GM<<This is your timeframe not mine. Now if you wish to retract this
27,000
year limit on spirit art as an indicator of human spirit be my guest.>>
First of all, I reported what is in an article, and the "time frame" wass
given by the authors. Second, this is about shaman-art. I actually think it
goes back as far as 35,000 years or so, so I'd expand that number just a
tad.
If you think there was shaman-art in all those 4.5 million years, please
share the evidence with us. To re-cap, here is what modern man's shaman-art
looks like:
1. The shaman sees two realities--ordinary physical, and extraordinary
nonmaterial. The latter is the world of the spirit. This is where the human
soul resides.
2. The shaman sees a unity between man and animal at this spiritual level.
This spiritual level is an "upper world."
3. If one has access to the spirit world, it means the person may possess
the powers of animal spirits. Through a personal animal "guardian," the
shaman draws upon the spiritual power of the animal clan. (the term
"guardian spirit" is common among Native Americans, but you'll find common
terms in, e.g., Siberian, Mexican and Central American shamanism).
4. Access to the spirit world was accomplished by a trancelike state,
induced by dancing and, some have said, by ingestion of certain substances.
5. Mythical animals are often depicted. For example, in the cave of Lascaux
one can see a strangely marked four legged creature with two straight
horns, like antennae. It is not an animal of this earth (and has been
called, rather incorrectly, l'unicorne). But to the shaman there are no
such things as "mythical" beasts. Beasts from the spirit world are just as
real as anything else.
6. One can also see various depictions of "anthropomorphs," ghost like
creatures with birdlike heads. What they seem to represent are initiates to
shamanism, being prepared to take flight to the spirit world.
7. Often the animals depicted (and we're talking about animals with power,
e.g., buffalo) are shown to be "floating" in the air, as their spirits
might (e.g., the cave at Altamira, Spain).
8. The shaman supplied the "link" for his people between worlds.
Where were these shamans between Noah and now, under the Mortonian theory?
Too busy foraging? For 4.5 million years?
Jim