The Chauvet cave paintings in France are 35,000
years old, and yet, they look like they could have been drawn this week; they
startle us not only by their fresh appearance, but also by
their mature rendering. These paintings, in a sense, are messages in a bottle,
and the bottle has somehow managed to reach us.
When we see these paintings, we start to wonder
about who made them. What was life like in Europe 35,000 years ago? These
people apparently had cave bears and rhinoceroses to deal with, but they also had
to contend with Neanderthals and the harsh conditions of a continent covered in
glaciers. And yet, were these people all that different from us?
Scientists have discovered flutes carved out of
animal tasks that date from the period. So these people enjoyed playing and
listening to music. There are also indications that these people had a sense of
spirituality, and the paintings on the cave walls, of course, demonstrate that
they had an appreciation for art. Maybe human beings have not changed all that
much – at least in a basic or essential sense – in the last 35,000 years. The
fact that these cave paintings “speak” to us and communicate a story seems to
prove this.
Homo
sapiens means “wise man” or “rational man” or “the man
who knows,” and we have been roaming the planet for the past 100,000 years,
give or take. Recorded history only goes back a few thousand years, and even
though we know some of the human biography, much has been seemingly lost
forever. Discoveries like the Chauvet cave paintings, however, suggest that the
distant past might not be as distant as it sometimes seems.
What constitutes humanness?
“Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” – Sigmund Freud
You have posed an good question. Sigmund posed one pretty good start of an answer. I guess I would add a love of learning and/thirst for knowledge. Not sure that other forms of life have that to the same degree as do those known as homo sapiens.
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