This post was scheduled for the first Monday of February…
However Monday, February 3, 2025 was:
A Day Without Latinos:
The Peoples Fight for Justice
https://brownrock.org/2025/02/02/brown-people-matter-the-peoples-fight-protest-for-justice-in-downtown-los-angeles/
(Thanx Elaine!)
I hope you missed me! -RQ
However Monday, February 3, 2025 was:
A Day Without Latinos:
The Peoples Fight for Justice
https://brownrock.org/2025/02/02/brown-people-matter-the-peoples-fight-protest-for-justice-in-downtown-los-angeles/
(Thanx Elaine!)
I hope you missed me! -RQ
"Here's another one of my favorite
books from my library!"
books from my library!"
“The Shamans of Prehistory”
Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves
by Jean Clottes & David Lewis-Williams
• Harry N. Abrams, 1998
• ISBN 0810941821 (ISBN13: 9780810941823)
• Hardcover, 120 pages
From:
https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/books/shamans_of_prehistory.php
This startling book reveals a new way of understanding the remarkable images painted or etched on rock walls by the people of prehistory.
Noting the similarity of prehistoric rock art with that created by some contemporary traditional societies, archaeologists Jean Clottes and David Lewis-Williams suggest that the ancient images were created by shamans, powerful individuals who were able to contact the spirit world through trance and ritual. In many societies throughout history, shamans have been consulted to try to change the weather, foretell the future, control the movements of animals, and converse with the dead.
With an abundance of full-color illustrations, Clottes and Lewis-Williams draw on neuropsychology and ethnography to follow prehistoric shamans into their trance states. The authors shed light on what these artists were thinking and how they may have worked.
On these pages, Paleolithic art and life are seen in a new and astonishing way.
Since the first report of cave art (at Altamira in 1879), attempts have been made to explain the purpose of the mysterious drawings. Art for art's sake; totemism; hunting, destructive, or fertility magic; and modern structuralist theories have all been proposed. Clottes (The Cave Beneath the Sea: Paleolithic Images at Cosquer, LJ 4/1/96) and Lewis-Williams (cognitive archaeology, Univ. of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) propose a new theory emphasizing the shamanic aspects of Paleolithic cave paintings.
After an unavoidably technical chapter providing the basics of shamanism, the authors examine Paleolithic paintings from across France and Spain, noting the use of animal figures, composite figures combining both human and animal characteristics, and geometric designs that are all common elements of shamanism.
The bulk of the book is both fascinating and thought-provoking, and while it is not likely to be the last word on the subject, it is an important contribution to the field. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
After an unavoidably technical chapter providing the basics of shamanism, the authors examine Paleolithic paintings from across France and Spain, noting the use of animal figures, composite figures combining both human and animal characteristics, and geometric designs that are all common elements of shamanism.
The bulk of the book is both fascinating and thought-provoking, and while it is not likely to be the last word on the subject, it is an important contribution to the field. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Theory of prehistoric shamanism
Some of Clottes's most publicized contributions to the study of prehistory have come not in the form of field research, but in his efforts to propose a plausible theory of the psychological and social context in which prehistoric cave art was created.[3][5] In 1994 he joined with South African anthropologist David Lewis-Williams to study prehistoric art in light of known neuropsychological phenomena associated with shamanic trances.[3][5][6] Together they concluded that there is a strong argument for believing that much of prehistoric art was in fact produced in the context of shamanic practices.
In 1996 they published their findings in the book Les Chamanes de la Préhistoire: Transe et Magie dans les Grottes Ornées (published in English in 1998 as
The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves).[5]
The book received heavy criticism from some other researchers, with some objections stemming from a reluctance to use modern ethnographic or psychological observations as a basis for speculating on the meaning of prehistoric art, following clumsy early-20th-century attempts to do so.
Other experts found the ideas compelling, and suggested that academic infighting or jealousy may have played a role in the criticism.[3]
In response to their critics, Clottes and Lewis-Williams published an expanded version of their book in 2001 (Les Chamanes de la Préhistoire: Texte Intégral, Polémique et Réponses).
David Lewis-Williams later went on to develop aspects of their thesis more fully in his own book The Mind in the Cave[6] and its sequel, Inside the Neolithic Mind (co-authored by David Pearce).[7]
Jean Clottes is a prominent French prehistorian.
He was born in the French Pyrénées in 1933 and began to study archaeology in 1959, while teaching high school.
He initially focused on Neolithic dolmens, which were the topic of his 1975 Ph.D. thesis at the University of Toulouse.
