Kathy McDonald on sun 8 feb 04
Vince,
I agree with many of the important points
you make in your message below.
This thread seems to have sparked the interest
and musings of many in the crowd.
So it should...I often look at clay work
and it takes me to a place within myself that
wonders what was going through the creator's
mind, conscious and unconscious, when that process
of creating was occurring. When it comes to the ancient
stuff I always want to imagine that, a woman created
those fertility images, or,if she didn't, at least inspired
a man to create them! The power of a woman to inspire and create,
,,,,,,,,what more could we want...(rhetorical eh?)
One of the books that I think every person who has ever pondered
the question posed in this thread should read is a book entitled
"The Language of the Goddess, written by Maria Gimbutas. I will not
burden the list with a book review...but if you can access this book
do so.
Kathy
( now i won't get any pots thrown today.... I'll be re-reading the book!
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Vince
Pitelka
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 6:55 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: was the first potter a woman?
> I don't think it is presumptuous, life was hard, having children and
growing
> crops was necessary for the survival of the people, fertility figures
would
> have been part of the worship-religious-spirituality-whatever that they
> would have used to help promote life- children and food.
Sandy -
I should clarify. As you state, fertility figurines have always been very
important in ancient and tribal cultures. But 19th and early 20th century
archaeologists and anthropologists tended to refer to every female figurine
as a fertility figurine or fertility goddess, and I give ancient/tribal
women a lot more credit for that. In some cases the fertility aspects are
obvious, but in others they are not, and yet the figurines were still lumped
into the same category.
> and left their home and abandoned everything. The story was that the
female
> shaman-potter had died and when that happens the luck of the village dies.
> So the village had to relocate. I do not remember how they knew this,
but
I can well imagine such a scenario, but it could not possibly have had
anything to do with the earliest fired clay objects. As I stated in the
previous message, there were no villages during the Paleolithic era. The
primary issue that differentiates the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age, from
the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, was the transition from a nomadic
hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled agrarian farmer-herder lifestyle.
That marked the first appearance of villages. That transition occured at
different times in different parts of the world, but nowhere did it occur
earlier than 15,000 BC (in Japan), and yet the oldest fired clay items are
between 25,000 and 30,000 years old.
Certainly it makes sense that some of the very earliest fired clay items and
shards have been found in firepits, but nothing found there indicates
"village", and I cannot imagine how they could possibly have extrapolated
the concept of the deceased shaman.
Yes, it is miraculous what they can find out from a dig investigating an
ancient village culture, but there simply is very little that can be
discerned from excavating a 25,000-year-old firepit, other than some
analysis of the food they ate, the wood they burnt, and a few clay shards
from figurines or charms. There is so little information left from 25,000
years ago.
Most people ultimately believe what they need to or want to believe, which
is of course perfectly fine, but teachers and writers must be very careful
how they pass it on this information in books, magazines, workshops and
seminars. Altogether too often it is passed on as substantiated fact, when
it is anything but that.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
---
Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.577 / Virus Database: 366 - Release Date: 2/3/2004
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.577 / Virus Database: 366 - Release Date: 2/3/2004
| |
|
