The Past We Can Never Return To – The Anthropocene Reviewed

Summary

This video features John Green reading a story from his podcast, 'The Anthropocene Reviewed,' where he reflects on the significance of ancient hand stencils found in the Lascaux caves of France. Green explores the timeless human desire to create art, drawing parallels between Paleolithic handprints and modern childhood art. He discusses the symbolism of these ancient artworks, pondering their spiritual and practical meanings. The video also highlights the preservation efforts made to protect the cave and the enduring impact of ancient art on contemporary human culture.

Takeaways

• 🐾 The video features a story from John Green's podcast, 'The Anthropocene Reviewed,' shared in a unique collaboration.
• ✋ Hand stencils are among the first figurative art made by children, and they hold deep emotional meaning for parents.
• 👶 Hand stencils, like those of his children, evoke the bittersweet passage of time and the growth of independence in kids.
• 🐕 In 1940, a French mechanic named Marcel Ravidat discovered the Lascaux cave with his dog, Robot, and uncovered ancient paintings.
• 🎨 The Lascaux cave features over 900 animal paintings, created 17,000 years ago with red, yellow, and black pigments.
• 🤲 The cave also contains 'negative hand stencils,' created by blowing pigment around hands pressed against the wall, found in caves worldwide.
• ❓ Mysteries surround the cave paintings: Why were no reindeer depicted, even though they were a key food source?
• 🖼️ Hand stencils serve as a profound reminder of the past, connecting modern humans with their ancestors across time and geography.
• ⚠️ Lascaux has been closed to protect the art from damage caused by modern visitors, but a replica cave, Lascaux II, allows tourists to experience it.
• ⏳ The story reflects on how fragile art and history are, and how efforts to preserve them remind us of our connection to the past.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The video discusses a story from John Green's podcast, 'The Anthropocene Reviewed,' focusing on the discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings and the significance of ancient hand stencils.

Who discovered the Lascaux cave paintings and when?

The Lascaux cave paintings were discovered in September 1940 by an 18-year-old mechanic named Marcel Ravidat and his friends, after his dog Robot disappeared down a hole.

What types of images are found in the Lascaux cave paintings?

The cave features over 900 paintings of animals such as horses, stags, bison, and extinct species like the woolly rhinoceros, as well as nearly 1,000 abstract shapes and hand stencils.

What method was used to create the cave paintings?

The cave paintings were made using red, yellow, and black paint derived from pulverized mineral pigments, which were blown onto the cave walls through narrow tubes, possibly hollowed bones.

Why are the hand stencils in the Lascaux cave particularly interesting to the narrator?

The narrator is fascinated by the hand stencils because they are simple yet powerful symbols of human presence, reminding us that ancient humans were as human as we are today, despite the differences in their world.

What challenges have arisen in preserving the Lascaux cave art?

The cave was closed to the public after modern human activity, including breathing inside the cave, led to the growth of mold and lichens, which damaged the art.

What does the narrator find hopeful about the discovery and protection of the Lascaux cave?

The narrator finds it hopeful that two teenagers were so moved by the beauty of the art that they camped outside the cave to protect it, and that modern humans later chose to stop visiting the cave to preserve it.

How did Picasso reportedly react to seeing the Lascaux paintings?

When Picasso saw the Lascaux cave paintings in 1948, he reportedly said, 'We have invented nothing,' acknowledging the sophistication of ancient art.

What is the significance of hand stencils across different cultures and time periods?

Hand stencils have been found in caves across the world, from Indonesia to Spain to Australia, spanning thousands of years, which suggests that this form of expression is universal and deeply rooted in human nature.

What does the narrator suggest about the relationship between art and humanity?

The narrator suggests that creating art is not optional for humans, even in harsh conditions, as ancient humans took the time to create beautiful art despite the challenges of survival.

