Bradshaw Foundation - | Rock Art | Cave Art Paintings | Archaeology | Anthropology |
Although I probably subscribe to so many podcasts that there simply isn't the time to listen to them all on a weekly basis, there are one or two I make a point of catching as soon as iTunes has downloaded them.
As of now, I'll be adding the new podcast offered by the Bradshaw Foundation, a website dedicated to exploring our Palaeolithic past from a variety of perspectives, not the least of which is ancient tock art and cave painting, spanning tens of thousands of years across all continents of the world.
This first half-hour podcast, freely available on iTunes, features the renowned Dr. Jean Clottes, discussing amongst other things what he considers to be some of the most important discoveries in European Palaeolithic cave art, such as Altamira, Chauvet and Lascaux, why he thinks ancient cupules from India dated to 200,000 years don't necessarily qualify as art - although as he says, had the holes been ground out in a pattern, art could be implied. He describes some of the art at Chauvet as representing myths, and goes on to make the point that although it might be possible in some cases to come to such conclusions, we are still in the dark when it comes to divining exactly why those myths were expressed in this specific fashion.
Dr. Clottes also remarks on the mistaken way in which Palaeolithic cave art has previously been assessed; despite appearances which suggest that as parietal art seems to have started off with relatively simple designs and execution, gradually progressing to later works such as Lascaux, the impression was given that the first cave painters were less proficient than their descendants, 20,000 years later. He cites the idea of a child learning to draw and improving with age as having influenced early views on how cave art had developed, whereas in the case of cave art, first impressions are misleading. Numerous other expressions in portable art from the Aurignacian - and indeed earlier - are not only beautifully executed, but with great skill and technique - implying that modern humans living around 40,000 years ago were just as adept as those living 15,000 years ago in the Magdalenian.
On a related note, another new feature at the site is this Ice Age Sculpture gallery, very nicely put together, replete with detailed information on each exhibit - which reinforces the point about how the origins of human artistic expression date to way back before anatomically modern humans first showed their faces in Palaeolithic Europe. Moreover, there is a shot film presented by Dr. Jill Cook in the same section - here's the gallery introduction from the site...
Although the Ice Age Art Gallery is centered upon sculpture created during prehistory, we must be careful to avoid the trap of compartmentalizing a skill and a practice that runs seamlessly through the story of humankind. For this reason, Dr Jill Cook refers to it as 'Ice Age Art: Exploring the deeper history of Art'.
In reality, although prehistoric, there should be no separation, because whilst there are clear temporal and spatial variations, the theme remains the same. We are dealing with the same minds - our minds. At the same time, this section is an attempt to redress the balance concerning the ‘portable’ works of Ice Age art which occur throughout Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic era.
The art of this time was not restricted to the paintings and engravings found on the walls of caves. Indeed, 'portable' art, though often under-represented, was prevalent during this period. Moreover, the fact that these predominantly naked figures were created during a very cold time is highly significant, and it perhaps sheds light on the sculptures' purpose. Meet the 'dancing' figurine of Galgenburg, carved out of amphibolite. She is 32,000 years old. Measuring 7.2 cms in height, she was created to be held in the hand. Why?
Damon de Laszlo, Chairman of the Bradshaw Foundation
There's no word yet on how often the Bradshaw Foundation are planning to release future podcasts, but having heard this first show, released at the end of March 2009, I'm hoping that new shows will appear on at least a monthly basis -offhand I can't think of anything else available which is of a comparative quality, and the producers of this podcast would seem to be in a unique position of having great resources for producing many more shows as good as this one.
see also : Bednarik - Figurines And Plaques
image (Chauvet panel) from First Impressions - New Yorker
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