Interpreting Sapiens’ Consciousness through Paleolithic Cave Art

The Lascaux Testament

Gary J. Maier (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

351 Seiten

2023 | Unabridged edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-5275-1900-8 (ISBN)

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This book is the first to identify an interpretive path through Paleolithic cave art that can provide plausible meaning to the animal figures in the Lascaux cave in France. The artwork was created during a period described as the Creative Explosion, spanning from 35,000 to 11,000 BC. The author has found that the artists, or shamans, have left clear evidence of aspects of their worldview and by using ethological evidence, such as a bison shedding its winter coat to identify spring as the season portrayed in a specific panel, he adds a level of certainty to his interpretations. In sum, this book argues that the cave art describes the journey of the soul from the spirit world to the natural world and back, and that it identifies a spectrum of consciousness involving the five traditional senses: sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. Moreover, the book explores the hunting strategies employed early survival groups which are depicted in the cave art. The role of the shamans’ impact on the artwork is also addressed.

Gary J Maier MD is a forensic psychiatrist who worked at the Mendota Mental Health Institute (MMHI) in Madison, Wisconsin, the site of the world’s largest Eagle Effigy Mounds, for over thirty years. He has expertise in transcultural psychiatry and has worked with shamans to diagnose and treat patients who follow ancestral religions. He has published over fifty articles in forensic journals. In his book The Eagle’s Voice: Tales Told by Indian Effigy Mounds, he shows how the effigy mounds on the grounds of the MMHI, including a “documented” burial, describes the journey of the soul back to the Earth-Maker. Now retired, he applies the interpretive skills he developed while clarifying the patterns that the animal figures form at effigy mounds to help unlock the meaning of other historical mysteries, including the tales told by the animal figures in the cave art created during the Paleolithic period.

Erscheinungsdatum	05.09.2023
Verlagsort	Newcastle upon Tyne
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 212 mm
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Kunstgeschichte / Kunststile
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Archäologie
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Vor- und Frühgeschichte
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Humanbiologie
ISBN-10	1-5275-1900-7 / 1527519007
ISBN-13	978-1-5275-1900-8 / 9781527519008
Zustand	Neuware