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The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art Hardcover – November 17, 2002

by David Lewis-Williams (Author)
26 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Thames & Hudson (November 17, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0500051178
  • ISBN-13: 978-0500051177
  • Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #431,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Presented for the scientific community; needed a more gripping opening
By Dean Lombardo on March 10, 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Undoubtedly a well-researched and well-thought-out text that has earned the respect of many archaeologists and scientists, "The Mind in the Cave" was challenging for this layman reader--and not due to its complexity. Author David Lewis-Williams prefaces much of the first portion of the book with scientific methodology and caveats that are probably necessary for gaining buy-in from his peers but which proved to be too dry and pedantic for this enthusiast. I got a lot of what I was looking for once I got past all of the author's caveats and explanations of why alternative theories don't work.

There is a wealth of great material in the book that enables the reader to get inside the mind of ancestral humans as they reproduced the images in their heads on cave walls and stone items in Western Europe and elsewhere. The book also explores the question of how and when the advanced consciousness that empowered these early humans to produce art first appeared and why the author believes others human species such as Neanderthals might have lacked this imaginative and advanced artistic capability. Once Lewis-Williams got started, the story he himself painted was fascinating. I just would rather he had started with a vision of what things might have looked like according to his research and theory first, thus placing the reader in a vivid past, before laying the scientific techniques he planned to use on so thickly.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Five Stars
By Dora L. Whittaker on July 7, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Beautiful book
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59 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Michaelangelo's Palaeolithic roots
By Stephen A. Haines HALL OF FAME on February 5, 2006
Format: Hardcover
Any book challenging Established Truths deserves a place in your library. This exquisite example closely and vividly investigates the world of Western European rock art. Not an "art critic's" analysis, Lewis-Williams explains the roots of this enigmatic form of human expression. In so doing, he offers new insights into the idea of "spiritual realms" and the formulation of religions. With research delving in areas ignored or forgotten, the author demonstrates why our views of our Paleolithic forebears needs revision. Of foremost importance is the need to shed the notion of "primitive" as a quality attributed to our ancestors. The cave artists were "modern" humans in every sense of the term.

Lewis-Williams opens his study with a review of the first overturning of how we view humanity's track. Cave art had been found as early as the 17th Century, but the discoverers had no idea of the stretch of time those pictures had crossed. Not until the great insight of Charles Darwin, relying on Lyell's vast idea of an ancient earth, did it become possible to view cave art as remnants of prehistoric human life. The technology that could accurately date these pictures pushed the date of their creation back thousands of years. New finds set human artistic expression to more than 75 thousand years ago.

Lewis-Williams contends that these artefacts are the result of a sharp change in human intellect. About 75 thousand years ago, in various places at different times, the human consciousness experienced an elaboration. The immediate environment no longer was the limit of experience. Humans added what is known as "higher order" consciousness to the "primary consciousness" that allowed us, along with most other animals, to survive.Read more ›
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fabulous!
By Lester M. Stacey on April 1, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I agree with the other positive comments. In addition, I also noted that the author was not engaged in recruiting adoring fans. That is, this book is not about the author. It is not about his philosophy or ideology. Rather, this book is about risky vulnerabilities in human nervous systems.

THAT is a very good thing to be aware of.

I am so pleased that there is a sequel: Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos and the Realm of the Gods. I look forward to enjoying it as well.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Three Stars
By Jane Van Valkenburg on July 12, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Contains some outdated material but takes an interesting approach to the ancient people.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Shamanism-Yes! Neuroscience-No.
By Gregory Nixon on September 4, 2012
Format: Paperback
I probably would be more likely to go for 3.5 stars if that were a choice, but if I must choose 4 is better than 3.

David Lewis-Williams is an erudite scholar and an articulate, if not compelling, writer. His thinking spreads more broad than dives deep, it seems to me, very much a part of the current cultural ethos of biological reductionism. The topic is so good and he is obviously so well-researched that this book is still a good read for those interested in such things. It is noteworthy that none other than the great French scholar of cave art, Jean Clottes, calls this work "a genuine masterpiece" (on the cover), but I suspect he is referring to Lewis-Williams' bold new approach to rather well-known and widely accepted suggestion for the origins of these incredible prehistoric cave paintings. I refer to shamanism, which explanation goes at least as far back as Leroi-Gourhan and was certainly well supported in the theoretic works of Joseph Campbell. The fact of these cave paintings alone is enough to make for great reading (though this is not a browseworthy picture book since the reproductions are small and mainly there to support his argument), and the addition of explaining by way of Shamanistic vision activity should make it even more compelling. However, visions are not the thrust of Lewis-Williams' main argument for shamanism. He basically sees evidence in the prehistoric art for an ongoing competition for power and position amongst various shamans. This seems confusing since the paintings strike one as visionary as one would imagine a shaman's flight into other worlds would be, but this confusion lessens when we realize Lewis-Williams isn't buying into any of that sacred journey or even Jungian collective unconscious stuff.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Four Stars

Good condition

Published 3 months ago by Gerald F. Nowatzke
a great ride through human consciousness development .

Lewis-williams writes here a detailed account of his theories that is a pleasure to read. Written without much fanfare, the book is direct, insightful and manages to evoke real... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Juan M. Beltranena
Four Stars

Wonderful information on Paleolithic art with some really interesting thoughts, opinions and questions on the nascence of art.

Published 9 months ago by Johanna
A book to ponder and dwell on

Though provoking and well written. More emphasis on the mind is needed by archeologists.
Hunter-gatherer concept is so trite and simple.

Published 16 months ago by RVN
Awesome book!

I haven't finished yet but so far this book is awesome. A great compilation of years of work that provide an insightful view on the issue of the human consciousness.

Published 17 months ago by Bassoonilla
I don't understand the hostility directed at this...

For someone such as myself, having little scientific training but very interested in understanding our long ago ancestors, this book is awesome. Do I agree with everything in it? Read more

Published 19 months ago by Rodulf
Fuel for the mind.

A revealing scientific up to date view on the evolution of the mind, cave paintings, it's creators and our ancestors. Awesome. Everybody should read this book to fuel one's mind.

Published 19 months ago by W. Gillissen
The Origins of "Art"

Lewis-Williams makes a well-reasoned and supported argument that the origins of Paleolithic image making lies in shamanism and altered states of consciousness. Read more

Published on June 29, 2012 by John Caron

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