I originate from the small village of about 1.000 inhabitants where the lion man has been discovered. We're very proud of having the status of a world's heritage by the UN... One of the explorers lived for a while in my parents' and grand-parents' house in the late 70ies...
I just opened youtube and saw I had another response from you, Jon. I want to tell you, you interact with your viewers more than any other youtuber out there. I really appreciate the individual attention and I know others do, too. Thank you so much! 😊
Can’t stop thinking about how insanely exciting it would’ve been for a group of men to bring down a giant lion. And how much kudos would’ve made finding a mate easier.
I think bacis human thought is so much more simpler than that. Why does everything have to be so deep. Artist do this all the time, is it possible they just liked the way it looked and there was never a deep hidden meaning.
@@donaldsharpe9914 If you mean this in particular, I think a large part of why we assume these things had meaning is because of how much more difficult art was back then. It's not like pulling out a pencil after work and doodling on a page. Someone took a large amount of time to do this, time that could have been spent doing other work like carving tools, hunting and foraging, or other activities really important to their survival. It's very unlikely that someone just did this for some flight of fancy. They spent time, effort, and energy on this when all three of those would have been in pretty short supply.
@@donaldsharpe9914yeah, basic human thought is simple. But the key word in your description is basic. If you leave a human in a room with no stimulation, they will still think. Those thoughts will vary from simple to complex, but thoughts are just drops of a larger ocean of information. This ocean is infinitely complex and art is ALWAYS calling back to this ocean, whether the viewer notices and on what level, this is up to the viewer.
Very interesting, I would definitely be interested in more videos on the Palaeolithic. The cultural evolution that you talk about probably happened many years before the carving of the lion-man, as the first caving were probably made using easier to carve materials; i.e. wood and / or clay (hardened in the sun, not fired), and so have not survived to our time. Unfortunately, with no such carving having survived, we are left guessing when these concepts first occurred to our ancestors. Both the lion-man and the Venus of Hohle Fels (both made from mammoth ivory) are the oldest know figures, both dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, while the first cave paintings of animals and people date back 45,500 years, and a hand-stencil from the Cave of Maltravieso (Spain) has been dated to 64,000 years old.
I agree, the real change probably happened between 45 and 50k years ago, and I will talk about this more in the coming months, and about the Venus figures and the cave paintings and common symbology within them, and what they can tell us about religious thought. It is a fascinating time, and I will do more on this time period. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment :)
The altar and pillar! Isaiah 19:19 Revelation 5:5 The Land of Nod, Was the sign of Cain a Lion. Cain worshipped Jehovah God. He offered sacrifices to him. So did Jehovah forgive him by marking his land with the Lion. The Mark of Cain. Genesis 4:13 At this Cain said to Jehovah: “The punishment for my error is too great to bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land,* and I will be hidden from your face; and I will become a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and anyone who finds me will certainly kill me.” 15 So Jehovah said to him: “For that reason, anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times.” So Jehovah established a sign for Cain in order that no one finding him would strike him. 16 Then Cain went away from before Jehovah and took up residence in the land of Exile, to the east of Eʹden. Genesis 4:24 If 7 times Cain is to be avenged, Then Laʹmech 77 times.” Matthew 18:21 Then Peter came and said to him: “Lord, how many times is my brother to sin against me and am I to forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him: “I say to you, not up to seven times, but up to 77 times.23 “That is why the Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.
Compare bible translations verses. [System of Things] vs [End of the Age] [Morning Star] vs [Bright Morning Star] I do realize how a word or phrases changes the meaning. I used the King James Bible that's where I learned God's name. Psalms 83:18 unless you use a revised King James Bible. Matthew 20:18 Jesus approached and spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the [system of things].” Jesus is the Bright Morning Star. Jesus said I would be with his disciples until the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the [end of the age].” The end of the age was 2012 it was The Transit of Venus and Jesus is the Bright morning star. Revelation 22:16 “‘I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you about these things for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David and the [bright morning star].’” Jesus shows up in Jerusalem when he is 12 years old. He shows up 18 years later and throws out the money changers. So 2012 + 18 years 2030. But right after when the 8th King is ruling the earth. I use bible hub for most translations and New World Translation. Here's the Dragon. Revelation 13:11 This is why the beast like a lamb started speaking like a dragon. Satan is a morning star who was hurled to the earth. The morning star of 1874 The Transit of Venus. Who gathered the nations for the Great War of 1914. Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, [morning star], son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! Isiah 14:12 How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from heaven! He that sent orders to all the nations is crushed to the earth.
