While ruminating over a magazine article concerning the fate of the cave bear, something occurred to me: what if some of these cave paintings (used in the article to illustrate what the now-extinct bear may have looked like) served as mnemonic devices for poets? An outline for epics composed to celebrate or commemorate big events in the life of a tribe?
This is not original -- I know I've heard or read it somewhere some time ago. But, if this hypothesis proved to be true even once, it would be staggering. Think of it -- poems more than 30,000 years old!
BTW -- I may have finished The Back Nine (search post for that name). Can you guess its guiding principle? (Hint: A castle needs more than just a tower. The "fascicles" represent, for my purposes, the plant conservatory. The third list will include poetic "tapestries.")
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