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To: Virginia-American; Alamo-Girl; hosepipe; grey_whiskers; marron
The place is imbued with meaning, but we can't decipher what is being said. The potency is palpable, but we are culturally blind to its content. In seeking to understand our origins, we come away from a place like Lascaux with a deep conviction of connectedness, and a humility at the power of the human mind....

Leakey, of course, is entitled to his evaluation of the accessibility of the "content" of Lascaux. Frankly, I don't think "cultural blindness" makes an understanding of its meaning impossible. What most impresses me about Lascaux is its ability to effectively communicate with people living so many millennia later: The artist speaks to me in a language I can understand.

I certainly wholly agree with Leakey's last sentence: "In seeking to understand our origins, we come away from a place like Lascaux with a deep conviction of connectedness, and a humility at the power of the human mind...." Thanks for writing, Virginia-American!

940 posted on 12/11/2005 8:51:27 AM PST by betty boop (Dominus illuminatio mea.)
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To: betty boop
Thank you so much for including me in this fascinating sidebar about Lascaux!!!

In my last post, I was attempting to refocus the discussion to the first point you made - the only image of a man captured at Lascaux was the image of a dead man.

That is most significant to me - the background for exploring the meaning of the erect phallus drawn on the dead man. Seems to me the artist intended to convey that the dead man is not completely dead, that there must be more to the man than the beast who killed him.

948 posted on 12/11/2005 9:29:56 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
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