The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art - Hardcover

Lewis-Williams, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500051178 ISBN 13: 9780500051177

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

The central themes of this intellectually invigorating and wide-ranging book - the evolution of the brain and mind, primary vs. higher-order consciousness, Neanderthals vs. Cro-Magnons, the nature of art, and shamanism - are guaranteed to capture the public imagination. This compellingly written 'detective story' puts forward the most convincing explanation yet proposed for the origins of image-making and art, examining how the Neanderthals lived for over 10,000 years alongside our Cro-Magnon ancestors, but never developed art. The reason for this lay in the evolution of the human mind. Cro-Magnons possessed a higher-order consciousness and more advanced neurological make-up, which enabled them to experience shamanistic trances and vivid mental imagery. It became important for them to 'fix', or paint, these images on to cave walls, which they perceived as the membrane between their world and the spirit world from which the visions came. These illuminating glimpses into the ancient mind are skilfully interwoven with the story of modern-day cave discoveries and vivid descriptions of the beautiful Ice-Age art found in caves such as Lascaux and Altamira.

About this title

Review:

`You will refer back to these precious books again and again'

About the Author:

David Lewis-Williams is Professor Emeritus and Senior Mentor in the Rock Art Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His other books include Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in the Southern San Rock Paintings and, with Jean Clottes, The Shamans of Prehistory: Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0500051178
• ISBN 13: 9780500051177
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320