In the Land of Temple Caves

Book excerpt: “I just plain loved In the Land of Temple Caves. Frederick Turner makes a compelling case for civility organized in response to culture–shaping art as our most ancient source of saving graces. Beautifully said, humanely thought out, the story he tells is particularly useful in these sorrowful times. Read, and take heart!” —William Kittredge, author of The Willow Field In the Land of Temple Caves travels back to the very beginning of Art to assess anew its meanings in the long human story. Frederick Turner makes a personal investigation of sanctuaries in France and Spain that the great mythographer Joseph Campbell called the “temple caves,” the earliest known of which contains paintings and engravings more than 32,000 years old, works of art more advanced than the hunting implements by which their creators lived. In caves and prehistoric shelters, along the valleys tracing the mighty rivers of the Ice Age, in a war–ravaged village, and in a city church far removed from the country of the caves, Turner finds resonant meaning in what he has always believed to be true. Art does matter—vitally—and never more than now.