What an amazing channel. I am a writer and Poet, and these are exactly the things, that inspire my writing. Ancient Folklore, tales, legends and art. Sometimes, I feel closer to my ancient Colleagues than to my contemporaries.
Thank you. I get a lot of creative types here, especially authors, as they enjoy these journeys into our past. I hope you find something that inspires you.
Just found your channel about 2 weeks ago and I have been binge watching them like mad - this story is nearly my favorite of all. Appreciate your channel - keep up the great work!
Very interested in the Venus statuettes. In the Neolithic phase in Malta there was a significant number of examples found emphasizing female figures. And well done for your videos, I m hooked. I ve been looking all over the place for articles and look forward to read the book of David Anthony. You make the past human, as history does.
I'm reading it at the moment, very interesting indeed but I am trying to remind myself, as a novice, that there are other hypotheses, for example the anatolia hypothesis, which I think... I specific to PIE language. I'm really looking forward to Steve Mithens 'after the ice' as my next read because it seems relevant to there era Jon is talking about here, it's details 20,000 bc to 5,000bc. You will love David Anthony I'm sure 👍
@@jmarsh5485 I'm pretty sure the Anatolian hypothesis for PIE is now considered by many, the far lesser likely of the two theories, mainly due to the horse domestication. But, and its a big but, equally people do move around, and in different directions, so there will never be a clear picture. The answer may come in a couple of years once the Crick institute here in the UK stop doing Covid DNA analysis and get back to their project of DNA sampling 7,000 ancient bodies. That will provide some incredible information. And yes, I will slowly cover 5,000 to 40,000BCE, this is an era that really interests me, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic. And as we go through this journey via my videos I'll continue to link to the books and papers I have used to help build my videos.
@@Crecganford I see, very interesting, thanks for the feedback. The other hypothesis is the Armenian hypothesis on a quick Google, for other noobs like me. The Crick institute sampling sounds promising.
I e joy your videos. Thank you. We have art in coastal Africa something like 80,000+ that clearly shows creative thinking in fantastic mysteries. This is, indeed, an aspect of human capabilities. To have great imaginations and manifest them is quite a feat, and one that Snorri suggested was why the Æsir were considered godly, “because they made nature do what they wanted.” Of course, it also appears that something like this may have happened with the spread of the Yamnaya culture. What really sets us, humans, up as the “chosen people (animal/creation) to see God,” apart from our other life, even other hominids, is that we developed a genetic ability to narrate stories. Neanderthal, for example, could speak but could not hold down a conversation where one “fantasy” could be easily transferred to another mind. They could learn, but always by experience like “on the job training.” We, on the other hand, can tell a story, which became the ability to write and read them for preservation. This explains how the lion-man figure could have been passed around. Mentioning the “talking stick” kind of thing brought up an idea. Kings were depicted as many animals, but the fiery Lion became the Emperor seated in the throne of the heart. The watery Bull became the sacral region, associated with the basin of earth holding the soul essence from the moon. The moon was fashioned like the kidney, as the earth holds the rain that pours out of it. The lion killing the bull was the image of the Emperor enforcing his will upon the earth, manifesting his “divinely inspired” visions. We see this displayed in the Etana myth where he learns about the fight between the Eagle and Serpent. He was told by Shamash, the Sun god who witnessed the oath between the beings where they agreed to feed each other’s children with the spoils of their hunts. While out hunting, the Seroent lost her children to the Eagle, who fed his children with hers. One son warned his father to honor his oath and supposedly refused the meal as well. She returned to an empty nest, so she demanded Shamash tell her how to be avenged. He said she should hide in a bull’s carcass and strike when the Eagle feasts…so she did, and that’s how the Eagle was trapped in an earth pit without feathers. Etana was told to give the Eagle its feathers back and it would fly him to the highest heaven for an herb of progeny by which he could have an heir for his kingdom. The Eagle took him to the first heaven, where Etana saw his prayer hut (sweat lodge?), then to the second heaven where he saw the extent of his entire kingdom as he gained a sky view of it. Then he got scared going up to the highest heaven and demanded to be let down. Look at Loki and Thiazi… Loki used a bull sacrifice to draw the attention of the Eagle. Loki, however, couldn’t heat the carcass