"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25)
Prehistoric Graffiti
Posted On: April 01st, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Those prehistoric cave paintings may have been the work of testosterone-driven adolescent males, according to R. Dale Guthrie (“The Nature of Paleolithic Art”). This is not some April Fool's prank; I have it straight from the impeccable source of The Learning Channel.
Rather than historic or religious renderings, this cave art may have been the work of prehistoric graffiti artists. The tip came with an analysis of 200 hand prints which had been produced by a person chewing on ochre and then spraying the orange-yellow spit on the wall around the hand, leaving a distinct image. The hand and finger sizes were consistent with males between the ages of 9 and 17. This pretty much goes without saying, since only a male of that age would even consider chewing on paint with a bunch of his friends and then spewing spit on their hands.
The subject matter of prehistoric cave art was also consistent with the primary interests of your typical post-pubescent Pleistocene male. Typical were hunting scenes with multiply speared animals gushing blood from their mouths. I remember drawing similar scenes on the inside cover of my freshman world history text.
Most revealing were the renderings of people. Males were typically depicted in a stylized “Ken Doll” manner with only the slightest hint of anatomical correctness, if you catch my drift. The pictures of females told an entirely different story. According to Guthrie, “Female images dominate and are nude, almost every one full-figured above and below....Unlike the other animals, the sculpted, engraved and painted human females and female parts are sometimes done schematically, distilling and inflating the primary and secondary sex characters."
Well, as they say, "Boys will be boys."
Of course, we know the rest of the story. Soon there was a government ban on the sale of chewable ochre to minors and stiff fines for spitting on walls. Sensitivity seminars were organized around the tribal campfire to combat the sexist depictions of women, while animal rights activists protested the cruelty of spearing animals. Possession of a spear soon required registration and a carry permit.
The boys moved on to spray paint, guns, and internal combustion engines.
Edited on: April 01st, 2006 10:00 pm
Comments:
Re: Prehistoric Graffiti
Posted On: April 05th, 2006 at 12:38 pm by Kobra
Haha! I love the sarcasm at the end. You know, this just proves that women were being marginalized and exploited even during the cave days.
Re: Prehistoric Graffiti
Posted On: April 06th, 2006 at 4:18 pm by Lawrence
True story. My paternal progenitor and some of his friends, at the tender age ove 16 or so, decided to play a prank on a local archeologist crew.
The crew was cataloguing Native American rock paintings in the area and where making a big news deal out of it.
The "friends" hiked off to the local sandstone cliffs and painted a bunch of "Indian" figures of people and local wildlife. Then spread a rumor.
The archeologist jumped at the "find" and made a big study. A tourist path was created and advertised. After about a year, one of the "firends" squealed. The archeologist where mad, the locals embarrassed, and the path and "cave art" dissappeared.
I'm not making this up.
Re: Prehistoric Graffiti
Posted On: April 06th, 2006 at 4:34 pm by revcwirla
It's comments like this that make blogging worthwhile. You have made my day, Lawrence.
By the way, those guys didn't scatter some old chicken bones around a fossil dig, did they?
Re: Prehistoric Graffiti
Posted On: March 27th, 2008 at 10:49 am by Mirek
You know what is funny about that article - You admit that a woman was not and can not be able to do the same things a man - That's smart ...;P I don't know if you are a art critic but did you heard about something like STENCIL This artical is like a plumer's work about astrophysics... I have made my master's degree in arts and this artical irritate a bit.....
I have made my master's degree in arts and this artical irritate a bit.....