ISSN 2499-1341 EXPRESSION quaterly e-journal of atelier in cooperation with uispp-cisnep. international scientific commission on the intellectual and spiritual expressions of non-literate peoples N°23 MARCH 2019 THE AGES OF MEMORY, THE MEMORY OF AGES EDITORIAL NOTE THE AGES OF MEMORY, torical source, they are not necessarily direct testimo- THE MEMORY OF AGES ny of facts: they are offering to us the memories and elaborations of human minds probably inspired by How old is our memory? Each nation or tribe remem- facts. The core is hidden behind the tales, which are bers the story of its origins, its fathers, its patriarchs, its fundamental raw material for historical reconstruc- heroes, and its crucial events. The traditional stories of tion. They are revealing remembrances associated with the inhabitants of a small Pacific island, the genealog- people’s beliefs. ical tales of an African chieftain, the cult of ancestors In a rock art site in northern Australia there is the fig- in a mountain village of the Andes and the myth of ure of a totemic animal, in front of which several deep origins of Eskimo fishermen in the Arctic are all chap- cups for offerings are carved on the rock floor. The an- ters of the common heritage that makes up the iden- imal figure consists of several painted lines completing tity of the human species, that gives us the dimension the natural shapes of the rock surface. It is the image of being what we are. What is the dimension of our of an elephant, an animal that never existed in Aus- memory? Our individual memory is part of the family, tralia. The painted lines have several coats of paint and ethnic or national memories that, combined together, repaint; the oldest may be over 40,000 years old. The constitute the memory of our species. The individual cave is still considered to be a holy site and the image memory of each one of us, together with the collective was still worshipped in the 1970s. This animal figure memory of linguistic and ethnic groups, tribes, nations, is the memory of something seen elsewhere, in an- and countries makes up the memory of humankind: it other continent, before its makers’ arrival in Arnhem is our common legacy, the core of culture. What would Land. When was the last time an Aboriginal ancestor humanity be without this memory? saw an elephant? The memory may go back thousands Memory has different ages, as expressed by an Abo- of years. riginal elder of Arnhem Land, and all the ages of the Historical memory is idealized and synthesized, thus past make the present (Guardare l’invisibile, Atelier, turning into myths. And myths become part of the 2018): “What white-men call myths are memories of oral tradition, transmitted from generation to genera- the Dreamtime”. tion. Our individual memory follows similar process- The mythologies of at least three continents tell the es, eliminating parts, magnifying others, and idealizing story of a universal flood. They are probably the elab- certain aspects. Memory is accompanied by imagina- oration of memories of natural events that took place tion and other mental operations which reshape it. over 12,000 years ago. Myths about the ancestor that Figurative art, both objects of mobile art and rock art, discovered how to light a fire are common in four con- are the graphic records of memory, metamorphosed tinents and are likely to go back thousands of years. into visual concepts, attuned to senses and feelings. Myths about a great migration that ended up with Pleasure and displeasure, joy and pain, grace and dis- the settling down of the people in their promised land grace, wishes and hopes, give shape to memory. The are present in at least three continents and often be- graphic results, formed by memory plus other ingre- long to populations that have been in their land for dients, are the testimony of processes of the human ages. Bantu mythology in southern Africa includes the mind. migration of ancestors which took place some 2,000 When prehistoric art is decoded, it becomes an im- years ago. Biblical mythology includes an exodus from mense and invaluable source in itself. But an addi- Egypt to the land of Canaan, which may have taken tional step may be made by attempting to use the place well over 3,000 years ago. It also includes tales effect, the document or depiction we have in order about patriarchs that may go further back in time. The to reconstruct the cause of its creation: what did actu- memory of ancient episodes was transmitted orally for ally happen, what were the reasons that brought about centuries, often enriched by generations of storytell- the production of the document that has reached us, ers, before being put into writing. As any other his- and what story does it tell? “This is not the task of 2 EXPRESSION N° 23 archaeology!” Right! It is the task of conceptual an- EDITORIAL NOTE thropology. Archaeology