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Down to the last detail: How our ancestors with autistic traits led a revolution in Ice Age art
University of York ^ | Tuesday, May 15, 2018 | Department of Archaeology

Posted on 06/03/2018 10:16:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

The ability to focus on detail, a common trait among people with autism, allowed realism to flourish in Ice Age art, according to researchers at the University of York. Around 30,000 years ago realistic art suddenly flourished in Europe. Extremely accurate depictions of bears, bison, horses and lions decorate the walls of Ice Age archaeological sites such as Chauvet Cave in southern France. Why our ice age ancestors created exceptionally realistic art rather than the very simple or stylised art of earlier modern humans has long perplexed researchers. Many have argued that psychotropic drugs were behind the detailed illustrations. The popular idea that drugs might make people better at art led to a number of ethically-dubious studies in the 60s where participants were given art materials and LSD. The authors of the new study discount that theory, arguing instead that individuals with "detail focus", a trait linked to autism, kicked off an artistic movement that led to the proliferation of realistic cave drawings across Europe. Lead author of the paper, Dr Penny Spikins from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, said: "Detail focus is what determines whether you can draw realistically; you need it in order to be a talented realistic artist. This trait is found very commonly in people with autism and rarely occurs in people without it. "We looked at the evidence from studies attempting to identify a link between artistic talent and drug use, and found that drugs can only serve to disinhibit individuals with a pre-existing ability. The idea that people with a high degree of detail focus, many of which may have had autism, set a trend for extreme realism in ice age art is a more convincing explanation."

(Excerpt) Read more at uknews70.wordpress.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: autism; caveart; cavedrawings; cavepainting; cavepaintings; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals
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Detailed illustrations of lions painted in the Chauvet Cave. Wikimedia Commons

Detailed illustrations of lions painted in the Chauvet Cave. Wikimedia Commons

1 posted on 06/03/2018 10:16:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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This all more or less rang a bell — turns out that, of course, Neandertal genes have been blamed for autism in moderns, but have also been cited as a supposed reason that moderns had a different descent (IOW, that the Neandertal genes indisputably found in living populations got there some other way).

http://www.google.com/search?q=autism+neandertal


2 posted on 06/03/2018 10:18:45 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

3 posted on 06/03/2018 10:19:36 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

Humans couldn’t have advanced without some millennial post-modern nonsense added to ancient thought even ‘fore it was thunk up.


4 posted on 06/03/2018 10:22:49 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: SunkenCiv

30,000 years ago, or up to 40,000 years ago. That’s a long-long way back for humans. And yet the art in some of these cave paintings is surprisingly sophisticated.

It’s really quite remarkable, when you think about it. The concept of representing something from the real world that is three-dimensions with a drawing on a two-dimensional surface. The very idea of outlining a creature to represent its boundaries is pretty abstract. When did that idea of abstract representation of real objects first occur? How did the idea spread?


5 posted on 06/03/2018 10:26:22 AM PDT by Flick Lives (Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Besides cave art, being patiently detail oriented is probably necessary to making arrows and other necessary tools.

A tribe which had good makers of tools and weapons had a big advantage.


6 posted on 06/03/2018 10:33:43 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor (Socialists want YOUR wealth redistributed, never THEIRS!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Down to the last detail: How our ancestors with autistic traits led to the formation of the democrat party


7 posted on 06/03/2018 10:34:37 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: Flick Lives

[[How did the idea spread?]]

Via the NYT’s


8 posted on 06/03/2018 10:35:10 AM PDT by Bob434
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To: SunkenCiv

These take a minute. Hastily drawn stick figures indicate not a lot of time for such frivolity as detail. Someone with a full belly noticed the common stick figures didn’t really look like the depicted animal. He noticed depth and perspective. He spent some time expressing his detailed observations. That’s all they are. The artist had time for more than hunting and gathering. Maybe he was too noisy in the woods and would scare the game, so they left him in the cave. Just observations here, but you could go a long way before blaming autism.


9 posted on 06/03/2018 10:39:23 AM PDT by bk1000 (I stand with Trump)
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To: SauronOfMordor
I wholeheartedly agree. Also, the length of time those stone-knapping techniques persisted says something about ttheir social cohesion and organization.

10 posted on 06/03/2018 10:39:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Flick Lives
And they did it in the dark, in "a world lit only by fire".

A related question is, did the idea spread from a single location?
In her Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology, Mary Settegast reproduces a table which shows four runic character sets; a is Upper Paleolithic (found among the cave paintings), b is Indus Valley script, c is Greek (western branch), and d is the Scandinavian runic alphabet.
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

11 posted on 06/03/2018 10:41:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: bk1000
Just observations here, but you could go a long way before blaming autism.

Who's placing "blame" on autism? I didn't see anything in the article where "blame" was indicated.

12 posted on 06/03/2018 10:44:48 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Wonderful theory, wrong species)
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To: Flick Lives

Life back then was a trip everyday without anything
An you imagine life then ?


13 posted on 06/03/2018 10:45:05 AM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guvmint you get is the Trump winning express !)
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To: SauronOfMordor

Or even just one, from whom the others could learn. I’ve definitely noticed that the most talented toolmakers I’vecome across have what could be called “autistic” traits.


14 posted on 06/03/2018 10:47:38 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: SunkenCiv

When your entire known universe is confined to your tribe, one individual, of unique ability, is a miraculous asset.


15 posted on 06/03/2018 10:49:43 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I failed to believe that “attention to detail” is strictly under the purview of autism.


16 posted on 06/03/2018 10:50:23 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: Trailerpark Badass

Monomaniacal focus has a definite place in society and is very useful, just not in social situations, not at all. In times past such individuals were merely eccentric and were by and large accepted as such, but now it’s been pathologized and drugged. Can’t have any variance from the perceived “norm,” which is hilarious coming from people who reject “normative” anything.


17 posted on 06/03/2018 10:51:02 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: SunkenCiv

supposedly Neanderthal genes play a major part in modern humans’ immune systems:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thank-neanderthals-your-immune-system-180957761/


18 posted on 06/03/2018 10:51:04 AM PDT by catnipman ((Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!))
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To: Flick Lives

It’s the spark of genius, that little bit of Himself that resides in each of us.


19 posted on 06/03/2018 10:51:33 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: fruser1
I failed to believe that “attention to detail” is strictly under the purview of autism.

Depends on what your definition of "autism" is.

20 posted on 06/03/2018 10:55:38 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Wonderful theory, wrong species)
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