up enough to eat it because it was so huge. Thiazi had to help and, claiming the champion portion like Keltic warriors, ate the choicest pieces. Loki took a stick from the fire and stuck the birds ribs. Loki’s hands stuck (as fire clings to both ends). He was dragged across the tree line (first heaven), then along the Rocky Mountain tops (second heaven), then Loki begged to be let down! His price for this freedom, however, was to attain Iðunna (Etana) for the Eagle! Immortality for humans is progeny, but there has been an academic comparison with Indra stealing Soma from the Asuras while gaining the favor of the çayana (Phoenix), which he rode as a horse to the mountain. Krshanu, the archer, failed to protect the herb and as the thief flew away the archer shot at them. The Eagle dodged it but dropped a feather that fell upon this earth to become the first Agni fire altar. The Phoenix feather is important in Chinese culture, but Etana gave the featherless Eagle flaming ones while the Æsir removed Thiazi’s feathers with flames! The real importance to us here links the Mesopotamian theme to Icelandic through classical Greece. A thiassi is a religious cult of Greek culture. And the Sanskrit cognate to Greek Prometheus is the name for a stick, taken from the fire in order to teach writing! This is how comparative studies of myth, religious ideology, and cultural practices can enlighten human cultural evolution as we are all one family, spreading our stories in a never-ending appropriation process. We learn, forget, and relearn for others.
Interesting connections you make in this video. I am very interested in the Lowenmensch because it was made and found in my ancestral region of Swabia, and I even discussed it in a February 2020 article I wrote: "Roots of Proto-Celtic/Germanic Mythos, folk faith in prehistoric Swabia?" Part of my ongoing effort to reconstruct a distinctly Swabian Heathenry not only through the folklore but also by showing this continuity from the Paleolithic findings in our region, to the Celtic culture of the Hallstatt, and up to the Germanic Suebi and Alemanni. One continuous yet evolving faith rooted in our landscape, each of the three cultures adding to our worldview and different layers to our traditions. My own view is that the Lowenmensch expresses a shamanic view of the human merging with the animal spirit, such as we later saw in both Germanic and Celtic myths, and in warrior brotherhoods known to use such shamanic practices (although this was mostly the bear and wolf). Its animistic and from such findings (alongside others from the same period across Europe) we can see the earliest expressions of the various myths about either using or merging with animal spirits on this shamanic journey to other worlds. Coming full circle back to your argument, perhaps it was through such shamanic journeys that opened up people's minds and imagination to these new contextual abilities?
That is a challenge you have set yourself as the populations migrated and were replaced a number of times from the Upper Palaeolithic to the early Middle Ages. So myths created 40,000 years ago would have been replaced by other migrations especially those post the YD event. Good luck!
Can't believe how much I love his channel. Normally, without lots of images and animation, you can't hold my attention. Yet, I'm binge watching. By the way, your accent sounds English and now and then Aussie. Would you be comfortable saying where you're from? Your complexion is so golden, actually Mediterranean and clear, not ruddy. You must have a rich mixture genetically with your exotic appearance.
Thank you for your kind words, they are really appreciated. I have travelled a lot in my lifetime, but I was born in a small town called Crayford, which is on the edge of London. And it is that town that used to be called Crecganford, and is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles on the entry for 456/7 CE :)
I agree, we are spoilt! And inspired. I think Jon just simply loves sharing the content and is confident the quality (ie well researched academic sources) will speak for itself. And it certainly does. With Jon, being very likeable and listenable, the content is SO accessible, and bingeworthy if the algorithm has only just brought you here. We've got an amazing ability to identify with people despite the millenia between us. And stories are fundamental, I believe we are born to believe, essentially, that's what sets us apart from other species. And I don't think my mind will ever piece itself back together after it was blown apart listening 'the cosmic hunt' so hopefully you've got to that one already if not soon. ☺
... as German Biologist - I am 100 km from this site - and I wonder- was this Art traveling from Northern Africa with Migrants 40 000 years ago - bringing with them even more of their origins, cults and traditions?Makes it even more intriguing for me...
I'm not sure if the archaeological record supports that view, due to a lack of finds in North Africa. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but it is just difficult to establish evidence to support this idea.
