Yes, I'm working...

I’m reading Lewis-Williams’ book, The Mind in the Cave. In it, he forges a new interpretation of cave painting. He begins by talking about the way that the materialist science of recent centuries shapes our thinking and our explanations. He offers this quote:

These questions are not just about ancient history. They take us to the heart of what it is to be human today. It is not simply that we are more intelligent than other creatures, that we are masters of complex technology, or even that we have complex language. These are glittering jewels in the crown of humanity with which we are comfortable. On the contrary, the essence of being human is an uncomfortable duality of ‘rational” technology and ‘irrational’ belief. (18)

and once more, in reference to the impact of Darwin’s ideas:

Suddenly, Westerners who had access to Darwin’s ideas could ‘see’ things that they had never noticed before. (22)

Just as, he writes, a 16th century visitor to the Niaux cavern saw, but did not notice, the incredible art on the walls, The contemporary belief in a short human history did not allow him to recognize the paintings.


It is something along these lines that I aim to do in my current work… to ‘see’ the imagery of the neolithic Near East in a fundamentally non-materialist way, and therefore to interpret it in a new way.