The Lion Man Of Ulm

[Foxbat]

I recently watched an episode of a series called Raiders Of The Lost Past (available on BBC iPlayer). I'd never seen this series before and I wouldn't say I had any particular interest or expertise in archeaology but I found myself fascinated by this episode. It covered the Nazi obsession with uncovering evidence that all of European civilisation began in Germany. In particular, it concentrated on the discovery just before the start of World War Two of fragments of an ivory carving of a half-man, half-lion figurine. In recent years, scientists have been able to carbon date the carving and it is thought to be around 35000 to 40000 years old. This makes it one of the oldest known artistic works by a human.

Restoration has provided us with an extraordinary object and one wonders why such a work would exist at all in a time when survival was paramount. When most of the tribe would be out searching for food amongst the receding ice, somebody spent hundreds of hours carving this with stone tools. This in itself, I think, shows how important it must have been to that particular community. Perhaps it's an early example of spirituality and may have been used in shamanistic ceremonies. As beautiful as it is, however, I think it probably raises more questions than answers.

Lion-man - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[CupofJoe]

It was a great watch.
I even liked the bit with the Sámi singer.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Restoration has provided us with an extraordinary object and one wonders why such a work would exist at all in a time when survival was paramount. When most of the tribe would be out searching for food amongst the receding ice, somebody spent hundreds of hours carving this with stone tools. This in itself, I think, shows how important it must have been to that particular community. Perhaps it's an early example of spirituality and may have been used in shamanistic ceremonies.

"Survival" has two equally important sides: physical survival and mental survival. Finding food - gathering and hunting - is usually fairly easy, even in difficult conditions. This is attested by modern comparisons, but also from archaeological evidence. Then there's heat and shelter - also fairly easy for people who knew their environments exceptionally well.
The interesting bit is psychological survival. The Lion Man was carved because that was part of making a mental model of the world, in which certain questions always come up. These include: how did the universe begin; how did I begin; what happens when I die; what is the meaning of life. Spirituality offers answers for all these critical questions, in the case of people 40,000 years ago based on guesswork amongst other ploys. Religion carries on this work of mental frameworks.
Carving the Lion Man was just as important as eating and drinking. Essential to sane living in a small community.

 

[Dave]

This "need" is still the case today. Some adults are currently telling children that Arts and Music are among subjects that are not important to take at school or university, and that they must only take subjects that will lead them directly into well paid jobs. However, once they have gained those well paid jobs, what do they do after work to remain sane? They spend their evenings, weekends and holidays in hobbies, creating and playing music, painting, drawing, modelling in clay, or in museums and art galleries, or baking cakes, making costumes and jewellery, writing or reading fiction, watching theatre or films, playing sports, gaming, gardening, looking after pets, riding horses, feeding their spiritual side with religions which ask "why am I here?" or many, many other things that have very little to do with paid work, nest building or raising children.

We are not automatons. See also Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs: For the great majority of people today, our psychological needs and safety and security needs are easily met, the higher needs less so.

 

[Foxbat]

I even liked the bit with the Sámi singer.

I must admit being a bit cynical when hearing this at first. I’m thinking yeah, yeah but then it got really intense and I thought Wow!

 

[mosaix]

Being absolutely pathetic at producing any kind of 'art' myself I was just stunned at the skill involved in creating the lion man.

As an aside, I enjoy the series but get increasingly irritated with the presenter. It seems to be a common trend in TV documentaries to include more and more shots of the presenter staring into the middle distance or just walking along. Horizon was absolutely ruined by it.

 

[Foxbat]

As an aside, I enjoy the series but get increasingly irritated with the presenter. It seems to be a common trend in TV documentaries to include more and more shots of the presenter staring into the middle distance or just walking along. Horizon was absolutely ruined by it.

I know what you mean but I don't mind that too much. She's incredibly passionate about her subject and that rubs off on me as a viewer. I'll take and suffer the little irritations if she can continue to convey that passion to the audience.