Tuesday, July 06, 2021
Who's imaginative?
The reluctant rehab of Neanderthals continues.
A bone with angular markings was found at a site in Germany. The archeologists grudgingly admit:
Given the size, I'd guess it was a family medal, to be worn on a leather thong. Something like a coat of arms.
Come on, archeologists! Show half as much imagination as the Neanderthals!
More broadly... Most archeological assumptions miss PURPOSE. They see everything as art or decoration. Decoration is luxury. Carving is hard work. Patterns denote PURPOSE. Language, signaling status, transfer of value.
The reluctant rehab of Neanderthals continues.
A bone with angular markings was found at a site in Germany. The archeologists grudgingly admit:
The parallel and regularly spaced engravings have comparable dimensions and were very probably created in a uniform approach suggesting an intentional act.Looks more like a map than an artwork. A stylized representation of rivers and valleys. (Meanders and thals.) Or it could be a family tree. Or an ideogram. Many alphabets, from Korea to Ireland, look like this. Or a cipher. Or a coin with a specified value.
Given the size, I'd guess it was a family medal, to be worn on a leather thong. Something like a coat of arms.
Come on, archeologists! Show half as much imagination as the Neanderthals!
More broadly... Most archeological assumptions miss PURPOSE. They see everything as art or decoration. Decoration is luxury. Carving is hard work. Patterns denote PURPOSE. Language, signaling status, transfer of value.
Labels: From rights to duties
¶ 5:19 AM
