[Stones] Stone walkround video clip

[littlestone]

Hi Thelma

You say that, "Stones dragged for some considerable distance would have to have something special about them, its human nature to be creative."

I agree, but it is a quantum leap to endow that creativity by personifying it.

Our knowledge of Neolithic art (if it can be called art) shows that the artists were more concerned with the abstract, or representations of the animal kingdom, than of representations of the human form - especially representations of heads and faces; that particular obsession came much later under the influence of Greco-Roman art. Even today the portrayal of the human form takes second place in some cultures; for example it's really not of primary importance in Far Eastern art and practically non existent in Islamic art.

The fundamental flaw in the Heads in Stones idea is that it assumes that the builders of the henges were interested in portraying the human form -  that is a modern assumption stemming from Greco-Roman influences, not from the tradition the henge builders themselves belonged to.

There was a long running debate on the Stone's List a couple of years ago entitled Heads in Stones (or something similar) and that might be what jimit was referring to when he said 'simulacra' (though whether there's been a similar debate on TMA I do not know). It all got pretty acrimonious in the end I'm afraid (especially between Terence Meaden and myself) so please excuse me for not wanting to revive the argument. I'll just end by stating my position, which is that I remain totally unconvinced by Terence Meaden's arguments and reiterated that to him when he and I met in Avebury on Saturday.

Forgive me, but I'll say nowt more on the subject but will watch from the wings with interest if the debate flares up again ;-)

Best wishes.

LS
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