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*MYTHS AND MEMORIES*

*Present your paper to EXPRESSION magazine.*

What myths and what memories are revealing early monuments? What are the
stories behind a painted caves in Dordogne, a megalithic monuments in
Ireland, Gobleky Tepe pre-ceramic ceremonial center in Anatolia, the
Paleolithic shrine at Har Karkom in the Negev desert , rock art
concentrations in the Drakensberg, South Africa, Serra da Capivara, Brazil
or Kimberley, Australia? What stories are hidden behind a standing stone
erected by some human being of a forgotten culture, or behind a group of
markings on the wall of a rock-shelter? These monuments preserve myths and
memories of cultures and ages around the world. Each monument, each rock
picture, each standing stone, has its stories. By decoding them, history is
being produced out of prehistory. Awakening curiosity, asking questions, is
no less important than answering questions and solving problems. People
having ideas or just curiosity are invited to join this search for the
common roots of memories and myths.

Reality and imagination are ingredients of our intellect. They complete
each other. Reality without imagination and imagination without reality
would be void of interest. What is captured by our senses awakens a double
process, that of acquiring a sense of the reality and that of applying our
imagination to search for a meaning to such sense. Often discerning what is
real and what is imagination is a subjective matter.

A few days ago I was looking at a splendid exhibition of early Chinese
paintings: landscapes with small human beings and gigantic sea waves,
dreamy, misty mountains, flowers and leaves having shapes and colors more
real than the real ones…. but the smell of the paintings was not that of
the depicted flowers.

Both for us and for prehistoric man, senses are means of access to reality.
But such reality may be subjective and is formed, deformed or transformed
by our senses. They select reality, they make us decide what is real, what
to remember and what to forget, they coordinate our feelings of pleasant or
unpleasant, beautiful or ugly, appealing or not appealing. The real and the
imaginary may vary from person to person and both, real and imaginary, can
be accepted or refused. Was the mind of early man much different from ours?

Decorated caves, megalithic monuments, early shrines, sites of rock art,
are the containers of myths and memories, are the testimony of the immense
variety of beliefs and habits, are the source for an as yet unwritten
history of mankind: the existential history of people’s real and imaginary,
myths and memories. Even small contributions may enrich our knowledge and
whoever has something to say is invited to share such knowledge.

The selection of the real from the imaginary varies from person to person.
It varies in different tribes and, no doubt, the same is true for
prehistoric societies. The variety in style and subject matter of
prehistoric and tribal art is the mirror of the immense alternatives of the
human mind. It is the medium to unveil past adventures of human myths and
memories. What do they tell us? What do they tell you?

Colleagues and friends are welcome to share their research, discoveries or
ideas and submit their papers. Please consider that EXPRESSION  is a
quarterly magazine in English, dedicated to the human sciences; it reaches
institutions and colleagues in over 60 countries. Papers should be of
interest to this kind of audience. Not all of the readers may be
specialists in your specialty but they are open-minded and curious. We
recommend short texts, around 3000 words, good illustrations and, most
important, creative ideas, new discoveries, new visions, new tendencies of
research.

For submitting articles to the issue of EXPRESSION magazine dedicated to
“MYTHS AND MEMORIES” the deadline is November 20, 2017. Please join us,
addressing ideas, abstracts and papers to [log in to unmask]

Cordial regards and best wishes,

Emmanuel Anati



PS: Should you wish to see a back issue of EXPRESSION magazine, you may ask
for a free copy at the above email, indicating your full name and postal
address.




Prof. Emmanuel Anati
President, Atelier Research Center for Conceptual Anthropology
Director, CISPE, Centro Internazionale di Studi Preistorici ed Etnologici
President, UISPP-CISENP, International Commission
Honorary President, Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici
email: <*[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>*>