The archaeology of human thought and intelligence was the subject of my lecture this morning. Moving on from the functionalist processual approach of Binford in the 1960s (sort of a mathematic, scientific approach to archaeology), people started to consider how to reconstruct the ancient mind. We looked at Paleolithic toolkit developments, cognitive evolution, and Mithen's theory of cognitive 'modularity', which suggests that at one point in time our brains switched from thinking from modular thinking (i.e. like a monkey seeing a
python as dangerous, but not linking fresh python tracks to the possibility of danger), to our brains being an information processor.
Mithen's idea has since been refuted by archaeologists, but it's a very good question: how did our brains come into being today, and are they similar to our ancient people's brains? In what respects did they think like us, and how did it differ? A few days ago I saw this programme on iplayer:
In the video, Ayumu the chimpanzee is challenged to memory tests that get as hard as memorising a set of number faster than the blink of an eye. This got me wondering; how can a chimpanzee have the ability to do this more successfully than the average human? Is it a physical difference in brain function (such as being able to see the numbers for longer because of neural passage from the eye to the brain being wired differently or
being more adept than ours); or was a cultural difference, such as the fact that for us numbers are associated with meaning - Ayumu may see the numbers as shapes, and so can process the numbers without the associations our minds have with them?
There is the question of training to the programme, but in such a short space of time I doubt many humans or chimpanzees would be able to improve from practise, and if there is an element of luck to Ayumu's success, it is probably minimal in comparison with skill. Either way, I feel very forgetful in comparison. Perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to think ourselves as more clever than our hominidae fellas that share a large percentage of our DNA.
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Paleolithic cave art lecture
Very excited when I got to my lecture today to find it was on Paleolithic cave art. I studied it a little bit for my art A level, which involved me meticulously etching this Trois-Frères cave scene:
At this site, the painting of 'The Sorcerer' can be found. You can see the original, below on the left, and Henry Breuil's (somewhat elaborated) drawing of it on the right.
Henri Breuil was influenced by Spencer and Gillan's study of the Arunta of central Australia, and formed his theories of Paleolithic cave art from them. He emphasised their possible function as ensuring hunting success, and that this figure of 'The Sorcerer' was therefore a shaman, forming his magic hunting hypothesis that lasted into much of the 20th century.
At this site, the painting of 'The Sorcerer' can be found. You can see the original, below on the left, and Henry Breuil's (somewhat elaborated) drawing of it on the right.
Henri Breuil was influenced by Spencer and Gillan's study of the Arunta of central Australia, and formed his theories of Paleolithic cave art from them. He emphasised their possible function as ensuring hunting success, and that this figure of 'The Sorcerer' was therefore a shaman, forming his magic hunting hypothesis that lasted into much of the 20th century.
There are criticisms of this view, like the rarity of actual hunting scenes, and that in the Upper Paleolithic, southwestern France was probably 'a human desert stocked full of animals' (Bordes), and so hunting magic wasn't actually needed.
Our view of cave art's moved on from the attitude it was art for art's sake in the 19th century. From the structuralist approaches of the 1960s influenced by Levi-Strauss, such as Leroi-Gourham's quantification and interpretation of cave art and the male/female symbolic oppositions, to structuralist and feminist approaches (Cokey's matrifocal view), ecological perspectives about fish and things (Jochim 1983), and ecology and initiation rituals (Mithen 1988). It appears it's not as easy as saying it's 'just a painting'...
One of the most interesting approaches I found was Lewis William's nueropyschology and trance interpretation. It's all about entoptic and iconic images seen in trance states being reflected in paintings, like dots and zig-zags.
The funniest explanation was the post-entoptic approach of Guthrie (2006), who argues that the art was made by adolescent boys who were a bit testosterone-fuelled and made 'Venus' figurines to represent their fantasies. It's one explanation, but my lecturer was a bit awkward trying to phrase this part...! (Hence it's hilarity, not because it's a bad theory).
I'd really like to research this more, and will hopefully get to see some of these caves up close for myself. I always wonder if there's some simpler explanation... I think this comic did too! (Courtesy of SMBC - pardon the language in the comic):
Our view of cave art's moved on from the attitude it was art for art's sake in the 19th century. From the structuralist approaches of the 1960s influenced by Levi-Strauss, such as Leroi-Gourham's quantification and interpretation of cave art and the male/female symbolic oppositions, to structuralist and feminist approaches (Cokey's matrifocal view), ecological perspectives about fish and things (Jochim 1983), and ecology and initiation rituals (Mithen 1988). It appears it's not as easy as saying it's 'just a painting'...
