January 26, 2012Ok this is some heavy stuff I've been tossing around because I'm obsessed with ancient cultures/writings and also the ideas about lost lands like Atlantis, Mu, Lemuria etc. Or even a lost global mother culture that retained their stone building techniques in the upper-middle Paleolithic. Possible spoilers ahead. The idea of interbreeding with Neanderthal man and cro-magnon man is one that's gained LOTS of traction in the archaeological/anthropological world. This would be a better sci-fi way to go than alien astronauts, and can tie into why they're so human. What I propose is a mixture of the disappearance of Atlantis tales and alien astronaut theory. So that these ancient humanoids were more advanced and possibly had help from "others" like many myths depict.
Shaw could know this interbreeding theory and it could play a major role in Prometheus, and the legends about giants. Really it has more potential archaeological evidence in the form of thousands of submerged megalithic complexes than the alien astronaut theory does, and would be the more scientific way to go. Some think the larger Neanderthal hybrids were used by the much smarter homo-sapiens and homo-sapien hybrids as a slave race to transport and carve stone and do megalithic stone work. A lost civilization of humans who went interstellar to avoid the demise of their culture on Earth (Flood tale, Atlantis sinking) could be a major reveal in the movie, This means our ancient languages/cultures could be derived from what they left us, the stone evidence. The only thing to survive the thousands of years. When we find one of their temples in Africa it could kick start all of Prometheus, and be the need for someone like Shaw who might sort of understand this culture/ancient language.
I honestly think they'll delve into the mythology a lot more than most are thinking. The Elder God cosmology and the overthrowing of one deity by another is a huge part of the Titan's aka Prometheus's back-story. And with Shaw, an Archaeologist, as our main character I think it's a safe bet she'll give us plenty of insights on their civilization. She could eventually realize that many of the myths were talking about these guys, but start to question why they are so human themselves.
Rather than gods actually creating us from scratch, maybe some interbreed ala the alien astronaut stuff, like fallen angels and the daughters of man, and left traces of past civilizations which ends up being the archaeological find that kick starts the movie. Even if Shaw devoutly follows the bible, believes in God etc. there are parts even in those writings that, when put in a certain context, can be interpreted as interplanetary beings actually coming down to earth. Half-way through Shaw realizes these human-like guys must have been the ones who built the temple(s) on Earth because of the ancient sumerian style language, megalithic construction & possibly methods of manufacture/materials.
I really think that with all the background stuff, the Greek myths + allusions to other ancient cultures and alien astronaut theory forming the base; that they'll communicate mainly through ancient symbols/ and more rudimentary symbols/actions etc (the Jockey who drew the pyramid in the original script), like anthropologists studying exotic tribes for the first time at the turn of the 19th century, the humans may use symbols and gestures. Possibly a made up language roughly related to cuneiform. Modeled after how ancient Hebrew would be spoken.
Most of the communication could be through anthropological analysis/interpretation done by Shaw. When she sees that giant head she should be extremely intrigued, there would be so many things to start looking at aside from the physical properties. Once those are analyzed, even briefly, a whole new questioning process could set in when if she sees the megalithic construction. She should be analyzing and interpreting the whole movie long because that's what archaeologists do. Especially if she is trying to figure out this race of gods who now seem more like a whole new civilization, and even do megalithic construction (archaeologist argue over method of manufacture, but still think humans built them).
At first she'll probably be way off in her interpretations, maybe even translations (because David wouldn't quite know the variations in the language), but then she realizes some of the old legends had elements of truth to them. And can analyze everything in a new context. The legends just have to be interpreted the right way, and when new data presents itself within the film it can change the whole context when looking at ancient cultures, myths, and even translating languages. In short I think there are many reasons Shaw is a specialist in ancient cultures and is accompanying the crew. They already suspect they'll find more stone architecture because of the original discovery on Earth. Possibly in some megalithic burial site or temple in Africa that was once used by some lost civilization. Shaw doesn't begin to unravel this until she sees the human-looking head and actually encounters the tall humanoids.
Shaw could be our main window into deciphering what the Jockeys are trying to say and really up to. Once she realizes they're not really gods her archaeological training overtakes her disbelief and she'll give us our key explanations for what they really are. It may be unreliable to trust her archaeological interpretations at first because her belief in God is so strong. But, I really think her and David (because of a database of human languages) will be our main communicators with the others, and our window into their culture, whether or not they're ancient earth humans, the tall pale Atlanteans of legends, the Annunaki of alien astronaut theory etc.