@Crecganford all those wonderful stunning amazing finds happened by sheer chance and accident. As Göbekli seems to show there may have been deliberate hiding, burial as a precaution from destruction. We can be optimistic to find MUCH more when we look more carefully. Human History is much more intriguing and fascinating! It should not be the monopole of the Han Cocks... Cro Magnon is supposed to be a sort of Nietzsche Übermensch ...
Hi Jon! Would you mind if I ask how much a cast reproduction costs? I would love to commission a copy of the Löwenmensch statuette for my two-year-old son. Thank you and kudos to you (and your channel)! @@Crecganford
And thousands upon thousands of years later we still ponder and worry about the same things , as we watch this video they sat around the fire and exchanged the same stories of their ancestors? It's wonderful and calming to imagine. Excellent thinking point, thx. 👍🌍🌎🌏
Whats really odd with these animal man hybrids is that its a common occurence to see them when using certain psychedelics, especially with dmt. Whats interesting with that is that it seems most cultures through history have put very high value on the psychedelic experience. Even to the point of using poisons or drowning to elicit the appropriate state of mind during rituals.
Thank you for the work you do. Your steadfast research and concise reporting is a real gift. You have helped to deepen my understanding and curiosity about what it means to be a human being. Cheers!
Crikey it's almost 3am and I ought to be getting some sleep but every time just before I finish watching one of these videos a thumbnail appears with another interesting one and I can't help but click on it
@@Crecganford I'm unashamedly a self confessed tea addict. Yorkshire tea being my absolute favourite which as nothing to do with me being stereotypical Tyke. ☕
It seems to me that the very concept of Gods is integral to our nature, the more I look into the past the more certain pattern seem to emerge. My interpretation of our devotion to gods is, no matter which deity one worships or has worshipped, from harvest to sacrifice to law & order, at the end of the day for the individual it is done as an act of appreciation or expressing gratitude towards anything deemed important to us (As long as it isn't forced up on one). It's like offering your friends a helping hand; you know you don't have to do it, people most likely won't need your help either but the act itself of offering up time and energy for something that has no benefit to you is what makes it so beautiful. Your time and energy is given to something that you value, in my example it is your friends endeavors but can very well be just the sun rising too, and what better way to honor it by dedicating art to it.
I've seen the Lion Man at NYC Natural History Museum, right next to the Venue (many different ones). Then go upstairs and see the iceage mammoth and lions.
Given it was found in the Swabian Jura I wonder if it was in some way a precurser to deities such as Cybele and Durga who were associated with mountains and lions.
This is an absolutely real being I have seen with my own eyes after I said a prayer.. I love your show great work. It's a shame we have been pulled so far away from our past without holding on to its truth.
Narasimhan or thr lion man is a form of god still worshipped in India today. As an avatar of Vishnu the supreme lord this form of god potrays Omnipresent nature of god.
15:19 I understand you are sharing ideas of academics, but this point is a hard sell and does not feel necessary in order to believe the figurine has religious purpose. There is plenty of time in the life of HG’s, it could be that the individual was old/disabled, etc. It’s just a strong conjecture that I feel is unnecessary to get the point across. You always put out phenomenal content. Really glad I found your channel
It's a good point, and many of the things we teach are not 100% provable, I'm just relaying academic consensus for this point. It can be a hard balance to cover all possibilities, and could make a video last hours, so sometimes the consensus route is the best compromise. However, as you say, there is thought that this, and all the other figurines found around the same period in the same cave network, were all made by individuals in their spare time, however that time comes about. Thanks for you comment, I enjoy discussions on points like this.
Thank you for watching, and yes, that is something I am working on, although I'm unsure when I will finish the research, but it'll be a few months away.
How can you possibly think that our ancestors were not like us only 40 000 years ago when we have been on this planet for eons. I do not understand how people can think like this although your channel does interest me.
We know other species of ape (yes, humans are technically apes) know about death, and we have no reason to believe that they don't have some concept of an afterlife. It's quite likely that it was our pre-human ancestors who imagined up the first gods. For all we know modern chimps may have their own gods, and we just don't know how to recognize belief structures that can't be verbally explained.
Culture actually isn’t unique to humans, but high processing animals. Studies have show animal populations with different habits belonging to the same species, as different environments and learned skills are localized and repeated for generations among dolphins, primates, monkeys, etc.
The giant bipedal lion men are the ones who built the pyramids. It’s a model of what the sphinx originally was before the head was carved to a more human type head.
