A scene in “Eclipsed by Shadow” involves a prehistoric horse hunt, with man as the predator. This hunting scene took place in the same era that prehistoric cave paintings were being created, art still visible to us in places like the amazing caves of Lascaux, France. Even in prehistoric times we have Man the predator … and Man the artist.
Are these the same Man?
Much cave art is utilitarian and crude. Only a few “works” stand out … could it be some artists saw the horse differently — as something to be admired and approached for qualities beyond that of mere food?
If so, the artist’s path was not quickly taken: mankind crouched and crept through his world for many thousands of years, scrounging a life as both predator and prey. Yet eventually, somehow, the idea of using horses for limited work prevailed, and later the concept of the horse as a partner opened possibilities unknown by our distant ancestors.
It would be hard to argue with the primitive hunter “in the moment.” There is clearly a meal on the hoof, it tastes good: an undefeatable argument. It was a limited, self-serving failure of an argument … but undefeatable at the time! The use of horses cannot happen if your fellow caveman simply kills them.
It mirrors the age-old problem of progress, of mankind bound by its own ignorance and short-term, “greedy” impulses. We have left the caves, but this basic conflict still echoes.
Still, there was a moment when a human didn’t kill a horse he was able to. People did begin to stop hunting/killing horses, and learned better ways of being.
The artists saw the horse as something other than quarry. Art can truly be a window into new reality.
Another outcome …
Strangely, even the best cave art discovered in North America is more crude and hunter-focused than that found in caves of Europe. Illustrated animals in cave art of North America are usually depicted being pierced by arrows.
Horses evolved in North America, but disappeared long before European settlers arrived … and evidence suggests equines may have been hunted to extinction by natives. If so, whether resisted by a more ‘artistic’ view or not, heedless hunting had its way.
Horse-using cultures outstripped others in the development of civilization — American natives were overrun by people who had benefited from their association with the horse. What difference might horse domestication have made to the cultures of the native American had the horse survived … if, perhaps, the artists had won?
There are too many generalizations to make a point, only a question…
