I find it so arrogant of modern man to think that Stone Age and Bronze Age people couldn’t make beautiful things or build monuments. The truth is that even with all their modern tools and machinery modern man cannot do better and that really pisses them off
Plus the obvious patience and persistence that making anything during those early eras required. Many many years ago I was at a 6th grade camp here in California’s Cuyamaca Mountains where we visited a well known native site. Surprisingly I found a nice complete quartz “bird” arrowhead that everyone marveled over. It apparently was scarce enough that the camp counselor stole it from the lil camp museum, even after she had written my name, date and where it was found for the display. The native artifacts I’ve found since stay exactly where I found them, though I sometimes cover them with a bit more dirt.
I know the first time I saw jewellery made by bronze and Iron Age people I was blown away . They made items so intricate that modern jewellers would have to use magnifying lenses to get the same result. I love learning about ancient societies not just the important people but also the ordinary people and their lives
The whole “Ancient Aliens” did it is soooo insulting to indigenous cultures/people, and please take note it’s ALWAYS non-ŵÿț archaeological sites that are accused of being built by said aliens; as if POC were incapable 🙄🙄🙄
Not just people of colour there was a time that some people said Stonehenge was built by giants because of course Stone Age people weren’t capable of moving such large stones and even now since we know that the blue stones come from Wales. And even the Egyptians had help designing and building the pyramids by Aleins.
For some mind-blowing Neanderthal art, visit the Nasher Sculpture Center's webpage and look up the exhibit "First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone" — the little bird is especially charming.
Also John Hawks discusses the "shell in the handaxe" in his blogpost "Ancient handaxes made from geodes."
And as for a Neanderthal monument, look up Bruniquel Cave in Wikipedia.
I find it so arrogant of modern man to think that Stone Age and Bronze Age people couldn’t make beautiful things or build monuments. The truth is that even with all their modern tools and machinery modern man cannot do better and that really pisses them off
I think we often underestimate the craftsmanship and engineering abilities of ancient societies.
Plus the obvious patience and persistence that making anything during those early eras required. Many many years ago I was at a 6th grade camp here in California’s Cuyamaca Mountains where we visited a well known native site. Surprisingly I found a nice complete quartz “bird” arrowhead that everyone marveled over. It apparently was scarce enough that the camp counselor stole it from the lil camp museum, even after she had written my name, date and where it was found for the display. The native artifacts I’ve found since stay exactly where I found them, though I sometimes cover them with a bit more dirt.
I know the first time I saw jewellery made by bronze and Iron Age people I was blown away . They made items so intricate that modern jewellers would have to use magnifying lenses to get the same result. I love learning about ancient societies not just the important people but also the ordinary people and their lives
The whole “Ancient Aliens” did it is soooo insulting to indigenous cultures/people, and please take note it’s ALWAYS non-ŵÿț archaeological sites that are accused of being built by said aliens; as if POC were incapable 🙄🙄🙄
Not just people of colour there was a time that some people said Stonehenge was built by giants because of course Stone Age people weren’t capable of moving such large stones and even now since we know that the blue stones come from Wales. And even the Egyptians had help designing and building the pyramids by Aleins.
For some mind-blowing Neanderthal art, visit the Nasher Sculpture Center's webpage and look up the exhibit "First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone" — the little bird is especially charming.
Also John Hawks discusses the "shell in the handaxe" in his blogpost "Ancient handaxes made from geodes."
And as for a Neanderthal monument, look up Bruniquel Cave in Wikipedia.
(Sorry, links aren't allowed in Notes)
Thanks for sharing! My youngest son is always asking about early tools. He'll love seeing this.
That makes my day. I hope he enjoys discovering how ingenious our ancestors were.