' Where the wild things are
In the late 1940’s archaeologist Sir Grahame Clark was contacted by an amateur archaeologist from Scarborough called John Moore after Moore had made some interesting finds around the area south of Star Carr Farm. Clark was a lecturer of archaeology at the University of Cambridge, specialising in the European Mesolithic era (Old Stone Age) . The resulting archaeological digs produced the famous antler headdresses that we now associate with Star Carr.
The antler headdresses were labelled as such because these objects Clark felt were similar to the headdresses documented in the 17th Century records of the dutch explorer Nicolaes Witsen. Witsen had made observations of the tribes of Siberia and the records included a drawing of a Siberian Shaman banging a drum, wearing the clothes of an animal and is himself becoming an animal in the drawing. Upon the Shamans head in the picture is an antler headdress with an exposed skull top and Witsen illustrates holes similar to the holes found on the Star Carr Headdress, a devise that allowed the headpiece to be worn. These worked holes are what Clark identified these objects as objects of purpose, as objects intended for use and not simple deer remains.
To understand their use we need to understand what the role of a shaman is . A shaman is usually described as a witch doctor, a medicine man, the tribal priest, a wizard or a witch, and although the earliest known written records of Shaman don’t go beyond the 17th century there is a general consensus among those who study human behaviour that the role of the shaman is very old, that it is common across the world and that the role reflected a basic human need.
Anthropologists discuss Shamanism and activities that have a common identity to Shamanism that have evolved in isolation in groups often scatted in remote areas of the world. The role of the shaman is given by anthropologists as a common example of how human beings evolve the same techniques for understanding the world, developed independently from other groups of people. Our ancestors needed the activities of a Shaman to make sense of the world, or to bring meaning to it, and a working template of this ancient role could still be found being used in remote areas of Siberia as documented by Witsen. Did the isolated community make these headdresses to help them make sense of the world around them or did they make them for another purpose?
The headdresses found as at Star Carr helped underpin the theory that Shamanism is one of the most archaic of all the human spiritual based activities. These headdresses were discarded and deposited in the ancient Lake Flixton which Star Carr community lived beside, maybe as part of a ritual, it is interesting that the discarded headdresses now have a new use helping us to understand ancient spiritual practices and the spiritual needs of our ancestors. Even in the old Stone Age humans wanted an explanation to why we are here.
“At the heart of scholarly fascination with what we call Shamanism lies an unease. In British culture there is no public role which it’s qualities could be given expression or even discussed. Far from being socially valued, the activities of a a shaman is not socially respectable and in general not recognised at all.” Ronald Hutton
What a Shaman actually did was not clear, which i guess is part of the enigma. The Shaman's authority is based on his/her personal experience and told in their stories of their trials and travels. Shamans are said to have been the first story tellers and their stories are designed to put your mind in accord with nature and with what is natural.
In the 1960’s children’s book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak, a standard Shamanic cultural role is used as a device to tell the children’s story. The child Max who, after dressing in his animal costume, wreaks havoc throughout the house and is sent to bed without his supper. Max makes his bedroom undergo a mysterious transformation and he winds up sailing to a place inhabited by beasts known as the "Wild Things." Max is hailed as the king of the Wild Things and they all enjoy a playful romp together. However, he starts to feel lonely and decides to return home. Upon returning to his bedroom, Max discovers a hot supper waiting for him at home.
We feel happier when we spend time being curious, it’s one of the driving forces of nature. Another driving force behind nature is the compulsion to avoid threats, and this impulse is hardwired into our thoughts as what is described as a ‘negativity bias’; our feelings tell us that it is better to avoid threats and survive even if it means we miss out on experience. Our instinct encourages us to sometimes assume the worst and your ‘inner critic’ is the voice of your negativity bias always paying it safe. However as children, when the world was a magical place, we freely used curiosity without fear of shyness or cynicism. This is called peak experience, an experience of wonder of a world that cannot easily be expressed in our usual language. This I see expressed in the Star Carr headdresses, and in their wildness. Their wildness helps illustrate why it is impossible to be curious and unhappy at the same time. Maybe that’s why they have become so poplar?
