what these paintings may have meant—and what function they may have served—for their artists. Steeped in Clottes’s shamanistic theories of cave painting, What Is Paleolithic Art? travels from well-known Ice Age sites like Chauvet, Altamira, and Lascaux to visits with contemporary aboriginal artists, evoking a continuum between the cave paintings of our prehistoric past and the living rock art of today. Clottes’s work lifts us from the darkness of our Paleolithic origins to reveal surprising insights into how we think, why we create, why we believe, and who we are
Download or read book Man and Bird in the Palaeolithic of Western Europe written by Anne Eastham and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2021-12-23 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book considers the nature of the interaction between birds and hunter-gatherers in Western Europe. It examines aspects of avian behaviour and the qualities targeted at different periods by hunter-gatherers, who recognised the utility of the diversity of avian groups in various applications of daily life and thought.
Download or read book Modernism and Charisma written by A. Horvath and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-02-19 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looking at the relationship between modernity and the rise of charismatic leaders, Agnes Horvath uses 'threshold' situations to trace the conditions out of which political regimes developed. The focus on rationalism and structure has led to a systematic neglect of uncertain liminal moments, which gave new direction to societies and cultures.
Download or read book Resurgence written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Walking into the Void written by Arpad Szakolczai and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book starts by discussing the significance of walking for the experience of being human, including a comparative study of the language and cultures of walking. It then reviews in detail, relying on archaeology, two turning points of human history: the emergence of cave art sanctuaries and a new cultural practice of long-distance ‘pilgrimages’, implying a descent into such caves, thus literally the ‘void’; and the abandonment of walking culture through settlement at the end of the Ice Age, around the time when the visiting of cave sanctuaries also stopped. The rise of philosophy and Christianity is then presented as two returns to walking. The book closes by looking at the ambivalent relationship of contemporary modernity to walking, where its radical abandonment is combined with attempts at returns. The book ventures an unprecedented genealogy of walking culture, bringing together archaeological studies distant in both time and place, and having a special focus on the significance of the rise of representative art for human history. Our genealogy helped to identify settlement not as the glorious origin of civilisation, but rather as a source of an extremely problematic development. The findings of the book should be relevant for social scientists, as well as those interested in walking and its cultural and civilisational significance, or in the direction and meaning of human history.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Hunter gatherers written by Vicki Cummings and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 1361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive review of hunter-gatherer studies, undertaking detailed regional and thematic case-studies that span the archaeology, history and anthropology of hunter gatherers, concluding with an in-depth review of the main opportunities, research questions, and moral obligations that lie ahead.
Download or read book Mystery of the Lascaux Cave written by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent and published by Cavendish Square Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses the paintings on the walls of Lascaux Cave in France including the cave's discovery, its significance, and the efforts to preserve the paintings themselves.
Download or read book The Art Quarterly of the National Art Collections Fund written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Neanderthals Rediscovered How Modern Science Is Rewriting Their Story The Rediscovered Series written by Dimitra Papagianni and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In the first complete chronological narrative of the species from emergence to extinction...archaeologist Dimitra Papagianni and science historian Michael Morse have shaped a gem." —Nature In recent years, the common perception of the Neanderthals has been transformed, thanks to new discoveries and paradigm-shattering scientific innovations. It turns out that the Neanderthals’ behavior was surprisingly modern: they buried the dead, cared for the sick, hunted large animals in their prime, harvested seafood, and communicated with spoken language. Meanwhile, advances in DNA technologies are compelling us to reassess the Neanderthals’ place in our own past. For hundreds of thousands of years, Neanderthals evolved in Europe parallel to Homo sapiens evolving in Africa, and, when both species made their first forays into Asia, the Neanderthals may even have had the upper hand. In this important volume, Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse compile the first full chronological narrative of the Neanderthals’ dramatic existence—from their evolution in Europe to their expansion to Siberia, their subsequent extinction, and ultimately their revival in popular novels, cartoons, cult movies, and television commercials.
Download or read book Thinking Big How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind written by Robin Dunbar and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2014-06-17 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A closer look at genealogy, incorporating how biological, anthropological, and technical factors can influence human lives We are at a pivotal moment in understanding our remote ancestry and its implications for how we live today. The barriers to what we can know about our distant relatives have been falling as a result of scientific advance, such as decoding the genomes of humans and Neanderthals, and bringing together different perspectives to answer common questions. These collaborations have brought new knowledge and suggested fresh concepts to examine. The results have shaken the old certainties. The results are profound; not just for the study of the past but for appreciating why we conduct our social lives in ways, and at scales, that are familiar to all of us. But such basic familiarity raises a dilemma. When surrounded by the myriad technical and cultural innovations that support our global, urbanized lifestyles we can lose sight of the small social worlds we actually inhabit and that can be traced deep into our ancestry. So why do we need art, religion, music, kinship, myths, and all the other facets of our over-active imaginations if the reality of our effective social worlds is set by a limit of some one hundred and fifty partners (Dunbar’s number) made of family, friends, and useful acquaintances? How could such a social community lead to a city the size of London or a country as large as China? Do we really carry our hominin past into our human present? It is these small worlds, and the link they allow to the study of the past that forms the central point in this book.