Outlines

00:00

🖼️ The Timeless Art of Hand Stencils

The script begins with a departure from the norm, introducing a story read by John Green from his podcast, 'The Anthropocene Reviewed'. It delves into the universal practice of making hand stencils, a form of figurative art often initiated by children around the age of 2 or 3. The narrator reminisces about their own children's handprints, which evoke a bittersweet joy, symbolizing their growth and the inevitable distance from their parents. The narrative then takes a historical leap to 1940, recounting the discovery of the Lascaux cave by Marcel Ravidat and his friends, which contained over 900 ancient animal paintings and nearly a thousand abstract signs. These artworks, at least 17,000 years old, were created using mineral pigments and are shrouded in mystery regarding their purpose. The script also touches on the profound impact the cave had on its discoverers and the subsequent protective measures taken by the French government post-World War II. The story of Lascaux and its hand stencils serves as a poignant reminder of our shared humanity across the ages, despite the vast differences in our lives.

05:02

🌌 The Echoes of Paleolithic Art

The second paragraph continues the exploration of the Lascaux cave's art, focusing on the enigmatic hand stencils. The narrator speculates on the universality of these stencils across different Paleolithic cultures, suggesting a common human impulse towards artistic expression. Various theories are mentioned, including the possibility of these stencils being part of hunting rituals or simply a convenient model. The narrator finds personal meaning in these ancient prints, interpreting them as a testament to the enduring presence of humanity and a reminder of our shared history. The paragraph also discusses the Lascaux cave's closure to the public due to preservation concerns and the creation of Lascaux II, a replica cave with meticulously recreated artwork. The script concludes with a reflection on the paradoxical nature of human interaction with art, where the act of preservation sometimes requires creating facsimiles and the poignant realization that some aspects of the past are forever out of reach.

Keywords

💡Hand Stencils

Hand stencils refer to ancient artwork created by pressing a hand against a surface and blowing pigment around it, leaving a negative image of the hand. In the video, hand stencils are a symbol of human expression that transcends time and cultures. The narrator compares modern children's hand stencils with those found in caves, highlighting how this form of art connects present and past.

💡Lascaux Cave

The Lascaux Cave is a famous archaeological site in southwestern France, discovered in 1940. It contains over 900 prehistoric paintings of animals, some of which are now extinct. The video references this cave as an example of ancient human creativity, and the mystery surrounding the purpose of the art raises questions about how humans have always found time to make art despite survival challenges.

💡Paleolithic Humans

Paleolithic humans refer to the early people who lived during the Paleolithic era, which spans from about 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago. The video discusses how these early humans created detailed and expressive artwork, like the paintings in Lascaux Cave, despite their harsh living conditions, suggesting that art is an intrinsic part of human nature.

💡Picasso

Picasso, a famous 20th-century artist, is quoted in the video after visiting the Lascaux Cave and remarking, 'We have invented nothing.' This statement reflects the idea that the artistic expression seen in ancient cave paintings shares a deep connection with modern art, showing continuity in human creativity across millennia.

💡Anthropocene

The Anthropocene refers to the current geological era, marked by the significant impact of human activity on the Earth’s ecosystems. The video, linked to John Green’s podcast 'The Anthropocene Reviewed,' explores how human behaviors, like the decision to protect the Lascaux Cave from damage, reflect the influence we have on the world, both destructively and constructively.

💡Negative Handprints

Negative handprints are a form of prehistoric art where the outline of a hand is created by blowing pigment around it, leaving an empty space where the hand was. In the video, these handprints are found in many caves worldwide and are interpreted as a way for ancient humans to leave a mark of their existence, akin to saying, 'I was here.'

💡Hunting Rituals

Hunting rituals are speculated in the video as a possible reason for the animal paintings in the Lascaux Cave. Some academics believe that the cave paintings, especially those of animals, might have been part of rituals to ensure hunting success. This reflects how art could have served practical or spiritual purposes for ancient peoples.

💡Mortality

Mortality is a recurring theme in the video, especially in relation to the harshness of life during the Paleolithic era. The narrator mentions high death rates, such as 50% of children dying before age five, and how this reality shaped human life and art. The hand stencils, therefore, not only represent life but also the transient nature of human existence.

