By chance, when I was trying to find this blog on the internet, I ran into a review that Chris Knight wrote about my book.  Needless to say, as I have met him and seen his arrogance (perhaps the arrogance is deserved - I am merely commenting on his behavior) he makes it "painfully obvious" (his words) that the book, basically, is foolish, poorly conceptualized. His dismissal of my book, however. was based on  his misunderstanding of my argument. 

As social relationships evolved around a mother, I argue she could have been the one to have originated culture, perhaps by braiding her child's hair (as braids are seen in the so called Venus figurines) or perhaps she could have provided some other form of decoration. Art, in other words. Over time, the decoration, if replicated by the next generations, would come to identify those who are kin due to shared descent from a common ancestor. The mother, also would have been the one to establish rules of behavior, as having more than one child makes it necessary to influence the behavior of siblings. Her life would be hell if she didn't establish rules. Those rules were taught by modeling behavior - acting like what she wanted to see - and through stories or myths. 

I don't say that art and rules of behavior (behavior codes as they came to be called) were always the province of females. I only say that is how it could have started. Over time if her children copied what she had done, and her children's children copied what she had done, on down through time, what we would end up with would be large numbers of individuals dressed similarly - we used to call this tribal and clan decoration.  

Kin selection theory implies that we need to identify those with whom we cooperate. Without that identification there is no reason to suspect we will differentially cooperate. Kin selection, however, only can account for a small number of kin, those with whom we predictably share genes. What I am arguing, is that humans cooperate with those they identify as kin, often through body decoration or through kin names. Knight ignores those points

His argument, which differs from mine, can help  explain his disdain for my argument - To begin, I didn't cite him. For an arrogant person, that is unforgivable and I actually thought about him and what he would say as I wrote the book.

According to a review written by Bradden, E. (2017). Chris Knight's theory of human origins: an abridged account. https://libcom.org/library/chris-knight%E2%80%99s-theory-human-origins-abridged-account 

Knight locates the origins of culture in the female solidarity that emerges to regulate sexual and marital relations. Women resist male domination by subordinating short-term sexual goals to longer-term economic goals. It is this female strategy (with help from male kin) that explains the origins of the ‘own-kill’ rule, the incest taboo and the elementary structures of kinship.

In explaining the origins of female solidarity, Knight places particular significances on women’s ability to synchronise their menstrual cycles. Menstrual bleeding poses a major problem for females in that males will seek to bond with females who show visible signs of their fertility. According to Knight females and their male relatives bond together to resist predatory males. Females adopt a strategy in which they in effect ‘cheat’ by all appearing to menstruate at the same time. This can be achieved by painting themselves with surrogate ‘menstrual’ blood.

Non-human primates signal ‘no’ to sex by displaying lack of arousal or interest. However, if females are to signal ‘no’ to sex, deliberate measures must be taken: human females must reverse the normal body-language displays indicating ‘yes’. Thus instead of signalling ‘right species, right sex, right time’ the human female must signal ‘wrong species, wrong sex, wrong time’. In signalling ‘no’ to sex females set up a communal counter-reality. According to Knight the origins of culture are to be located in this female strategy of saying ‘no’ to sex.

Knight argues that this account of the origins of culture is reflected in myth and ritual, illustrating this with reference to numerous myths and ritual practises in traditional societies. One example is male initiaton ritual in Aboriginal Australia, which is associated with the myth of the ‘rainbow snake’. Knight argues that such initiation rites reflect and perpetuate a situation in which women have become subordinated to men, men having appropriated the ritual power that originally belonged to women. In these rites, boys had to have their flesh cut to allow the blood to flow. Where ‘male menstruation’ became the rule, women’s menstruation became feared as a threat to male supremacy. Female menstruation became seen as polluting while male menstruation was seen as positive, magical and conducive to good hunting luck.

