Sunday, August 22, 2010

Mask History Part 2

There is a strange artifact that is dated approximately 33,000 BCE. It is from the Neanderthal era. It is a stone sslab, that looks like it has a carved nose and two carved eyes. It certain looks like a mask, however because of iits design it could very well be either a natural formation or something carved for another purpose. The earliest accepted stone artifact mask is in fact dated from 7.000 BCE. It is a plain carved face, with holes for eyes and a distinct nose and mouth. The mask current sits in the Musee de la bible in et Terre Sainte in France. Again the purposes are unknown. Was it a ceremonial mask, or simply a post modern human trying to understand themselves?
The earliest evidence of masks definitely being used in ceremony dates from approximately 2000 BCE. The Celts were using masks as part of pagan ceremonies and ritual. The celts were a group of tribes that existed during the Iron Age in what is now the modern day United Kingdom and Britian, from approximately 2000-400 BCE. Many of their rituals followed the passing of the seasons, including a the forerunner of what would be Halloween, called Samhain, which is still observed in parts of the world.

So from our cave dwelling days to just before the turn of the common era, masks have had an important part of our history, and a way of us trying to understand ourselves. The turn to the Common Era would be a time of darkness for masks, before coming back to prominence from an unexpected source.

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