One of the most interesting approaches I found was Lewis William's nueropyschology and trance interpretation. It's all about entoptic and iconic images seen in trance states being reflected in paintings, like dots and zig-zags.
The funniest explanation was the post-entoptic approach of Guthrie (2006), who argues that the art was made by adolescent boys who were a bit testosterone-fuelled and made 'Venus' figurines to represent their fantasies. It's one explanation, but my lecturer was a bit awkward trying to phrase this part...! (Hence it's hilarity, not because it's a bad theory).
I'd really like to research this more, and will hopefully get to see some of these caves up close for myself. I always wonder if there's some simpler explanation... I think this comic did too! (Courtesy of SMBC - pardon the language in the comic):
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Looking 'under the wraps' of an Egyptian mummy
As of today, a new exhibition had opened at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, of Egyptian 'treasures'. I'm intrigued by the new technology that allows researchers to look 'under the wraps' and see what's beneath without unveiling and damaging the mummy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16983960
It's always fascinating to see people's attraction to the slightly macabre. There's always the ethical debate as to whether human remains should be on display, and while I believe it is wrongful to use fairly recent remains out of respect to those related to them and the deceased themselves, with ancient remains the case is slightly different. If treated with respect, as in this case, I see the harm to be minimal. Instead, I think it's an opportunity to learn more about the Ancient Egyptians' culture and practices.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16983960
It's always fascinating to see people's attraction to the slightly macabre. There's always the ethical debate as to whether human remains should be on display, and while I believe it is wrongful to use fairly recent remains out of respect to those related to them and the deceased themselves, with ancient remains the case is slightly different. If treated with respect, as in this case, I see the harm to be minimal. Instead, I think it's an opportunity to learn more about the Ancient Egyptians' culture and practices.
Friday, 10 February 2012
My friend's got an internship at the British Museum!
As this post says in the title, my friend has just got an internship at the British Museum for this summer. How brilliant is that? Trés cool. Obviously, I'm very jealous, but she definitely deserves it as she's thinking of planning on working there one day. You go girl.
Hearing about the British Museum made me think of when I visited to see the exhibition 'A History of the World in 100 Objects.' I loved it so much I bought the book, having not had the chance to listen to it all on BBC Radio 4. I enjoyed the hands-on activities (my inner child was smiling very widely), and one of my favourite pieces was the Olduvai handaxe from Olduvai gorge, Tanzania.
At first, it really doesn't look like much, just a bit of old stone in a nice teardrop shape. But it's actually approximately 1.2 million years old, and made of volcanic phonolite. It's been knapped alternately around the edges to form a bifacial tool, and by its size its function was probably a handaxe.
If you're interested, you can look at the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/, listen to the podcasts, or buy the book.
My friend will get a chance to have a look at some of these objects in much closer detail. I think I'll overcome my jealousy and buy her a drink tonight to celebrate.
Hearing about the British Museum made me think of when I visited to see the exhibition 'A History of the World in 100 Objects.' I loved it so much I bought the book, having not had the chance to listen to it all on BBC Radio 4. I enjoyed the hands-on activities (my inner child was smiling very widely), and one of my favourite pieces was the Olduvai handaxe from Olduvai gorge, Tanzania.
At first, it really doesn't look like much, just a bit of old stone in a nice teardrop shape. But it's actually approximately 1.2 million years old, and made of volcanic phonolite. It's been knapped alternately around the edges to form a bifacial tool, and by its size its function was probably a handaxe.
If you're interested, you can look at the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/, listen to the podcasts, or buy the book.