Here are several criticisms: First, the evidence on menstrual synchronization is still under debate as methodological flaws were identified in the initial studies. It is now often argued that  synchronization actually does not occur. That said, he seems to be saying that males recognize that menstruating females cannot be impregnated and leave them alone. So, females paint themselves red (or parts of their bodies red) to keep males away - menstrual blood signaling no sex, wrong species, wrong time. It is not clear how that decoration would communicate wrong species or wrong sex. It would seem to clearly indicate right sex but wrong time.  Ignoring that, his argument seems like a fairy tale that presents a non-testable hypothesis. He is to be commended, however, for raising some important points. First, females in other species communicate when they are ovulating - through behavior, smell or body changes. Human females hide their ovulation. Females in ten primate species, several bat species, the elephant shrew and one mouse species menstruate. Other females do not. It would be very interesting to understand the behavior of those females during menstruation. 

Another interesting point he raises is how ovulating human females might have discouraged males who did not interest them, given male superior strength.  That is a good question. I would argue that rules of behavior specified who could marry whom - marriages were probably arranged fairly early in human history based on genetic analyses. Another rule would have told family members to protect reproductive age females. I remember one of my anthro professors telling the class that if a female were alone she would be raped. She knew it and would just lie down. Perhaps that is apocryphal, but I sure can remember talking to females who spoke about the importance of  self-protection. 

It also is true that in my book I don't confront the question of how males came to dominate culture. I did argue that males  were influenced by their mothers. Even warriors dying on the battle field cry out for their mothers.  Mothers have a lifelong influence. The influence a potential mate has may end with copulation. My assumption, which is not in the book is that females develop and cooperatively share things like art, weaving, dyeing cloth, gardening and males adopt those things and as they are more competitive, turn them into grandiose schemes. To end this, my main argument - art is used to identify kin or those cooperating as if they were kin - is testable and I can think of some interesting scenarios that would threaten my proposal. That is the way science is supposed to be. 

 

I do wish I knew how to make this more attractive, not intellectually, but aesthetically. However, I don't, so that is that.

I am reading a book on the history of recent epidemics. It is fascinating. We are one interacting world with bacteria and viruses - at times our friends, at times our enemies. It reminded me of an article I just read on trees. it is quite popular now to talk and write about tree communication. They communicate underground, through chemicals released from their roots. Those chemical warn surrounding species of various things and trees share important chemicals, even with trees of different species. All the communication seems to be aimed at improving the lot of surrounding trees. One has to wonder, however, if any trickery is going on. Nature is red in tooth and claw, competition for scarce resources is rife. Time and research will tell.

 

Storytelling

It has been said, as many things are said - with bravado but not much thought

That storytelling has disappeared or is of no more use, 

as my daughter, Blair, and I discussed this morning.

She jumped into the discussion. 

I knew if I were only quiet, 

She would enlighten me.

She was indignant. Of course storytelling was not dead.

We were surrounded by storytellers, they filled our lives

and our minds, sometime with chatter, at times with wisdom

Storytellers can be found on Ted Talks, YouTube, Facebook, in a movie or video

or opera. 

Parents read stories to their children

Religious leaders tell stories to explain doctrine

Teachers create stories to help students learn

Our healers tell stories, just as shamans once did, and perhaps still do

Their stories explain why we got sick and how to get well

Parents tell stories to socialize their children

Religious leaders use stories to encourage us to behave in appropriate ways. 

Lawyers are not known to publicly refer to themselves as storytellers, 

yet they realize that the lawyer who tells the most captivating story will win the trial. 

They weave the evidence into stories to try to lead the jury to exonerate or convict.

Perhaps the actual question is how storytelling has changed over time, even though we 

are surrounded by stories

Storytelling used to be a personal relationship, with eye contact, vocalizations, body language, and discussion

It was, as my daughter said, a performance, a social performance

 

 

Storytelling: Textiles 

As the use of the phrase “spinning a yarn” suggests, an association has long been made between weaving and storytelling. The word spinning was often found regularly in ancient Hindu texts including the Vedas, as Puntambekar and Varadachari (1926) described in their book Hand-Spinning and Hand-Weaving.