After being appointed director of prehistoric antiquities for the Midi-Pyrénées in 1971, he began to study prehistoric cave art in order to fulfill the responsibilities of that position.
In the following years he led a series of excavations of prehistoric sites in the region.
In 1992, he was named General Inspector for Archaeology at the French Ministry of Culture;
in 1993 he was appointed Scientific Advisor for prehistoric rock art at the French Ministry of Culture.
He formally retired in 1999, but remains an active contributor to the field.
He was born in the French Pyrénées in 1933 and began to study archaeology in 1959, while teaching high school.
He initially focused on Neolithic dolmens, which were the topic of his 1975 Ph.D. thesis at the University of Toulouse.
After being appointed director of prehistoric antiquities for the Midi-Pyrénées in 1971, he began to study prehistoric cave art in order to fulfill the responsibilities of that position.
In the following years he led a series of excavations of prehistoric sites in the region.
In 1992, he was named General Inspector for Archaeology at the French Ministry of Culture;
in 1993 he was appointed Scientific Advisor for prehistoric rock art at the French Ministry of Culture.
He formally retired in 1999, but remains an active contributor to the field.
James David Lewis-Williams is professor emeritus of cognitive archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
David Lewis-Williams, as he is known to his friends and colleagues, is regarded as an eminent specialist in the San or Bushmen culture, specifically their art and beliefs.
His book, The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art (Thames & Hudson) won the American Historical Association's 2003 James Henry Breasted Award.
His most recent books are:
Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos, and the Realm of the Gods (Thames & Hudson) co-authored with David Pearce and published in 2005,
Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion, published in 2010, and
Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art, co-authored with Sam Challis and published in 2011.
David Lewis-Williams, as he is known to his friends and colleagues, is regarded as an eminent specialist in the San or Bushmen culture, specifically their art and beliefs.
His book, The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art (Thames & Hudson) won the American Historical Association's 2003 James Henry Breasted Award.
His most recent books are:
Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos, and the Realm of the Gods (Thames & Hudson) co-authored with David Pearce and published in 2005,
Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion, published in 2010, and
Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art, co-authored with Sam Challis and published in 2011.
Reviewed by Barnaby Thieme, 8/22/2012:
The good folks at Erowid have posted my (Barnaby Thieme) review of The Shamans of Prehistory by Jean Clottes & David Lewis-Williams, two prominent authorities on paleolithic cave painting.
I (Barnaby Thieme) am sympathetic to the book’s central argument that many painted caves served a ritual function related to archaic forms of shamanism, but I found their specific cognitive-archaeological model to be under-developed.
Clottes and Lewis-Williams ground their theoretical framework in an altered states model of shamanism and speculate that early shamans may have utilized visionary plants to induce trance states. The Erowid site which hosts a massive online archive of information relating to psychoactive plants and chemicals and their use.
You can read the full review here.
Beginning some 35,000 years ago, hundreds of cave sanctuaries throughout southern France and Spain were lavishly adorned with beautiful and evocative paintings and engravings. Prehistoric artists carried out their work with remarkable stylistic continuity for over 20,000 years.
Since this world of buried art was rediscovered and explored in the last hundred years, these paintings have been admired for their rich, expressive depictions of animals and geometrical patterns.
But what do these paintings mean, and why were they created? How were these caves used?
At various times, scholars have interpreted cave paintings as art for art’s sake, hunting instructions, sympathetic magic, totemistic representations of clan identities, or symbolic vocabularies with complex systems of meaning.
In The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves, two prominent researchers argue that many European caves are linked to shamanic ritual practice and initiation. Renowned expert Jean Clottes, who served as principal researcher of the magnificent Chauvet cave of southern France, co-authored this book with South African cognitive archaeologist David Lewis-Williams, a specialist on the San culture of the Kalahari, which practices rock painting to this day.
At 120 pages, this book is essentially a long essay laying the basis for the authors’ shamanic hypothesis and attempting to ground it in biological terms.
While I (Barnaby Thieme) found their central thesis to be underdeveloped, the authors do an admirable job of surveying the available evidence, providing a valuable analysis of the known art.
The book is lavishly illustrated, though the pictures are rarely captioned with date information.
In the book’s introduction, the authors present a brief account of shamanism as a religious paradigm. They focus on the role of shamans as expert practitioners who carry out supernatural feats by entering trance states through various means, including the use of visionary plants, isolation, fasting, chanting, and dancing. In these altered states, they travel into the heavens above, or into a world beneath the earth, where they encounter spirits and animal powers who assist them in their work.