I recently saw a show/episode/documentary on this and how they deconstucted the old one to add in the new pieces. It was a comprehensive documentary explaining the entire context of this find. It was outstanding! However, I can't find it anywhere now. Anyone see this somewhere. I thought it was Netflix...but nothing there now.
In ancient Ugarit there was a creator God whose proper name was "El", but they didn't have a word for "gods" per say, what we call gods were called "children of God" "children of El"
14.20 this is similar to one of the Tzolkin Faces in Maya personal calendar as a Dog. Page 292 Book of Destiny by Carlos Barrios shows the four lines that are also carved on your Lion head. I speculate that this means 4 Directions, 4 Elemental parts of a human also represented in Zodiac.
My kittens create toys. They easily switch focus between the imaginative scenario in which the toys are real, and the real world that has humans, cats, scary noises, dinnertime ...
I find it puzzling that whenever there is a depiction of an ancient artist creating rock art or carvings, the artist is always male. We have no proof of the sex of any artist this long ago, but the automatic assumption is that it was male is troubling.
Troubling? The art was drawn by a female artist, asking her to draw someone carving the Lion Man. This is what came, and I am happy with it. Stop trying to make an issue out of a piece of art.
For someone to be able to make a humanoid figure that is almost anatomically correct must have been preceded by a long process. My four year old grandson has only recently started to draw heads with facial features and sometimes also limbs, exactly the same way the majority of children do. I can imagine the first humans trying to figure out how to depict a human must’ve gone through a similar process.
The size and shape of the legs to me suggest it was attached to a staff, cane, spear, or other stick tool. They probably made wooden ones first, where the carving was done into the staff. These would regularly wear down quickly or break with use. So then these more durable and removable ornamental pieces were made to be attached to the staff/stick.
@@Crecganford exactly. I used to do a lot of long-term hiking and camping and I regularly made staffs that had some carved in hooks and other implements. It would always eventually break after some decent use. Eventually I made a shorter implement out of much harder wood and a much thicker stick. I ended up making the "legs" very similar to this Lionman. It would just fit over the stick with binding and some mud in between the stick and implement. For me, it was just a way of passing time at night while also making a useful tool for hanging and carrying items. I can see this being fashioned similarly but for ritual purposes instead of practical. Note: I did eventually carved a small hole in the top of the stock where I could slip a laser that would come up through the hooked implement. And so I guess I used mine ritually as well. Because I had no practical use for that laser pointer.
It occurs to me that we aren't correctly interpreting the symbolism of these figures, preferring to use a generic term like mythological. My suspicion is that they were representing the hybrid cultures evolving from newly introduced human species. Zoomorphic images of this type are common in the Bible with the Seraphim (lion, ox, human, eagle) and Cherubim, Egypt has it's Sphinx, Urmahlullu in Babylonia. It's so common, that tribes give themselves Totemic names which they ascribe to their ancestors.
Hi; just subscribed! FORTY THOUSAND YEARS AGO!!😮 What an amazing thing. As crazy violent as we can be, it makes me humble and proud to be a homosapien. We shouldn't be here. We're relatively weak, slow and need alot of food! However, our slightly higher intelligence, has allowed us to evolve and be at the top of food chain. Your content is so interesting and thought-provoking! I'm glad I found it.🙂👍🏽👋🏽👨🏽⚕️
I don't see why the figure would have taken a couple of months to make. I reckon I could make one in a couple of days using a flint knife and hand axe if someone were to give me a fresh mammoth tusk
Several distinct tool cultures throughout Africa imply that these human changes were much older than 40,000 and I would argue that some form of animism goes back to at least 120,000 years ago and maybe even older. Humans are symbolic creatures and where we see group behavior and technological shifts it should be assumed humans were sitting around campfires telling stories about the world they lived in. Neandertals were also symbolic creatures and the split in our family trees occurs at 500,000 likely with homo Erectus before linking back up between 1300,000 and 40,000 ya.
I'd ask a couple questions. 1) You told people started to call themselves by names at that time - what is the base for that statement? 2) Are there any evidence that people of this culture used psychedelics? If they did, it increases the probability they "talked" to that lion.
Everything you say makes sense. But that statue could just be a project someone took on during the long winter months when there wasn't much else to do. Surely significant. But the rest is all extrapolation from assumptions. perhaps there was a celebration during the solstice and a favorite uncle was going to portray the lion in the big dance that year. This lion figurine was then made as a present to him. The possibilities are literally endless.
