Basic HTML Version
June-July, 1970
Th8
PLAIN TRUTH
Dots represent p rincipal sites where rema ins of Neanderthal Man hove been
found.
amazed.
They
realize Paleolithic Man,
as he is called, had a far more complex
mentality than is generally supposed.
Sorne of these facts are just being
discovered.
A researcher at Harvard's Peabody
Museum of Archaeology and Eth–
nology, Alexander Marshack, recently
published an article on sorne intriguing
studies of Cro-Magnon "art." He has
spent the last six years using new micro–
scopic techniques to re-examine pre–
historic art treasures of Europe. What
he discovered is astounding.
For example, Marshack studied the
Baton of Montgaudier.
It
is a clublike
staff of reindeer antier, about fourteen
and a half inches long.
It was presumed to be sorne sort of
ritual staff. The baton was superbly
engraved on both faces with many dif–
ferent kinds of i\.timals.
But Marshack's microscope revealed
the identity of even the smallest objects
- sorne only half an inch high. One
image looked "as though it might have
been engraved with the aíd of a jew–
eler's magnifying glass," said Marshack.
(Alexander Marshack, "The Baton of
Montgaudier,"
Natm·ai History,
Volume
LXXXIX, number 3, March, 1970,
page
58) .
One míght ask just how "primitive"
were these people? What is known
about prehistoric art weighs against the
idea that ancient man was brutish.
"Art carne with a burst," says Jobn
Pfeiffer, "in the sense that from the
very beginning
the record indudes
works performed in a rnature and e:stab–
lished style."
That is, there is no evolutionary
gradation from primitive art to sophisti–
cated art. The exarnples of art considered
the rnost ancient are refined and beauti–
ful works. There are no "transition"
forrns to be found. Of course, as usual,
evolutionists claim this is a "gap" in our
information.
"This does not mean that art actually
appeared fullblown, only that there is a
major gap in our knowledge" (John
Pfeiffer,
The Emergence of Man,
New
York: Harper and Row, 1969, page
220).
But is there really a "gap" in our
knowledge?
Oc
did art actually appear
rnature and highly developed - as the
record shows?
It
is dangerous to appeal
to supposed facts that are
yet
undis–
covered. What
is
discovered indicates
that sophisticated art did
suDDENLY
appear. That should be the condusion
until contrary facts are discovered, if
any!
Problems
With
Pictures
What about Cro-Magnon art?
The very sophistication and quality
of Paleolithic paintings at first caused