While I (Barnaby Thieme) found their central thesis to be underdeveloped, the authors do an admirable job of surveying the available evidence, providing a valuable analysis of the known art.
The book is lavishly illustrated, though the pictures are rarely captioned with date information.
In the book’s introduction, the authors present a brief account of shamanism as a religious paradigm. They focus on the role of shamans as expert practitioners who carry out supernatural feats by entering trance states through various means, including the use of visionary plants, isolation, fasting, chanting, and dancing. In these altered states, they travel into the heavens above, or into a world beneath the earth, where they encounter spirits and animal powers who assist them in their work.
The authors argue that the visionary states experienced by the shaman conform to a three-stage model that characterizes trance or altered consciousness, including those evoked by ritual practice and those caused by psychoactive substances such as LSD.
The authors interpret the generality of their three-stage model as evidence for a shared biological process at work, one that is triggered in different ways but produces a similar experience.
Stage one of their model consists of the appearance of vivid, luminous, geometric patterns.
The authors interpret the generality of their three-stage model as evidence for a shared biological process at work, one that is triggered in different ways but produces a similar experience.
Stage one of their model consists of the appearance of vivid, luminous, geometric patterns.
In stage two, the fuzzy and ambiguous geometric images begin to take on meaningful shapes and symbols, as the subject “recognizes” them as outlines of known shapes (e.g. horses, lions, etc.). The transition between stages two and three is often marked by an experience of passage, such as moving through a tunnel or flying. Stage three involves frank hallucinations of otherworldly symbols and beings.
This model is used throughout the book as a framework to explain the universality of characteristic shamanic visions, such as the magical flight, which may be interpreted as the transition between stages two and three. Many cave paintings can be interpreted as reflecting one or more of the stages. This may indicate the caves were ritual or initiatory centers that either depict or help elicit shamanic visions brought about through various means.
In my (Barnaby Thieme’s) opinion, the model is inadequate as an explanatory mechanism, and unable to do the heavy lifting Lewis-Williams and Clottes require of it. Its key terms are extremely vague—especially the central concept of “altered states”.
This term can refer to a vast array of states of awareness, including alertness, stupor, delirium, hallucination or bliss. Even if we restrict ourselves to visionary situations that involve both visual distortions and frank hallucinations, we still find a diverse set of experiences that is poorly characterized by this model.
The authors suggest at several points that the fitness of their altered-states model to the evidence may indicate that hallucinogenic plants were ritually used. To evaluate that hypothesis, we need to examine which hallucinogens fit their three-stage model, and ask if they were available in Europe in prehistoric times.
I submit that the classical tryptamine and phenethylamine hallucinogens, such as psilocybin or DMT and mescaline, are the best fit for their altered-states model.
Unfortunately, these are overwhelmingly found in the New World, and were probably unknown within Europe until sometime long after the caves had been painted.
What potentially hallucinogenic substances were most likely to be available in the late Stone Age in Europe?
I suggest the following candidates: carbon dioxide, cannabis, opium, Amanita muscaria, Syrian rue, and solenaceous plants, including datura and belladonna.
At the right dose levels, carbon dioxide intoxication does fit well with the three-stage theory, as we learn from the extensive research of Dr. Ladislas Meduna. The authors do not mention carbon dioxide intoxication in this book, but Clottes speaks of it in his Cave Art (Phaidon, 2010), where he speculates that some cave chapels may have caused carbon dioxide intoxication due to poor ventilation and this could have played a role in the paintings.
The problem with this theory is that high levels of carbon dioxide rapidly cause unconsciousness and death; indeed, the gas is frequently used to euthanize animals. Hallucinations generally occur at the threshold of unconsciousness, and it’s hard to imagine how any shaman could fall insensibly into a visionary stupor in the depths of a cavern thick with carbon dioxide, and then live to tell the tale.
In my (Barnaby Thieme’s) opinion, the model is inadequate as an explanatory mechanism, and unable to do the heavy lifting Lewis-Williams and Clottes require of it. Its key terms are extremely vague—especially the central concept of “altered states”.
This term can refer to a vast array of states of awareness, including alertness, stupor, delirium, hallucination or bliss. Even if we restrict ourselves to visionary situations that involve both visual distortions and frank hallucinations, we still find a diverse set of experiences that is poorly characterized by this model.
The authors suggest at several points that the fitness of their altered-states model to the evidence may indicate that hallucinogenic plants were ritually used. To evaluate that hypothesis, we need to examine which hallucinogens fit their three-stage model, and ask if they were available in Europe in prehistoric times.
