How Art Made The World 人、艺术、世界 -04

And then came an even more exciting find, in a cave called Lascaux, a gallery of pictures of breathtaking beauty. As more and more paintings came to light, they revealed prehistoric¹ artists had painted with a confidence and skill that matched almost anything from the modern world. Pablo Picasso himself said, on first setting eyes on these pictures, we have learnt nothing.

And when experts began dating these paintings, there was another surprise. They found that we started creating images comparatively late in our human story. Let me show you what I mean. Let's imagine that the entire length of time that modern humans have been around on the planet is represented by these steps. People like you and me, the species known as Homo sapiens, we've been around for about 150,000 years. That's where I am now.

Biologically from then onwards, human beings didn't change. We had exactly the same brain as we have today. And yet, for more than 100,000 years, we didn't create any images. It wasn't until here, that's about 35,000 years ago, that something began to change.

Archeologists call it the Creative Explosion, the moment in time when people first began to create pictures.

So, what happened back then? Why did people suddenly decide to start creating images of the world around them?

Experts began searching for an answer, and their first explanation seems the obvious one. Today one of the main reasons that we make pictures is to create representations of things in the world around us. Surely, the experts said, thousands of years ago, prehistoric humans also had painted to create representations of things around them. But as more and more cave art was discovered, it became clear that this explanation was wrong. Because today artists create images of every aspect of the world that they live in. But back then, they created images of mostly one thing. Prehistoric artists were obsessed by animals, and not just any animals, but some in particular, like horses, bison and reindeer³.But why? What was it about these animals that so fixated the minds of our ancient ancestors?


Homo sapiens
(n.) The modern species of humans, the only extant species of the primate⁴ family Hominidae 智人(现代人的学名)
obsess
(v.) To preoccupy⁵ the mind of excessively. 迷住, 使困扰
fixate
(vt.) To make fixed⁶, stable, or stationary⁷. 使固定，使不动

1 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

2 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

3 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。

4 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

5 preoccupy   

vt.使全神贯注，使入神

参考例句：

• But at the moment he had other things to preoccupy him.不过当时有另外的事情分了他的心。
• An intelligent man considers the prospect of failure,but he doesn't preoccupy himself with pointless worry.一个聪明的男人可以预见到失败，但他绝不会去无谓地担心。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 stationary   

adj.固定的，静止不动的

参考例句：

• A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
• Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。