I once went to some cave with some ancient American Indian painting on it when I was in the Boy Scouts.
Some looked like dicks, and I joked with my Troop that I wonder if this “ancient sacred artifact sites” were actually just Paleo-Indian teenagers drawing dicks and asses on the cave walls while bored one night.
it’s more reasonable to assume that the meaning and context of those images was totally different than to project our own onto them. think about how much of our society there is in a teen drawing a dick on a wall. wall-drawing is forbidden. there’s even a special word for it that associates it with a countercultural art, if distantly. dicks are obscene and hidden, but nevertheless fascinating. teens are uniquely expected to both obey social rules and submit to the will of others. there’s no reason to take any of this as a given for early native american societies.
I once went to some cave with some ancient American Indian painting on it when I was in the Boy Scouts.
Some looked like dicks, and I joked with my Troop that I wonder if this “ancient sacred artifact sites” were actually just Paleo-Indian teenagers drawing dicks and asses on the cave walls while bored one night.
I think my theory still holds.
“Human nature doesn’t change” is often used as a thought-terminating cliche to justify the status quo but I think this is an actual case of it
“Teenagers be getting bored and doing shenanigans” is probably one of the safer and less harmful assumptions about human society throughout history.
it’s more reasonable to assume that the meaning and context of those images was totally different than to project our own onto them. think about how much of our society there is in a teen drawing a dick on a wall. wall-drawing is forbidden. there’s even a special word for it that associates it with a countercultural art, if distantly. dicks are obscene and hidden, but nevertheless fascinating. teens are uniquely expected to both obey social rules and submit to the will of others. there’s no reason to take any of this as a given for early native american societies.