Shamanic Art in the Twentieth Century.
The History of Shamanism
The History of Shamanism
To uncover more about Shamanism and its art forms, we need to look at its historical context, and the concepts portrayed by the early shamen to help them activate their trances.
The Neolithic Era
Shamanism has been around as long as people. Our earliest evidence comes from the rock art discovered in France. The artworks found in the cave of Chauvet-Pont D'Arc dating to 30,000 BC and the in the cave of Lascaux dating to 17,000 BC are two of the earliest examples of petroglyphs (rock art or sculpture)
A horse emerging from the rock in the cave of Chauvet-Pont D'Arc.
Abstract Rock Art appearing in the Petrified National Forest, Arizona.
discovered so far. The petroglyphs depict both simple geometric forms such
as dots, lines, chevrons and spirals, and more complex forms such as animals,
human and human-animal hybrids. They were created using charcoal and clay
and are quite sophisticated. They use
the natural form of the cave wall to emphasise certain characteristics and
are highly stylised. The geometric forms are symbols used by the shaman
in their trances: The spiral, a symbol for life, the chevrons indicating
movement, the dots indicating being etc.
These symbols could have hooked into a shaman's mind and helped him direct
himself on a particular
shamanic journey. The animal and human depictions would have given him access
to the powers of the spirits, for example the abundance and strength of
cave bears or the courage of lions. With the keys to his travels into the
otherworld on the walls of his cave, the shaman of Chauvet or Lascaux could
control and direct his journeying.
