The Invention of Rope and the Roots of Modern Civilization
(Room Lanier Grand Ballroom K)
25 Aug 21
3:00 PM
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4:15 PM
Tracks:
Speaker (Non-Member)
In this presentation, Christopher will demonstrate horsehair ropemaking, a nearly extinct craft he learned from Texas cowhand and author Bill Brett. Curious about the origin of the process, Christoher traced the invention of rope to artifacts from the Cro-Magnon culture of Ice Age Europe some 17,000 years ago. By reassessing numerous Palaeolithic artworks, he came to believe that keratin-derived fiber technologies were directly responsible for the Palaeolithic Creative Explosion, an unprecedented flourishing of art, technology, and material culture. As such, they constituted the single most important technological advance of the past million years. This novel iconological interpretation also implies the existence of a lineal connection between Cro-Magnon culture, the Proto-Indo-Europeans, and modern civilization. Christopher’s discovery ultimately led to the publication of a groundbreaking article in L’Anthropologie, the oldest and arguably most prestigious archaeological journal in the world. Attendees will each receive a piece of handmade horsehair cordage as a souvenir of the event.