When the poet sings his invocation to Agni, he asks of the gods “to spin out the ancient thread”. The continuity of life itself and of the human race is compared to the continuity of a well-spun thread. ‘As fathers they have set their heritage on earth, their offspring, as a thread continuously spun out.’

It has been argued that all forms of art tell stories. Included among those forms of art are weavings. Weavers in the Andes, Silverman writes, “are modern scribes who use thread as opposed to pen and ink, to produce motifs in a true pictoric dictionary” (1993, 14). In Oaxaca, Mexico woven cloth is said to be a language used to tell stories.

The earliest evidence of weaving dates back some 27,000 years. Thaat earliest evidence  was found in impressions of weaving made on clay. Further, clay was used to create small “Venus figurines”, or small clay statuettes, that are wearing a large number of woven objects: skirts and belts, as well as hats, headbands and necklaces.

A prehistoric society in which some of the world's finest weavers lived was on the coast of Peru. Between 800 BCE and 100 BCE the Paracas people traded locally grown cotton for wool from  llamas and alpacas that were being raised by people in the Andes. 

They carefully spun the cotton and wood into fine thread and yarn. First, a cloth was woven out of plain cotton.  Brightly colored wool threads were used to decorate the fabric with embroidery depictions of costumed dancers, plants, double headed birds, pampas cats, llamas, fish, serpents, llamas carrying loads of vegetables, serpents, plants, mystical creatures including shamans who are part human and part eagle and who can fly through the air.  In one claw they hold severed human heads and the other claw held the knife that was used to cut off the head. 

The weaving woven in Paracas weavers has been found in tombs. Mummified bodies of the dead were wrapped in finely woven and skillfully and brightly embroidered mantles or shrouds. Even today, thousands of years later, the colors remain bright and the skill is obvious. The complexity of the weaving and the beauty of the embroidery communicated the social status, wealth, and social affiliation of the deceased. Two thousand years later those weavings can tell us stories about the Paracas people. They are telling us stories about their lives and concerns. 

 

Storytelling: Performances, ceremonies, celebrations, and rituals

When we combine our storytelling with the other arts, we refer to that event using words like performance, ceremony, celebration or ritual. These words are used interchangable and their meanings can be confusing. Sometimes it is possible to distinguish the meaning of terms by looking at their etymology, or origin. 

Possibly the oldest of these terms is the word ceremony, which possibly was of Etruscan origin (8-3 century BCE). It came to English from the Medieval Latin word ceremonia, which referred to sacredness or holiness. 

The word ritual is a proto-European word that possibly came from Sanscrit (c. 1500-500 BCE), it came into usage around 1560 CE and made reference to a religious observance.

The next oldest word is celebration. Its root came from the Latin word celebrationem, which means numerous in attendance, possibly for a sacred event. 

As these three terms have the oldest origins and make reference to gatherings that are of a religious nature, it suggest that the earliest use of storytelling, when combined with the other arts, was a serious event, rather than merely a social or enjoyable event.  

Performance is the youngest of these words. It appeared in English during the late 15^th century to refer to public entertainment. While the meaning of words can and does change over time, the word performance continues to be used in the same sense today. Operas and plays are performances. These events are held at certain times and certain places. The audience, except in the case of slapstick, typically sits quietly and its only participation is to, perhaps, quietly laugh or sigh, and certainly to applaud.

