44000 Year Old Cave Painting Found In Indonesia

[naomi24]

The painting appears to show a buffalo being hunted by part-human, part-animal creatures holding spears and possibly ropes.

Whilst not the oldest artwork ever found, some researchers think the scene could be the world's oldest-recorded story.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50754303

The curious thing to my mind is that the depiction of creatures that appear part-human part-animal is a theme common to mythology the world over, from Greece, to Egypt, to India, to South America, etc., not forgetting that the bible also mentions human/animal hybrids.

I wonder where that idea came from and, given the improbability of the various cultures meeting and interacting, why the concept was so widespread?

Any thoughts?

[douglas9401]

Dreams and alcohol.

[TheDevil]

"Any thoughts?"

I think people use to dress up as animals to either, take on the spirit or to disguise themselves to help them hunt.

They could do this by using old animal parts, or even leaves and twigs to make tails and horns.

Not only would this potentially be a spiritual ritual for them, but it would also help them to get into the moment.

Of course, that's entirely speculation.

[Spicerack]

By jove, you could well be right, TD.
Strange that people lived in or painted similar scenes on that cave for at least 3,000yrs when you think of the progress some of us have made in the last 3,000.

[Chipchopper]

I wonder if the hunters are depicted as being dressed as animals to catch their prey ?

[TheDevil]

SpiceRack, if you think of a ball rolling down a hill, it will start slow, whilst there isn't much momentum behind it, as the ball picks up momentum it will get faster and faster. It will get to such a speed that the ball may even start bouncing as it travels, speeding up and jumping down the hill.

If you use this metaphor and apply it to the primitive cave folk in question, it's hard to start life with sticks and stones. But once they developed bits here and there, advanced a little, then they could progress slightly quicker and quicker because each advancement was that tiny bit easier due to their last one.

We're now at a stage when our progress is constant and it's jumping stages at a time.

[Spicerack]

What started the ball rolling, maybe 10,000yrs ago, after hundreds of thousands of years with zero, little movement?
Did 1 man 'invent' farming?

[TheDevil]

I have no idea. You assume slow progression such as discovering how to cook food and hunt animals efficiently (traps, opposed to chasing an animal with a stick) helped advancement so that they could spend time focusing less on survival and more on things like paintings, storys or whatever they were into.

Again... entirely speculation.

[woofgang]

What is interesting os that its not the only shared concept. The idea that the world is carried on the back of a turtle has popped up in many places too

[rowanwitch]

Tap into the spirit of the animal, understand it, but honour it when you kill it.

[pastafreak]

I thought similar to Rowan...and to dress as your prey gives you power of that animal. Of course, it may not have spiritual significance, but could serve as a disguise to get closer to prey.

[naomi24]

It wasn't restricted to hunters though. What about the ancient gods? They're also often depicted as human/animal hybrids.

[rowanwitch]

Humans assigning the power and other attributes of animals to gods, jackals around when things die, jackal headed god of the underworld, cattle valuable commodities stud bulls especially so when seen in terms of male strength. Which was seen to be linked to fertility...worship of bull headed superbeings, cleverness of monkeys, the nurturing wisdom of elephants.
To worship is to seek the benefit of those attributes...

[pixie374]

44,000 years old. Wow. The picture isn't clear enough to me, to see hybrids, they just look like basic people or animals to me. Perhaps they just weren't all that artistic?

[Spicerack]

As Basil Fawlty might have asked 'What did you expect to see in a 44,000yr old cave? The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, perhaps, or a pickled shark. Maybe a herd of wildebeest majestically sweeping across the'
Hang on, you might have seen the last one, pixie, but you know what I mean, I'm sure.

[Mozz71]

Perhaps they were a tribe of Trans cavemen who identified as wildebeest?