But the island's one-of-a-kind culture is kept alive with activities and festivals that highlight ancient arts such as spear throwing, tobogganing, dancing and body painting.

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On cooler days, guests huddle around blazing cave fires to listen to ageless tales, learn the art of body painting and are encouraged to simply let the old legends seep freely into their consciousness.

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Fact is, an increasing body of literature is painting a picture of our brains as stingy things.

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The proper study of mankind was indeed man: not in his politicking, warring or banking, but naked, painting his body, hunting bears, snaring birds.

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Engineers can calculate the most efficient route for a spray-painting robot to take around a car body, work out how quickly parts must be supplied, look for bottlenecks or even tell if a human worker's task is likely to give him backache.

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Late Turner: Painting Set Free will reassess Turner's body of work during Turner's final years (1835-50) when some of his most celebrated works were created, such as The Blue Rigi, Sunrise (1842).

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At Smyrna, for instance, different body styles start out on parallel lines and are then brought together for painting and final assembly.

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For example, the ancient "painting kit" contained red ochre and was likely used as body paint, just as the Himba people of Namibia use it today.

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