Rituals, ceremonies and celebrations also are typically scheduled on certain dates, at certain times. These events all are patterned, meaning they have recurring features, including starting with some sort of greeting or introduction and typically people in the audience participate in some way. These three words were, as stated before, used at least at one time to refer to a religious event. Although we used the term celebration to refer to sacred occasions, such as the Celebration of Mass, the term also is often used to refer to an event like a birthday party. Celebrations like birthday parties are patterned. They typically start with a welcome and the placing of the gifts in a pile. People then move to view the birthday cake. They then play games, then sing a happy birthday song, light the candles, then blow thee out, and then cut the cake and open gifts. The audience may cheer, shout or boo. Jokes might be told. The story told is about the birthday boy or girl. The art consists of the song, the decorations, perhaps crepe paper streamers, the gaily wrapped gifts. and the "best cloths' that participants often wear. 

Rituals and ceremonies are more serious events than celebrations. They are held in a place said to be special, such as an auditorium, or sacred, such as a mosque. Confucius felt that rituals transformed man from an individualistic ego into one characterized by strong kinship ties, generosity, diligence, earnestness, filial piety, fraternal duty, loyalty and sincerity.A graduation is referred to as a ceremony. It follows a pattern of steps, beginning when Pomp and Circumstance is played and the university marshall enters the room carrying a mace. The mace, which is about three feet tall and golden, is a symbol of governing authority. Then faculty and students file in and take their seats at the front of the room, before the stage. there is a welcome, some presentations are given, and the school song might be sung. A story will be told about the graduates, their future, and what they can contribute to their academic and society. The ceremony ends when diplomas have been awarded and then there is a recessional. Perhaps graduates will toss their caps into the air..the audience cheers.  The art consists of the caps and grown, the gonfaons, or banners carried to represent each college. A graduation party is celebration.  

A ritual typically is considered to be the most serious type of event, one that in some way - a song, a prayer, a blessing - invokes the supernatural. If a graduation mass is held, it is a ritual. If an invocation, or opening prayer, is recited at a graduation it becomes more like a ritual. A wedding, if no reference is made to religio u , or faith or the supernatural, is a celebration. If held in a church or other sacred place and the event is conducted by a minister or rabbi, it is a ritual. A wedding reception is a celebration.   

The type of art used with stories that are part of ceremonies differs from the art and stories used in rituals. Of the two, rituals are more patterned and special or sacred objects often are used and the story of their sacredness is described. Rituals also can involve reading from a sacred text and prayer, which is an appeal or attempt to call upon a supernatural entity. The stories told also can relate the importance of the event itself, the history of the sacred place and the sacred objects used, the miracles that have occurred and the deeds of the heroic or saintly individuals involved.  

Drums have played and in some cases continue to play an important role in ceremonies and rituals performed in many parts of the world. The sound of the drum, for some people, is said to be sacred. The Igbu of Nigeria use different types of drums play during the Eke Celebration. Participants arrive in decorated war canoes playing the egume drum. As they near the royal place the ufie, the king’s talking drum, calls to them, telling the stories of his great deeds. Each participant then stands, dances and recalls his own ancestors’ heroic deeds (Jackson 1968; see also Calame-Griaule 1986). “These drummers, Rattray (1916:134) writes, “are trained from childhood, and must not only be experts in drumming, but also have learned the traditions and genealogies of all the kings, and the folklore of the tribe as contained in the proverbs. “

A good description of a ritual comes from the istory of St. Thomas Becket, who was Archbishop of Canterbury during the Middle Ages. When his opinions clashed with those of King Henry II, he was killed by four of Henry’s knights while he knelt in prayer at the altar. In 1173 he was declared a saint after more than 700 miracles had been recorded as occurring at his tomb. For centuries, thousands of pilgrims traveled great distances to reach his Shrine. Today, pilgrims follow the Pilgrims Way for fifteen days (153) miles, from Winchester to the shrine at Canterbury. When they arrive they tour the cathedral singing hymns and stopping to pray at places connected with Becket’s life and death. His miracles are portrayed in beautiful stained glass windows. One shows the healing of Petronella of Polesworth, a nun who suffered from leprosy. She is shown bathing her feet in holy water while sitting on the tomb of St Thomas. At each window the relevant story of his life was recited

to be continued