“ True wildness is to delight in nature, with a free voice free to say and love spontaneous things, to have an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown”. -Robert Bly
Have a Happy New Year
DavWhiteArt
The antler headdresses were labelled as such because these objects Clark felt were similar to the headdresses documented in the 17th Century records of the dutch explorer Nicolaes Witsen. Witsen had made observations of the tribes of Siberia and the records included a drawing of a Siberian Shaman banging a drum, wearing the clothes of an animal and is himself becoming an animal in the drawing. Upon the Shamans head in the picture is an antler headdress with an exposed skull top and Witsen illustrates holes similar to the holes found on the Star Carr Headdress, a devise that allowed the headpiece to be worn. These worked holes are what Clark identified these objects as objects of purpose, as objects intended for use and not simple deer remains.
To understand their use we need to understand what the role of a shaman is . A shaman is usually described as a witch doctor, a medicine man, the tribal priest, a wizard or a witch, and although the earliest known written records of Shaman don’t go beyond the 17th century there is a general consensus among those who study human behaviour that the role of the shaman is very old, that it is common across the world and that the role reflected a basic human need.
Anthropologists discuss Shamanism and activities that have a common identity to Shamanism that have evolved in isolation in groups often scatted in remote areas of the world. The role of the shaman is given by anthropologists as a common example of how human beings evolve the same techniques for understanding the world, developed independently from other groups of people. Our ancestors needed the activities of a Shaman to make sense of the world, or to bring meaning to it, and a working template of this ancient role could still be found being used in remote areas of Siberia as documented by Witsen. Did the isolated community make these headdresses to help them make sense of the world around them or did they make them for another purpose?
The headdresses found as at Star Carr helped underpin the theory that Shamanism is one of the most archaic of all the human spiritual based activities. These headdresses were discarded and deposited in the ancient Lake Flixton which Star Carr community lived beside, maybe as part of a ritual, it is interesting that the discarded headdresses now have a new use helping us to understand ancient spiritual practices and the spiritual needs of our ancestors. Even in the old Stone Age humans wanted an explanation to why we are here.
“At the heart of scholarly fascination with what we call Shamanism lies an unease. In British culture there is no public role which it’s qualities could be given expression or even discussed. Far from being socially valued, the activities of a a shaman is not socially respectable and in general not recognised at all.” Ronald Hutton
What a Shaman actually did was not clear, which i guess is part of the enigma. The Shaman's authority is based on his/her personal experience and told in their stories of their trials and travels. Shamans are said to have been the first story tellers and their stories are designed to put your mind in accord with nature and with what is natural.
In the 1960’s children’s book ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak, a standard Shamanic cultural role is used as a device to tell the children’s story. The child Max who, after dressing in his animal costume, wreaks havoc throughout the house and is sent to bed without his supper. Max makes his bedroom undergo a mysterious transformation and he winds up sailing to a place inhabited by beasts known as the "Wild Things." Max is hailed as the king of the Wild Things and they all enjoy a playful romp together. However, he starts to feel lonely and decides to return home. Upon returning to his bedroom, Max discovers a hot supper waiting for him at home.
We feel happier when we spend time being curious, it’s one of the driving forces of nature. Another driving force behind nature is the compulsion to avoid threats, and this impulse is hardwired into our thoughts as what is described as a ‘negativity bias’; our feelings tell us that it is better to avoid threats and survive even if it means we miss out on experience. Our instinct encourages us to sometimes assume the worst and your ‘inner critic’ is the voice of your negativity bias always paying it safe. However as children, when the world was a magical place, we freely used curiosity without fear of shyness or cynicism. This is called peak experience, an experience of wonder of a world that cannot easily be expressed in our usual language. This I see expressed in the Star Carr headdresses, and in their wildness. Their wildness helps illustrate why it is impossible to be curious and unhappy at the same time. Maybe that’s why they have become so poplar?
“ True wildness is to delight in nature, with a free voice free to say and love spontaneous things, to have an exuberant curiosity in the face of the unknown”. -Robert Bly
Have a Happy New Year
DavWhiteArt