Episode 28: What They Left Behind [Rebroadcast]
Origin Stories
Meredith Johnson
4.8 • 554 Ratings
🗓️ 6 June 2018
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The stories and songs of prehistoric people are lost. Their art and artifacts are all that remain of their culture.
The painted caves of Ice Age Europe are the world's most famous examples of prehistoric art. What does this art reveal about the people who made it? Why did they paint those images on cave walls? What do the images mean?
Jean Clottes is one of the world's preeminent prehistorians and a leading expert on prehistoric art. He has devoted his life to asking these big questions, and his insights have challenged popular assumptions about prehistoric art and how it evolved.
In this episode, producer Neil Sandell visits Clottes at his home in the foothills of the Pyrénées in France, and they journey deep into a painted cave called Niaux to see the famous Salon Noir.
This episode was awarded the grand prize in the Prix Marulić International Audio Festival in the documentary category.
The Leakey Foundation
Origin Stories is a project of The Leakey Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding human origins research and outreach. The Leakey Foundation funds cutting-edge research about human evolution and human behavior. Support this show and the science we talk about with a tax-deductible donation. Thanks to a generous supporter, your donation will automatically be doubled!
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Credits
Producer: Neil Sandell
Editor: Julia Barton
Host and Series Producer: Meredith Johnson
Sound Design: Neil Sandell
Theme Music: Henry Nagle
Intern: Yuka Oiwa
Additional Music:
Sponsors
This season of Origin Stories is made possible by support from Dixon Long.
The Leakey Foundation thanks the following people for their generous support of this episode:
Jean and Ray Auel, Sharal Camisa, Dennis Fenwick and Martha Lewis, Victoria and Barry Fong, Jeanne Newman, Sharon Metzler-Dow, and Lisa and Bill Wirthlin.
Additional Support
We are also brought to you with support from Audible.com, the internet's leading provider of spoken-word entertainment. Our listeners get a 30-day free trial and free audiobook download at audibletrial.com/originstories
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Origin Stories, the Leaky Foundation podcast. |
| 0:04.4 | I'm Meredith Johnson. |
| 0:05.8 | And while we're working on our new season of stories, which will be out at the end of summer, |
| 0:10.1 | I wanted to share some exciting news. |
| 0:12.5 | Last week, our show won the Pre-Marolich International Audio Festival in the documentary category |
| 0:18.6 | for the episode What They Left Behind, produced by Neil Sandal and edited by Julia Barton. |
| 0:25.6 | We're so thrilled to receive this award that we wanted to share the episode with you again. |
| 0:29.6 | So thanks for listening and we'll be back soon. |
| 0:36.3 | This is Origin Stories, the Leaky Foundation podcast. I'm Meredith Johnson. |
| 0:44.3 | The songs and the stories of prehistoric people are lost. |
| 0:49.3 | All that remains of their culture are the things they've left behind. Their artifacts and their art. |
| 0:57.1 | Cave art is found on every populated continent. |
| 1:00.4 | The painted caves of Ice Age Europe are the most famous. |
| 1:03.7 | The paintings inside these caves are masterpieces, whose beauty can move you to tears, |
| 1:09.1 | more than a thousand generations after the people who painted |
| 1:11.5 | them have gone. What do these paintings tell us about the people who made them? Why did they do it? |
| 1:18.3 | And what does it mean? One French archaeologist has devoted his life to asking these big questions, |
| 1:24.8 | and his insights have challenged popular assumptions about the very |
| 1:28.4 | beginnings of art and how it evolved. Jean-Cloat is a prominent prehistorian and an internationally |
| 1:34.2 | acclaimed expert on rock art. He's served as an advisor to the French Ministry of Culture, |
| 1:39.3 | and his work on the origins of cave art has been the subject of a Werner-Hurzog documentary, |
| 1:45.2 | and he's the author of more than 300 scientific papers on prehistoric art. He's also a leaky foundation grantee. |
... |
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