Prehistoric artists were shot to create their cave paintings?

One study puts forward a daring hypothesis to explain the sometimes strange images of parietal paintings buried at the bottom of caves: Palaeolithic men may have drawn them to another state. And that too, without any hallucinations! the explanation.

It is common knowledge that many artists built under the influence of their major works Medicine. Van Gogh Soaked in Angel, Charles Boudelaire indulges in hashish and opium, while Francis Picabia creates his psychedelic paintingNightmare due to opiates. Not to mention LSD which was all the rage in the 1950s in the artistic world.

However, this practice goes much further. And for prehistoric men too if we believe Yafit Kedar, Tel Aviv University researcher and author of a study published on 31 March Time and Mind: Journal of Archeology, Consciousness and Culture. According to his hypothesis, humans have painted images Caves in the Palaeolithic (Between 50,000 and 12,000 years) were not in their normal state when they were formed due to deficiencyOxygen. To venture deep into the caves, they had to light with torches, which, by consuming oxygen, induced the condition ofHypoxia In brain. Or, l ‘Hypoxia Increases production Dopamine, Which would have drowned the cave painters ” Feeling, in a changed state of consciousnessexcitement, Body experience and maybe even Nightmare », Writes Yafit Kedar with his co-authors. These experiences would have helped them. ” Deep level of creativity “And” To make connections with the universe »

Access to “spiritual experiences”

On the basis of this bold hypothesis, the configuration of the cave is questioned. During a visit to the European caves, Yafit Kedar was killed by a painting drawn in almost inaccessible places. ” Why [ces hommes] Did they go for a mile inside, in such isolation, in the dark? These caves are scary, with narrow passages », She says in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Hataraj. He then realized that in these poorly ventilated places, he felt an astonishment, which caused hallucinations and helped him reach “spiritual experiences”. ” This may partly explain the reason why prehistoric humans painted pictures where no one can see them naturally. », Yafit Kedar’s suit.

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To support his hypothesis, Kedar and his colleagues’ computers simulated the effect of torches on oxygen concentrations in enclosed spaces such as paleolithic caves, and found that the narrow drop in oxygen levels in the hallways and passages is less than 18%, Which is known to have a threshold. Induces hypoxia in humans. This may explain some bizarre shapes, whose inspiration seems more symbolic than figurative. ” We usually see the pattern repeating rock art, Which are indicative of a Intention communication Is rather purely decorative », Confirmed in the newspaper Hataraj David Whitley, an expert on ethnography and rock art, who was not involved in the study. The panel of horses in the Chauve Cave in France, with its succession of 21 figures, is a good example.

Communicate with the “spirit of the cave”

Of course, early humans had no idea of ​​the scientific explanation behind it. Instead of his position, he may have attributed his isolation to the nature of the cave. ” The idea is that they entered [ndlr : dans les entrailles des grottes] Because they believed that there was something like spirits in the walls, Avens Yfit Kedar. So they agreed to go to the cave »

The article also cites other examples of civilizations that depicted magical powers in caves. Thus the people of Mesopotamia believed that after death, the soul leaves the body and descends to an underground world through a crack in the ground. The Cherokees saw the caves and crevices as portals to another world, the author explains Hataraj.

This hypothesis clearly does not hold for well-ventilated caves with wide openings. We cannot advise you very much against breeding Laskacs Cave in your poorly ventilated basement. You are risking unconsciousness rather than just artwork.

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