has the very important role of providing the findings, the testimony, and the raw EXPRESSION magazine is published by Atelier Re- material for conceptual anthropology. search Center in cooperation with UISPP-CISENP, Our memory is as old as the first graphic marks. The the International Scientific Commission on the Intel- graphic heritage left behind by the hands and minds lectual and Spiritual Expressions of Non-literate Peo- of peoples in five continents in the last 50,000 years ples of the UISPP (Union International des Sciences is a unique and precious archive of the conceptual ad- Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques, International Un- ventures of humankind. It is the treasury of the as yet ion of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences). The goal unwritten history of what is still considered prehis- of EXPRESSION is to promote dialogue, knowledge, tory. Each small story, each detail of an event, myth and ideas concerning the intellectual and spiritual ex- or concern that emerges from the decoding of a por- pressions of non-literate societies. It is an open forum tion of this immense archive is a step toward making in conceptual anthropology. Colleagues having some- history out of prehistory. It is a chapter added to the thing pertinent to say will find space in this e-maga- recovery of the past. And recovering the past leads to zine, which is reaching people of culture and academic understanding the present, understanding who we are. institutions in over 70 countries. Papers should have We are the effect of what we were. We are the effect precise goals, conceived for this kind of audience, and of our memory. Recovering details of the memory re- possibly be well illustrated. Letters on current topics corded in these ancient archives that had been forgot- and short notes are welcome and may be included in ten for ages is the role of culture and also marks its the Discussion Forum section. progress. The future is built on the past. Wisdom is Authors are responsible for their ideas and for the in- built on understanding the past. Scholars and students formation and illustrations they submit. Publication can make exceptional contributions to building up a in EXPRESSION quarterly journal does not imply still non-existent world history covering the periods that the publisher and/or the editors agree with the of the human adventure since the earliest examples of ideas presented. Papers are submitted to reviewers for figurative art. When there is figurative art, there is his- their evaluation, but controversial ideas, if they make tory: history is there, hidden in the graphic messages sense, are not censured. New ideas and concepts are of the past, waiting to be decoded. And it has to be welcome; they may awaken debates and criticism. decoded. Time will be their judge. EXPRESSION is a free jour- A fundamental role of the scholar in the human scienc- nal, not submitted to rhetorical and formal tradition- es is to offer new chapters of the past to culture. Each al regulations. It offers space to controversial issues, new acquisition is a step forward. This issue of EX- healthy realistic debates, and imaginative and creative PRESSION presents a few contributions to achieving papers, if they are conceptually reliable and respect this goal. Friends and colleagues are cordially invited the integrity and dignity of authors, colleagues, and to think of other specific or general pertinent topics readers. and submit their papers to a forthcoming issue of EXPRESSION. ‘The ages of memory, the memory of ages’ remains an open topic, to be further considered in forthcoming issues. Every student in prehistoric and tribal art, or in my- thology, religion, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, ethnology, anthropology or archaeology has the po- tential to say something on this topic. We looking for- ward to hearing from you. E.A. Front page: what kind of memory, what kind of message is conveying this object, whic has snakes like features in one side and spirals in the other side? (From Mal’ta, Sibe- ria; see Lbova et al. in this issue). 3 EXPRESSION N° 23 of vegetarian food-collectors, or how the conceptual content and the syntactic structure of rock art changed DISCUSSION with the introduction of the bow and arrow. The arrival of new ethnic groups has changed the cul- FORUM tures of the Americas, Australia, and many other cor- The Discussion Forum invites readers to be active ners of the planet. The succession of different thematic protagonists in debates of worldwide interest in horizons in the rock art sequences of Tanzania, Spain, Conceptual Anthropology. Azerbaijan, Madhya Pradesh (India), Arnhem Land (Australia, NT), or Serra da Capivara (Brazil, Piaui) reveals the dimension of cultural changes in early hu- CULTURAL CHANGES: man societies in five continents.