Thank you, I do say any suggestion is speculation, I'm just trying to give the most supported (although definitely not universally agreed upon) academic view right now.
I wonder if it is somehow connected to a moon-menstruation ritual, either long before the making of the "lion man" and so the item was imbued with ritualistic power and could be wielded by a man, or even if it was used ritually by women in the 3 nights of the darkest moon when people were most at risk of predators such as lions. To this day in parts of Africa, hunter gatherer and semi nomadic pastoral peoples have rituals around polyphonic singing and drumming on these nights, and lions are associated, and were associated in prehistoric times, with women, menstruation and the moonless nights. There's a great talk by Chris Knight where he goes into a lot of this, I think it is called 'The Shoes that Danced Themselves to Pieces' and it's on here if you search for it. I really like his stuff about prehistory, myths and stories. Do you know his stuff? What do you think?
That is the step between animism and gods. There would be no ancient Egyptian gods without that particular step of anthropomorphic figure. It’s questionable if ancestor-worship would have made the jump without animism being first to do it.
While these speculations may well be true, it's not the only possibility. Honestly, despite not having surviving evidence, I would guess that shamanism has been around pretty much as long as animism. The shaman is just the logical extension of belief in spirits of any kind. I would also argue that, yes, you can create art just for its own sake in a hunter-gatherer culture. The human drive to create is incredibly strong, and there are many long hours by the fire on the night watch. Deeply impoverished people today still use their imaginations. The Venus statues themselves seem to be self-portraits of a sort; anyone with a mature female body can look down and see that perspective. In short, people have always been people. The person who produced the Lion Man statuette was perhaps his or her local Michaelangelo.
Awesome Jon... They did get their examples from their surrounding environment, but not because it was the nearest thing that they knew represented what they were trying to express, but because they, (Who?), figured out that everything in creation is an exact replica. E.G. Our being has an eye, that sees past present & future all at the same time, as also our face has two eyes in the present that sends information into the 3rd eye, 3 eyes in 3 eyes out, the 3 sets of wings. ops lol... past present & future all at the same time. Our perception of the future is opinion, because it's not happened yet. Our perception of the past is our memories, and the now has 3 perceptions besides, which are physical eyes seeing the now, awareness of now and understanding in now. These 3 perceptions, added with memories of our experiences and our hopes for the future, all working together at once creating a voice, (It's called), out of the 3rd eye, which is your Unk shone, your gut feeling. This eye can be manipulated by knowledge, because it works off of knowledge, the knowledge of that specific person, their knowledge and their experiences etc... This is the realm of the God's, and the kingdoms of the God's, and their principalities and powers in it.
There isn't a chance that figure took 400 hours to carve. The only way it would take that long is if you count the time it would take to knap the stone tools, hunt the lions, track down a log big enough for that, and then the also the carving, and perhaps how long it would take to get to proficiency level to carve that figure and that is being really generous. Knapping stone tools to carve the thing would probably take the longest since the edge probably would keep going dull before finishing. It illustrates that there was a society of specialization at work to some degree and lion/man thing you talked about. The rest of that stuff could have would have been done while hunting or by someone else. The actual carving would take, probably, no more than half a day's worth of time, being generous
Some researcher replicated the carving with the tools and material, and it took him more than 400 hours, and that was after he reduced that time due to the expertise the original artist had. It was a lot of work.
@@Crecganford Given what I'm seeing, I don't see how that is even remotely possible. I'm pretty sure if I started from scratch right now with no experience that it wouldn't take me 400 hours to make that thing, using stone tools. Most of that can be carved while walking or resting from walking so even if it did take a month to make most of that would be while doing other things. The crafter would have to be working unfathomably slow to take that long to make what I'm seeing of that figure. Perhaps I am missing something that would take hundreds of hours to do or said researcher is counting hours in some weird way that isn't type spent actually carving the thing, but I legitimately cannot think of how you could get to 400 hours. You can literally build wood house mansions with delicately carved statues and stair rails in less amount of time than you're saying it would take to make something that isn't a really complex wood craft. My best guess is perhaps the researcher took a lot of time on the details and trying to copy them or something like that and struggled to do so, which lead to such an atrociously high number. You can watch videos of people making figures of about the same complexity and size in about an hour of real time, going slow to discuss what they are doing and showing it. Given that, even with the crudest of tool instruments I do not see how you are going to account for the other 399 hours of work. Given what I see of the figure and what I see of the ability of random wood carvers are these is no way that I would ever believe that it took 400 hours to carve that figure. I do not know of any process or material that would impact the creation of such a figure to that degree within reason. I mean, I can imagine doing something stupid like cutting the wood by what of sanding the wood with loose rock, but beyond ideas like that I am at a lose with coming up with a way to be that slow.