My friend will get a chance to have a look at some of these objects in much closer detail. I think I'll overcome my jealousy and buy her a drink tonight to celebrate.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Upper Paleolithic and Neanderthals lecture (and a bit of 'Horrible Histories')
Just had a lecture from Prof Nick Barton, one of my college tutors, about the Upper Paleolithic and the 'extinction' of Neanderthals. It's really interesting to see how evidence and artefacts from sites can be interpreted, reinterpreted, and re-dated to prove and also disprove the theory that Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Humans co-existed, or even interbred. I did like the recent European genome evidence that suggests that 1-4% of modern European genomes are derived from Neanderthals; so we all have a little bit of Neanderthal in us! If you want a very general, jazzy, overview of the Stone Age, I can suggest no better one than the 'Stoneage Song' from the BBC television series 'Horrible Histories'. I refuse to call it a children's programme because I actually find it pretty hilarious, and generally accurate (with a few dramatic licenses here and there...). I also love the fact they're able to make musical in-jokes with history. (Okay, language wasn't just 'invented' etc., but you get the picture!)
Monday, 6 February 2012
Ritual, liminality, communitas and hippies
Just finished writing my essay on ritual, "How can we explain ritual?" It's an open question, and I had to filter through multiple definitions before using Tambiah's definition as the basis of my essay:
"Ritual is a culturally constructed system of symbolic communication. It is constituted of patterned and ordered sequences of words and acts." (Tambiah 1985:128).
In my essay, I looked at Arnold van Genneps's theory of rites de passage and liminality - basically, that ritual is a process through 3 stages from one 'world' to the next; the preliminal (rite of separation), the liminal phase (transition phase), then the post-liminal phase (rite of aggregation), where the process can be from a stage in someone's life, a mental threshold or a physical place (Gennep [1909] 1960). The liminal is a kind of 'limbo', where status, identity, rank and gender are suspended as if it is an 'other world'.
Turner (1969) builds on Gennep's idea, and believes that in the liminal phase, individuals are in a structure-less community - he calls this 'communitas'. Although for most people, this is a temporary phase, such as in the ethnographic example of royal Swazi ritual where a hut represents the liminal and the royal member stays inside for less than a week, some adopt it as a permanent state. I used the example of monks as used by Tambiah and others, and Turner uses the example of hippies (who he delicately describes as "bums"! I disagree on this...) that these people live in a community of no ranking, and where gender is indistinguishable.
There is also matter that ritual gives power to the weak, and strips it from the poor in ceremonies. This is seen in both Swazi royal ritual and Zambian Ndembu installation ritual of the Kanongesha (Beidelman 1966), (Gennep [1909] 1960). I also identified the relationship being 'performative' aspects of ritual and their symbolic power in highlighting the participants' (also known in anthropology as actors) beliefs.
As you can see, I actually really enjoyed writing this essay. I might have also included a Joni Mitchell lyrics in relation to Gennep's "hippie" example. Let's hope my tutors don't mind. I love this song, so here it is:
Turner (1969) builds on Gennep's idea, and believes that in the liminal phase, individuals are in a structure-less community - he calls this 'communitas'. Although for most people, this is a temporary phase, such as in the ethnographic example of royal Swazi ritual where a hut represents the liminal and the royal member stays inside for less than a week, some adopt it as a permanent state. I used the example of monks as used by Tambiah and others, and Turner uses the example of hippies (who he delicately describes as "bums"! I disagree on this...) that these people live in a community of no ranking, and where gender is indistinguishable.
There is also matter that ritual gives power to the weak, and strips it from the poor in ceremonies. This is seen in both Swazi royal ritual and Zambian Ndembu installation ritual of the Kanongesha (Beidelman 1966), (Gennep [1909] 1960). I also identified the relationship being 'performative' aspects of ritual and their symbolic power in highlighting the participants' (also known in anthropology as actors) beliefs.
As you can see, I actually really enjoyed writing this essay. I might have also included a Joni Mitchell lyrics in relation to Gennep's "hippie" example. Let's hope my tutors don't mind. I love this song, so here it is:
Friday, 3 February 2012
The musings of Alan Moore on magic, art, language and shamanism in the technological world
Alan Moore, writer and graphic novelist, explains his thoughts on language, art, 'magick', and the power of language in the technological world. A very interesting viewpoint, and clearly explained. Moore gives a great interpretation of 'magick' as harnessing the power of language and its effect on us. So, he believes "the artist or writer in the contemporary world is the closest thing to a shaman". He goes on to explain the presence of shamanism and magic in the media, like advertising, so everyone thinks the same thoughts and are 'opiat[ed]' psychologically. Personally, I think Moore's books should be on the reading list for Arch & Anth. I wonder what my tutors would make of 'Watchmen' as suggested reading; though saying that, they've probably read it already.
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