The oldest example of cave art has been discovered on an Indonesian island and dated back 51,200 years.
  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    “This find reinforces the idea that representational art was first produced in Africa, before 50,000 years ago, and the concept spread as our species spread.

    Representational art arising first in Africa seems plausible, but how does finding art a quarter of the way around the world reinforce that location specifically?

      • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        I’m sure the thinking is that art appearing in both Europe and Indonesia suggests that they both inherited it from their common ancestors in Africa.

        But when the earliest art was thought to have been European, the idea that art first appeared in Europe and spread from there via cultural diffusion was considered a reasonable hypothesis. Now that earlier art has been found outside Europe, the flip scenario—that art spread from Indonesia to Europe via cultural diffusion instead of shared ancestry—isn’t even mentioned.

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyzEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Pigs are the original artist’s muse.

      Well… that seems accurate, in the light of Ancient Greek slang. Like using χοῖρος/khoîros “pig” to refer to the vagina.

      [Sorry. I couldn’t resist being pedantic and vulgar at the same time.]