We now know that more than one species of Hominid made art, so the ability to visualise and record outside of what we actually see is an obviously important evolutionary trait.
That also means that more than one species of Hominid were storytellers…
So why did OUR species survive when the others didn’t?
Megaloceros, Lascaux
Smoke from the torches stings his eyes, making it difficult to see. The dancing flames bring the animals to life, a magical hunt galloping across the walls of the cavern. It is warm here, sheltered from the icy blast of the wind. Here he will spend the dark time when the sun is weak in the sky. Not for him the warmth of the hearth and the laughter of children, he is alone in the dark womb of earth.
They bring him meat from the home place, the caves that look out onto the grasslands. They bring him water and wood for the flames. And the old one brings him tales of magic to weave on the walls, gratitude for survival and a plea for good hunting and rich life as the seasons turn.
They bring him the clay and stones that make the colour and he turns…
View original post 691 more words
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
Thanks for reblogging, Chris.
Great questions and the jury appears to be out on why… I wonder if it has to do with the capacity to use imagination, which simply made us better able to adapt in a changing world?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Adapting our sight and minds to not only create art, but observe certain patterns around us as well? Like the changing seasons, appearance of the moon, etc…
LikeLike
Yes… and using that imagination creatively to find solutions to the challenges of a harsh environment. It certainly didn’t seem to take the species long in evolutionary terms to develop enough to turn observation for survival into the abstract thought that could create art for its own sake and complex belief systems that have left so many traces across the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If the other hominids, as well as our species, survived well enough to develop art – what made our species better able to not only survive, but change their environment deliberately…?
It’s a never-ending discussion topic 😄😄😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is… though I don’t buy the theory that ‘we’ wiped the others out deliberately… 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that’s the easy option to blame, but like most other things in life, it was probably a combination of things – bigger brains, faster thinking, more proactive making ours more successful, thus forcing the others out of our hunting territories, or absorbing them through interbreeding. 😐
LikeLike
The interbreeding part seems to be gaining more credence lately. But I’m inclined to agree… it is unlikely to have been a single factor. Maybe it had something to do with the ability to organise as tribes… we probably will never know for certain. And that’s okay too… straight answers mean you no longer need to think 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
And thinking keeps the brain cells active 😄
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s fun too 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people