💡Imitation Cave

An imitation cave, like Lascaux II, is a replica created to preserve original cave art while allowing people to experience it. The video describes how modern humans built Lascaux II to protect the original cave from damage caused by too many visitors. This action highlights the paradox of preserving history by recreating it, a reflection of how we interact with the past in the Anthropocene.

💡Art as a Necessity

The video posits that art is not optional for humans, even in times of survival and hardship. Paleolithic humans, who lived without modern conveniences, still made time to create intricate cave paintings. This idea is central to the video's exploration of how art has been a fundamental part of human life throughout history, transcending basic survival needs.

Highlights

Introduction of a unique storytelling format featuring John Green's podcast, 'The Anthropocene Reviewed'.

Hand stencils as the first figurative art created by children between the ages of 2 and 3.

Emotional impact of children's handprint art as a record of their growth and independence.

The discovery of the Lascaux cave by Marcel Ravidat and the subsequent exploration with friends.

Description of the Lascaux cave's paintings, including over 900 detailed animal images.

The method of creating the cave paintings using pulverized mineral pigments.

The revelation that the Lascaux artworks are at least 17,000 years old.

The profound emotional response of the teenagers who discovered the cave, leading to their year-long protection efforts.

Post-World War II French government protection of the Lascaux cave and its opening to the public in 1948.

Picasso's visit and his statement, 'We have invented nothing', reflecting on the cave's art.

Mysteries surrounding the Lascaux cave, such as the absence of reindeer paintings and the focus on animals over humans.

Theories on the purpose of the paintings, whether spiritual or practical.

The significance of the 'negative hand stencils' and their global presence in ancient caves.

The hand stencils as a testament to the humanity and resilience of our Paleolithic ancestors.

The universality of the hand stencil motif across cultures and its psychological implications.

The Lascaux cave's closure to the public due to environmental damage from visitors.

The creation of Lascaux II, a replica cave, as a solution to preserve the original art while allowing public access.

Reflection on the hopefulness of human behavior in protecting and replicating the Lascaux cave art.

Acknowledgment of John Green's influence on Kurzgesagt and the broader educational content creation community.

Transcripts

Today we're doing something different.

Our friend John Green will read a story from his podcast, "The Anthropocene Reviewed".

We hope you enjoy it and we'll be back with a regular video,

Soon.

So if you've ever been or had a child, you will likely already be familiar with hand stencils.

They were the first figurative art made by both our kids somewhere between the ages of 2 and 3.

My children spread the fingers of one hand out across a piece of paper, and then with the help of a parent,

traced their five fingers.

I remember my son's face as he lifted his hand and looked absolutely

shocked to see the shape of his hand still on the paper - a semi permanent record of himself.

I am extremely happy that my children are no longer 3

and yet to look at their little hands from those early artworks is to be inundated with a strange,

soul splitting joy.

Those pictures remind me that they are not just growing up, but also growing away from me, running toward their own lives.

But of course that's meaning I am applying to their hand stencils and that complicated

relationship between art and its viewers is never more fraught than when we are looking deeply into the past.

In September of 1940, an 18 year old mechanic named Marcel Ravidat

was walking his dog Robot in the countryside of southwestern France, when the dog disappeared down a hole.

Robot eventually returned, but the next day Ravidat went to the spot with three friends to explore the hole and

after quite a bit of digging they discovered a cave with walls covered with paintings, including over

900 paintings of animals: horses, stags, bison and also species that are now extinct, including a woolly rhinoceros.

The paintings were astonishingly detailed and vivid with

red, yellow and black paint made from pulverized mineral pigments that were usually blown through a narrow tube,

possibly a hollowed bone, unto the walls of the cave.

It would eventually be established that these artworks were at least 17,000 years old.

Two of the boys who visited the cave that day were so profoundly moved by the art they saw,

that they camped outside the cave to protect it for over a year.

After World War II the French government took over protection of the site and the cave was open to the public in 1948.