I submit that the classical tryptamine and phenethylamine hallucinogens, such as psilocybin or DMT and mescaline, are the best fit for their altered-states model.
Unfortunately, these are overwhelmingly found in the New World, and were probably unknown within Europe until sometime long after the caves had been painted.
What potentially hallucinogenic substances were most likely to be available in the late Stone Age in Europe?
I suggest the following candidates: carbon dioxide, cannabis, opium, Amanita muscaria, Syrian rue, and solenaceous plants, including datura and belladonna.
At the right dose levels, carbon dioxide intoxication does fit well with the three-stage theory, as we learn from the extensive research of Dr. Ladislas Meduna. The authors do not mention carbon dioxide intoxication in this book, but Clottes speaks of it in his Cave Art (Phaidon, 2010), where he speculates that some cave chapels may have caused carbon dioxide intoxication due to poor ventilation and this could have played a role in the paintings.
The problem with this theory is that high levels of carbon dioxide rapidly cause unconsciousness and death; indeed, the gas is frequently used to euthanize animals. Hallucinations generally occur at the threshold of unconsciousness, and it’s hard to imagine how any shaman could fall insensibly into a visionary stupor in the depths of a cavern thick with carbon dioxide, and then live to tell the tale.
Psilocybin-containing mushrooms may have been known in Europe in prehistoric times, but the evidence for this is extremely tenuous. Surprisingly, the authors don’t consider the famous rock art bee-masked being that may be covered with mushrooms, found on the Tassili plateau of southern Algeria. But the link between that image and psychoactive mushrooms is speculative, and Algeria is a long way from Dordogne.
Cave paintings usually depict easily recognizable animals in crisp, elegant outlines, either isolated or in small groups.
Modern visionary art inspired by hallucinations, on the other hand, frequently emphasizes figure-ground ambiguity with crowded visual fields saturated with suggestive images.
It would also be remarkable to find a long-lived visionary bestiary so limited in its repertoire. We frequently find horses, aurochs, and mammoths, but almost never snakes, insects, or birds. What kind of visionary artist doesn’t paint snakes?
I don’t believe the theory works much better with endogenous altered states. Trance states evoked by meditation, chant, isolation, prayer, or dance are no less diverse than those evoked by psychoactive substances. I don’t see the three-stages model as a good description for my (Barnaby Thieme’s) experience of any of them.
It’s entirely possible, or even likely, that psychoactive plants were part of the spiritual tool kit for Homo sapiens in the Paleolithic, but I don’t see clear evidence linking them to cave art.
Cave paintings usually depict easily recognizable animals in crisp, elegant outlines, either isolated or in small groups.
Modern visionary art inspired by hallucinations, on the other hand, frequently emphasizes figure-ground ambiguity with crowded visual fields saturated with suggestive images.
It would also be remarkable to find a long-lived visionary bestiary so limited in its repertoire. We frequently find horses, aurochs, and mammoths, but almost never snakes, insects, or birds. What kind of visionary artist doesn’t paint snakes?
I don’t believe the theory works much better with endogenous altered states. Trance states evoked by meditation, chant, isolation, prayer, or dance are no less diverse than those evoked by psychoactive substances. I don’t see the three-stages model as a good description for my (Barnaby Thieme’s) experience of any of them.
It’s entirely possible, or even likely, that psychoactive plants were part of the spiritual tool kit for Homo sapiens in the Paleolithic, but I don’t see clear evidence linking them to cave art.
I (Barnaby Thieme) am also a firm proponent of the shamanism model for understanding Paleolithic cave art, but on comparative grounds, such as those advanced by Mircea Eliade.
The structure of many cave sanctuaries strongly suggests an initiatory domain, easily recognizable from sacred spaces used by cultures today. The placement of key artwork in remote, difficult-to-access chambers implies a journey. The animal images are of an archaic character that fit extremely well with what we observe in contemporary shamanic cultures, such as among the Intuit, Tlingit, or Haida. And some of the composite “sorcerer” paintings are richly evocative of trance states or initiatory visions of a well-known type.
The structure of many cave sanctuaries strongly suggests an initiatory domain, easily recognizable from sacred spaces used by cultures today. The placement of key artwork in remote, difficult-to-access chambers implies a journey. The animal images are of an archaic character that fit extremely well with what we observe in contemporary shamanic cultures, such as among the Intuit, Tlingit, or Haida. And some of the composite “sorcerer” paintings are richly evocative of trance states or initiatory visions of a well-known type.
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