TedXQueenstown - Leslie van Gelder

An archaeologist and writer whose work focuses on the themes of sense of place, intimacy, vision, and wisdom. Leslie is currently engaged in research looking at the ways in which the archaeological record shows evidence of relationships and love.

Starting with a story... a long time ago in a cave... 27,000 years ago...

Feeling it in your solar plexus... intimacy... beautiful closeness amongst people.
'climbing over one's own walls to reach another...

Finger fluting... 

Liking the 'I don't knows'... where all of the possibilities lie....

Sitting with the 'I don't knows' in the light and in the dark... feeling it more in the dark...

Looking at the writings, movements on the wall... who did it, why and what and how... Going to the who enables intimacy.

Hand width is unique... Determining age by handwidth... and gender... moving from generalisations to unique individuals....

Back to the caves - Discovering that only 8 people had created the entire 'story'....

Hypothesis, that it was a ritual from a big culture... many... but it became about being intimate with a few... identifying intimacy...

Exploring 14 caves in Europe - largest number 9 smallest number two of finger fluting...

Identifying and discovering beautiful intimacies..... 

4 year old girl... second most prolific finger fluter... 

We all make our own marks in the world... small and intimate, large, colossal... strong small and graceful... Discovering the imtimacy - for each of us and we make our mark in the world, someone else holds our light...