So as I’m
writing this blog, I realized that I messed up on the assignment; the previous
blog was specifically meant to focus on Marjorie Shotak’s documentary of Nisa
and her egalitarian lifestyle. I
probably should have realized that the documents greatly contrasted one another, and
as a result I may not have many insightful thoughts to fuel this particular
blog. To paraphrase on the material covered for this assignment, author Robert
Strayer went on to site other worldly anomalies that surfaced from the
Paleolithic period and how vexing and complicated our current understandings
are of their world. His examples
included the mysterious cave paintings that depict humanoid animals and symbolic
markings adjacent to the artwork, sculptures and artifacts that resemble
stoical deities and communal inventory outside of gathering and hunting, and he
also included structures and buildings like Stonehenge. Many of his examples all have a specific
element in common; despite their existence of a life before our modern
civilizations, confirming the exact detail of the history within these
discoveries continue to be elusive. Most
of these discoveries after many educated speculations; however, the overall
consensus to these mysteries are concluded as just that—a speculation. We will never completely understand what life
was truly like in those days without something as reliable as written text from
the primary sources.
When
comparing the sources between Nisa’s story and these Paleolithic discoveries, I
felt that the actual artifacts were more useful than the credibility of Nisa’s
documentary. I was not able to verify or
consider her material of whether or not she was truly an egalitarian descendent
from the Paleolithic era. I believe she
gave an excellent analogy (or glimpse) of what that lifestyle would be like;
however, with all of the transitions between different timelines, I find it
difficult to believe that her lineage would keep to themselves—this would have
phased them out if they were not able to adapt to their surrounding
environment. There were no mentions of
other egalitarians that lived within proximity to Nisa, the documents were more
concerned with her day to day life. I
also find that the artifacts and discoveries would prove to be more accurate;
many of the materials would undergo carbon-dating in order to discover the
approximate age of the item. These items
in my opinion have more of a direct contact within the Paleolithic communities;
as a result, these direct contacts would be closer in relation to the people
who’ve actually used the artifacts when compared to a present time person that
honors the traditions of her ancestors.
Considering
all the years of research without conclusive evidence to the purpose of these
findings, a part of me believes that this period would continue to stand the
test of time. Perhaps the generations
after our living years will create technology that could better analyze the
current findings, and optimistically find some innovative minds to discover a
new perspective and solution to these historical mysteries. I also would like to believe like Strayer
that the Paleolithic inhabitants were truly egalitarian. I believe that if there was a world of
gathering and hunting people who regarded everybody as equal, perhaps our
society and other cultures could implement this level of equality and contribute
to improve the synergy among one another.
While I do approve of some standards of leadership in the presence of a
crisis, I believe self entitlement and hierarchies are what have severely crippled
the spiritual evolution of mankind. The
fight should be for the survival of the external forces that threaten the
community, not with each other, and especially not for the exploitation of
others for personal gain. So with this
romantic view of Paleolithic people and how they knew how to live when compared
to the modern human being, I found that a part of me agrees and hopes that
Strayer is correct with his view. If we
harnessed the ability to regard everybody as equals before, then I can find
hope that we can still live harmoniously in today’s world.
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