When Picasso saw the cave paintings on a visit that year he reportedly said,

''We have invented nothing.''

There are many mysteries at Lascaux. Why, for instance, are there no paintings of reindeer,

which we know were the primary source of food for the Paleolithic humans who lived in that cave?

Why were they so much more focused on painting animals than painting human forms?

Why are certain areas of the cave filled with images, including pictures on the ceiling that required the building of scaffolding to create,

while other areas have only a few paintings?

And were the paintings spiritual -- "here are our sacred animals"?

Or were they practical -- "Here is a guide to some of the animals that might kill you"?

Aside from the animals, there are nearly a thousand abstract signs and shapes

we cannot interpret, and also several "negative hand stencils" as they are known by art historians.

These are the paintings that most interest me.

They were created by pressing one hand with fingers splayed against the wall of the cave and then blowing pigment,

leaving the area around the hand painted.

Similar hand stencils have been found in caves around the world, from Indonesia to Spain to

Australia to the Americas to Africa.

We have found these memories of hands from 15 or 30 or even 40 thousand years ago.

These hand stencils remind us of how different life was in the distant past.

Amputations likely from frostbite are common in Europe.

And so you often see negative hand stencils with three or four fingers. And life was short and difficult.

As many as a quarter of women died in childbirth; around 50% of children died before the age of five.

But they also remind us that the humans of the past were as human as we are.

Their hands indistinguishable from ours.

These communities hunted and gathered and there were no large caloric surpluses.

So every healthy person would have had to contribute to the acquisition of food and water, and yet somehow

they still made time to create art.

Almost as if art isn't optional for humans.

We see all kinds of hands stenciled on cave walls,

children and adults, but almost always the fingers are spread.

Like my kids' hand stencils.

I'm no Jungian.

But it's fascinating and a little strange that so many Paleolithic humans,

who couldn't possibly have had any contact with each other,

created the same paintings the same way --

paintings that we are still making.

But then again, what the Lascaux art means to me is likely very different from what it meant to the people who made it.

Some academics theorized that the hand stencils were part of hunting rituals.

Then there's always the possibility that the hand was just a convenient model situated at the end of the wrist.

To me, though,

the hand stencils at Lascaux say, "I was here." They say, "You are not new."

And because they are negative prints surrounded by red pigment, they also looked to me like something out of a horror movie.

Like ghostly hands reaching up from some bloody background.

They remind me that, as Alice Walker wrote, "All history is current."

The Lascaux cave has been closed to the public for many years now.

Too many contemporary humans breathing inside of it led to the growth of mold and lichens, which has damaged some of the art.

Just the act of looking at something can ruin it, I guess.

But tourists can still visit an imitation cave called Lascaux II, in which the artwork has been

meticulously recreated.

Humans making fake cave art to save real cave art may feel like peak Anthropocene behavior.

But I have to confess that even though I am a jaded and cynical

semi-professional reviewer of human activity,

I actually find it overwhelmingly hopeful, that four teenagers and a dog named Robot

discovered a cave with 17,000-year-old handprints, that the cave was so

overwhelmingly beautiful that two of those teenagers devoted themselves to its protection.

And that when we humans became a danger to that caves' beauty, we agreed to stop going.

Lascaux is there. You cannot visit.

You can go to the fake cave we've built, and see nearly identical hand stencils. But you will know

this is not the thing itself,

but a shadow of it.

This is a handprint,

but not a hand.

This is a memory that you cannot return to.

All of which makes the cave very much like the past it represents.

We hope you enjoyed this video even if it was different.

Check out John Green's podcast, "The Anthropocene Reviewed", where he poetically reviews the human world we live in.

John is a good friend of Kurzgesagt.

In fact without his channel, Crash Course, that he and his brother Hank started years ago,

Kurzgesagt would not exist, because it was the original inspiration for what we do today.

And over the years, John and Hank have helped us in a multitude of ways, from advice to just being friends.

So check out "The Anthropocene Reviewed" or any of their many channels.