Newsroom
May 2008
- Lions at the Gate:
How Archaeology and Psychoanalysis Combine to Explain the
Human Phenomenon of Using the Things that Frighten Us as Protection
Contact: Mary Tressel,
925-798-9421,
mary@tresselpr.com
Lions at the Gate:
How Archaeology and Psychoanalysis Combine to Explain the
Human Phenomenon of Using the Things that Frighten Us as Protection
San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis Funded Cross-Discipline Research by Linda Donley-Reid,Ph.D.
San Francisco, CA May 20, 2008 Have you ever wondered why large statues of lions stand "guard" at the entries of libraries, governmental buildings, and grand residences? The answer may lie in the Neolithic artwork discovered in Catalhoyuk, a 9,000-year-old settlement in Turkey. Linda Donley-Reid, Ph.D., is an archaeologist who has taken the rare path of focusing on the symbolic and psychological uses of art and her research of some of the oldest art discoveries in the world points to its empowering features.
"When we practice something that is fearful, we then master the fear," says Dr. Donley-Reid. "Catalhoyuk men depicted leopards and men wearing leopard skins, thus becoming leopards, in their wall reliefs and drawings. Based on psychoanalytic theory, these animal and human representations externalized protective power that allowed the men and boys of this civilization to develop the necessary defense mechanisms to hunt big game and sustain their villages."
Using art to develop emotional strength was not just for the men of ancient times. Dr. Donley-Reid also proposes that the well-made, full-figured female figurines discovered at the Catalh provided women with emotional support for their fears related to fertility and childbirth.
"An external representation of a female power that could be called on to help would have been useful psychologically to the women of this ancient civilization who were faced with high infant mortality rates," says Dr. Donley-Reid.
Additionally, Dr. Donley-Reid interpreted the small, crude human and animal clay figures of this era as tools to assist everyone in the community, from the youngest children to the elderly, in cognitive and emotional development.
"The Catalhoyuk people created myths to explain life. Through psychoanalytic theory, we learn that they made those ideas concrete in material representations, which made the ideas easier to master," concludes Dr. Donley-Reid.
Dr. Donley-Reid is a member of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, which provided funding for her research of the Neolithic art discovered in Catalhoyuk.
The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis provides educational programs for training psychoanalysts and mental health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. Psychoanalysts are experienced mental health professionals, already possessing advanced degrees (MD, PhD, MFT or MSW), who have undergone extensive training in psychological development and psychotherapy. The organization also hosts a broad variety of arts and academic programs for the general public, access to the largest collection of psychoanalytic publications in the Western United States, and selected mental health service efforts such as the acclaimed Child Development Program. Visit www.sf-cp.org for more information.
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