The statuette was glued together from fragments found at the site but may be inaccurate, the 'lion' may orginally have been a... bear. The bear deity was a totemic religion, the hole bears were far larger than the bears nowadays.
It has been rebuilt many times, but they're pretty confident they have it right this time as they used a purpose built computer program to virtualize the build. I think it was the ears that really made them believe it was a lion.
To me it's obviously a child's toy....Ice age super hero figure! What will the archaeologists 40,000 years from now think of Barbie and Ken (or the Bigfoot figure I gave my niece for Christmas)? Will Barbie and Ken be representing a divine couple in a sacred marriage? Bigfoot a wild-man god? I'm not trying to be snarky, just human. I have a master's in folklore and anthropology and have studied ancient peoples and traditions all my adult life. I have always been skeptical of the "ritual" interpretations of seemingly everything. There are certainly ritual items, but I believe we have found many, many more mundane items. In my mind the "lion man" was carved by a father for his child. The speaking mouth and wear just further exemplify "toy" to me. It was held, walked about in little stone caves, drug through the sand and played with just as my niece plays with Bigfoot, and possibly for generations!!! How lucky we are to have found such a amazing item - something we recognize from 40,000 years in the past. Imagine what they would make of our interpretations. Wonderful channel. Thank you so much for giving me something fantastic to think about today!
are you sure that's an object used in worship? It looks more like the carved toy of a child. I do not believe that people 40,000 years ago were any less capable of carving wood then we are today. Especially a Soft looking wood like that.
2 Samuel 23:20 “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:”
I found and wonder the Lion man and Narasimha in Hindu and Elshaddai in Hebrew connection. Also, there was a king in Sumerian name Narasimha as well. Lion man may reflect level of consciousness had already developed.
Not only did they have to devote that many hours to making it instead of hunting/gathering, there were also many hours spent practicing such carvings to get to ones that look as precise and detailed as that one.
Good point. That implies that someone in the clan was charged with making these artifacts, and the others were committed to supporting that person full time.
I would love to hear about current research on the possible, likely probable, cultural & artistic exchanges that occurred between different humans. Cave art previously attributed to sapiens were recently attributed to Neanderthals. Denisovans likely produced highly refined jewelry and tools. They clearly interbred so it seems likely there was an exchange of mythology and art.
I've long thought modern humans and our older ancestors were not all too dissimilar.. if you ask people today 'why did you do that?', they often reply 'because I can' , and rhey did it for no orher reason but that they could, and so they did. And then everyone else reads something into it. Your videos are epic.
Yea no one is devoting the time it Took to make this item as just cuz meh they could….🙄🤷🏼♀️😂 The had little to no free time and hard harsh living…..Christ….think what you want, typical ignorant uneducated person assuming they of course know more so much more than someone that’s educated in these subjects. Well an uneducated opinion is about pointless and inane imo. So I guess dismiss all he’s said in the video and all the worlds experts have said on what it means and how amazing it is. To you it’s some, trinket someone made cuz they were bored 😂🙄🤡 I give up.
Very interesting! Thank you! I would definitely like to hear more about the way the human mind became what it is today, at if we stepped out of a cloud of animalistic behaviour into our modern conscious experience.
There are a few theories about this, and the consumption of fungi is something I’m hearing more about, although am not convinced that happened at this point. It may have come with a job in the complexity of speech. It is a very interesting time period.
@@Crecganford Thank you for replying Jon! I have also heard the theory about fungi being a catalyst, I agree this time period is fascinating. Your channel is fantastic because it gives us access to the layers which our modern minds seem to be built on through ancient stories, beliefs and language. I watch your videos about these old cultures and I feel I'm learning something about myself. You have done a fantastic job with this channel, I'm sure it's popularity is going to snowball.
@@Crecganford i think it was more simple: when our ancestors learned to light fire, and discovered that it made the meat easier to eat, it meant our brains got a bit more intake of nutrients, and it made the brain to develop more
