Fishing from the earliest times - Blog

STONE PALETTES—IMITATIVE MAGIC 305which seems to me, if ingenious, too ingenuous and too farfetched.The palettes, 1 almost invariably presenting the profile ofonly those fishes, birds, or beasts that historic men pursuedfor food, were intended (by the aid of colours extracted fromthe malachite, galena, etc., crushed upon them) to estabhshan unpalpable, but, in human eyes, very serviceable connectionbetween the fisher and his prey.One method of such connection consists in creating alikeness of the intended quarry. Such a likeness, by thebelief that the simulacrum is actively en rapport with thatwhich it represents, bestows on the possessor power over theoriginal. "Cases," Bates correctly adds, " of this sort are thecommonplaces of imitative magic." Usually a hunting orfishing amulet which simulates the form of the quarry wasworn by the owner, or attached to his gear.The palettes themselves played the part of mere paintstones,but their supposed resident power might very efficaciouslybe transferred to itsproprietor by means of the paintground upon it." Persons who go in pursuit of the crocodile," says Pliny," anoint themselves with its fat." 2 In the same way as thecrocodile-hunter thus assimilates himself to his quarry by adirect contagion, so the owner of the palette could possesshimself of the power in the slate Hkeness by painting himselfwith the " medicine " ground upon it.The validity, or otherwise, of the suggestion must bedetermined by expert mythologists. The theory, to my mind,appears too far-fetched, and breaks down from the introductionof an additional agency.The fisher wearing an amulet or attaching a charm to histackle, and the fat-anointed crocodile hunter both supposedlyhave direct connection with his quest.But Bates's solution demands four agents at work, thefisher, the prey, the portrayed profile of the latter, and thepalette; from these the fisher extracts the desired power by1 op. cit., 204 ff.2 N. H., XXX. 8.