The building blocks of art and its accompanying role and meaning

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The building blocks of art and its accompanying role and meaning
 
Creator Jones, Chris van den Heever, Juri
 
Subject Social Sciences evolution; art; Neanderthal; San; Cro-Magnon; early modern humans; Upper Palaeolithic
Description In this article, focusing on the building blocks of art with its concomitant role and meaning, we commence with a brief evolutionary overview of the origin of land vertebrates, which culminated in the rise of our species as we view it. We then review three iconic phases of human evolution, colloquially designated as the Neanderthals, the San and the Cro-Magnons, as manifested by their artistic endeavours. We are well aware that the Cro-Magnons are currently regarded as not sufficiently distinct from modern Homo sapiens to be separately designated. Therefore, the terms ‘anatomically modern humans’ (AMH) or ‘early modern humans’ (EMH) are suggested for these inhabitants of the Upper Palaeolithic as they shared an anatomical resemblance with us but still lacked the full complement of behavioural attributes that typify ourselves. This particular selection was chosen because these groups have partially overlapped historically, yet each represents a distinctive approach to the artistic impulse. Subsequently, we consider more contemporary developments regarding human art intertwined with our interpretation of art’s role and meaning. Then, we briefly discuss a broader account of the evolution of art in which these three phases are firmly based and through which our understanding of and engagement with the evolutionary development of these stages are elucidated and complemented. In conclusion, particular views about language and the role and meaning of art are confirmed. Particular views about language and the role and meaning of art are endorsed and supplemented by an extensive body of relevant literature.Contribution: This article explores the evolution of art and its accompanying role and meaning in an intersectional and interdisciplinary manner that fits well with the intention of this unique collection on the building blocks of our past, present and future and with the nature of this journal and our ongoing engagement with HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2022-06-23
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i2.7572
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 2 (2022); 9 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7572/22345 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7572/22346 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7572/22347 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7572/22348
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Chris Jones, Juri van den Heever https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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