Chauvet Cave by Clottes and Nine Lives by Dalrymple - Assignment Example

Chauvet Cave It, the Chauvet cave, is considered to be one of the oldest pre-historic sites in the world. It is found in Southern France. The history of a civilisation can be found in the art that is displayed in the cave. It is art that was done over thirty three thousand years ago. Its importance is based on factors like the quality of these paintings, and their great age. The cave offers a symbolism to the people who can either be connected to the cave paintings or are familiar with such art (Clottes, p. 23). Though just discovered in the year 1994, it has attracted many from far and wide. The art is simply something worth looking at. In Nine Lives, by Dalrymple, the people and places could be compared to the Chauvet Cave. This is in the sense that they all possess certain characteristics. The following paper will look into the comparisons between the cave and the places and people recounted in Nine Lives. In comparison, the cave and the places in India could share very many similarities. For example, the places in India have the same symbolism as the cave in Southern France. The people there look up to their land to find peace and a sense of belonging. They all can relate to the places they are in for it is their source of life. They are used to those places and cannot trade it for any other. In the cave during the early periods when the paintings were being done, the people went there to reveal themselves to the world (Clottes, p. 25). They could identify what it was that really mattered to them and paint on the walls of the cave. The history of people is embedded in the places they have stayed. Their roots are firmly tied to their place of origin. The art in the cave could bear huge similarities to the places in Nine Lives since the history of a civilisation are painted on the cave walls. The history of any people in a given place at a given period of time is very important. The story of their existence is also firmly told to the generations that follow (Curtis, p. 12). This way, the generations that come into being know of their origins, and they end up telling it to the next generations. In Nine Lives, India bears this symbolism. Another similarity is the way culture and tradition is being maintained. It is through all this that the culture of a people can go on without being eroded or corrupted. The preservation of the Chauvet Cave is done so as to keep the ways of certain people intact (Clottes, p. 27). These ways are often seen as pure and the interference of other ways and/or mannerisms could be very unhealthy. In Nine Lives, this is also seen with people keeping the traditions of their people alive through poetry, song and dance (performing arts). Moreover, the people of these areas are recognised through these works of art performed. It is through it that their spirit as a people comes alive. Through the cave art and/or paintings, the way of worship was recognised. The kind of gods they worshiped and the entire process. It is the same as in Nine Lives. The people’s form of worship was described to the people, how the sacrifices were made and the stages involved in it. This showed that in both these settings, communication to the people was made clear to them in cultural ways. This was to ensure that they were not forgotten through time (Guy, p. 25). However, the differences in the two are very distinct. The way and manner in which the cave paintings have been skilfully done is something to be admired. There is nothing naive about the art in the walls. This is unlike the ways and manner in which the people described by Dalrymple carry out their daily rituals. This cave represents the time taken by a certain group of people to relay a message to the people who will read it. The people of India as described in Nine Lives do not give a reason as to why and how the rituals come about and how the message meant for them is passed through (Curtis, p. 20). Also, the cave had the art preserved in a way that no one could tamper with the message it relayed. Unlike the people in India, the preservation of their culture through song, dance and poetry could have been easily eroded and forgotten (Dalrymple, p. 80). Even though maintaining their culture would be easy, time would have been a hindrance. This is because the people who strongly believed in these traditions might die, and thus lead to the erosion of their culture and tradition. Another difference could be the manner in which the message is trying to be relayed. One is through dance, poetry and songs. This is different since the other method is through painting where people are supposed to think about what the painter wanted to portray in the different pieces they might have put together (Dalrymple, p. 85). These two mediums of communication, though separated in time, communicate the same message to the people who are interested in what they are relaying. The involvement of people in matters that are related to their roots and traditions should be considered to be of great importance (Dalrymple, p. 87). These traditions and cultural identities should be preserved for the betterment of all those who need to know about their origins or the origins of another people. In conclusion, it is very clear to see that the two areas discussed above both relate to the same thing. This is the preservation of age old practices that have long been forgotten due to the passing of time. People’s minds have been eroded and corroded with the modern form of living that is associated with today’s world. It is for this reason that the forms of preservation of culture were introduced. These included, paintings, dancing, writing of poetry, and the performing of songs all around. Works cited Clottes, J. Chauvet Cave: The Art of Earliest Times. Utah: Utah University Press, 2003. Print. Curtis, G. The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 2006. Print. Dalrymple, W. Nine Lives. London: Bloomberg Publishers, 2009. Print. Read More