2025 C.R.A.P. AWARD - PETROGLYPHS OF INDIAN TEMPLES AND STUPAS IDENTIFIED AS VIMANAS (PREHISTORIC FLYING MACHINES):

Hypothetical vertical section of a vimana. Drawing by T. K. Ellappa, Bangalore, India. 12 February 1923. Image from Wikipedia. Note - the little T-shapes in the blue cups at the top are the propellers which will provide the lift to make it fly.

It is time again for the RockArtBlog coveted annual C. R. A. P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award, and do I have a really deserving recipient this year? Not to a particular person, but for an area of fringie writing using twisted and convoluted beliefs to turn petroglyphs of stone temples into flying machines. I am talking about the hokum surrounding modern “theorists” about Vimanas, the flying machines from the annals of ancient writings in India, and modern websites pushing these beliefs.

One characteristic of many of these websites is that they are anonymous, it is difficult to find an actual person’s name to associate with it. The writing is credited to “the editorial team,” although some sites originating in India have the author’s name on them.

Hypothetical illustration of a vimana. Illustration from theancientzen.com.

Another characteristic is exaggerated fringie hype about things like interstellar visitors, antigravity, and technologically advanced civilizations back during the Paleolithic or Neolithic ages. I want to reiterate that I am not attacking writings from India about vimanas any more than I would attack the bible because Ezekial saw the wheel. I am giving the C.R.A.P. award to the people who tell us that petroglyphs of stupas and Indian temples are actually the flying machines. You are entitled to believe whatever you want, but, as I have said before, RockArtBlog has a responsibility to call out outright lies when found.

I am going to pass on a number of the most egregious claims and statements to illustrate how ridiculous this can get, but I am not going to identify any particular internet site. If you want to find this garbage for yourself you can go online and do so, but I will not give them the publicity.

Indian warriors observing a vimana. Internet image, public domain.

“According to Ancient Indian history – one of the most extensive on the planet – their ancient sacred texts called the ‘Vedas’ speak of incredible flying ships that visited our planet over 6000 years ago. Throughout history, many common myths and legends mention incredible flying machines and how ancient people traveled great distances through the air: the flying carpets of ancient Arabia, Ezekiel’s wheel, Solomons’ ability to travel from one place to another and the magical chariots or ‘vimana’ mentioned in ancient Indian and Chinese texts.”

An Indian temple. Internet image, public domain.

According to another writer “The propulsion of vimanas is perhaps the most mysterious aspect, with some texts hinting at mercury vortex engines and other forms of advanced technology. For instance, references to a mercury-driven energy source can be found in the Sanskrit texts, which some interpret as evidence of sophisticated engineering concepts. The descriptions suggest a combination of mechanical and potentially non-mechanical propulsion methods that go beyond the simple combustion processes familiar to modern aircraft engineering.” This so-called mercury vortex engine is related to a plasma or ion drive sometimes used on modern satellites and spacecraft.

 “The Vaimānika Śāstra, an early 20th-century Sanskrit text on aerospace technology, makes a claim that the vimānas mentioned in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles, similar to a rocket capable of interplanetary flight as backed up by the ancient alien theory. Revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josye, the texts contain 3000 shlokas in 8 chapters which Shastry claimed were psychically delivered to him by the ancient Hindu sage Bharadvaja. The propulsion of the Vimanas According to Kanjilal (1985) is by a “Mercury Vortex Engines”, a concept similar to electric propulsion. However, many people argue that a far greater, more accessible and ‘free’ power source was available to the ancient Vimana craft. It is noteworthy to mention that a couple of years ago, Chinese researchers discovered ancient Sanskrit documents in Lhasa, Tibet, dating back thousands of years. The ancient texts were sent to the University of Chandigarh for translation. The results were shocking. According to Dr. Ruth Reyna the translated texts, allegedly are ‘blueprints’ for the construction of interstellar spaceships.”

“According to the translated documents, the propulsion system designed for the spaceships was based on antigravitational technology, and based on a system analogous to that of ‘laghima,’ the unknown power of the ego that exists in man’s physiological makeup, ‘a centrifugal force strong enough to counteract all gravitational pull.Interestingly, according to Hindu Yogis, the mysterious ‘laghima’ force is what enables people to levitate. Dr. Reyna explained that ‘on board, these machines which were called ‘Astras,’ the builders of the crafts could have sent a detachment of men to any planet. The manuscripts, however, do not mention how interplanetary communication was achieved, but they do mention a trip from the Earth to the Moon, though it is unclear whether the trip was just planned or actually carried out.’”

Petroglyph of an Indian temple or shrine misidentified as a vimana. Internet image, public domain.

Wikipedia’s analysis gives some insight to the subject. “The Vaimānika Śāstra was first committed to writing between 1918 and 1923, and nobody is claiming that it came from some mysterious antique manuscript. The fact is, there are no manuscripts of this text before 1918, and nobody is claiming that there are. So on one level, this is not a hoax. You just have to buy into the assumption that 'channeling' works. ... there is no exposition of the theory of aviation (let alone antigravity). In plain terms, the VS. never directly explains how Vimanas get up in the air. The text is top-heavy with long lists of often bizarre ingredients used to construct various subsystems. ... There is nothing here which Jules Verne couldn't have dreamed up, no mention of exotic elements or advanced construction techniques. The 1923 technical illustration based on the text ... are absurdly un-aerodynamic. They look like brutalist wedding cakes, with minarets, huge ornithopter wings and dinky propellers”

Petroglyph of an Indian temples or shrines misidentified as vimanas. Internet image, public domain.

So, what we actually have, is real petroglyphs of temples or stupas of India and southeastern Asia being purposely misidentified as phony ancient steampunk antigravity flying machines, and for this reason RockArtBlog awards the 2025 C.R.A.P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award to the unnamed purveyors of this garbage.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS - 2024.

 

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 2024

From RockArtBlog   

Image created by DALL-E-2.

 

 Have a very Merry Christmas,

A Happy New Year's Eve, 

and all the best in 2025.

A NEW ROCK ART DISCOVERY IN THE NORTHERN SINAI – AND ANOTHER DONKEY:

Petroglyph cave at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

A recent discovery in the northern Sinai Peninsula of Egypt contains rock art of a style unknown throughout the rest of the Sinai. “An archaeological mission from the Tourism and Antiquities Ministry discovered an ancient cave featuring a unique and diverse collection of carvings at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, the ministry announced on Saturday. The head of ministry’s Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Ayman Ashmawy, explained that the archaeological cave is located at the beginning of one of Wadi al-Zulma’s tributaries within a mountainous area of limestone that is difficult to reach – about 90 kilometers southeast of the city of al-Qantara Sharq, and 60 kilometers east of the Suez Canal.” (Al-Youm 2020) Although the team members are calling this a discovery, once again I have to point out that its location and rock art had been known by many other people.

Donkey petroglyph,
Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

Donkey. Internet image, public domain.

This donkey image, at Wadi al Zulma in the northern Sinai desert of Egypt, is located roughly 450 miles from the donkey at Karahan Tepe in Turkey that I wrote about previously, and it is undated as of yet. This suggests that we need to be very careful about any implications of cultural similarities, although these themes are very similar.

“The age of the cave drawings is still unknown, but Aymen Ashmawi, head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities explained the scenes carved inside the cave are completely different from those found in South Sinai, having a special artistic style that resembles raised relief in execution.” (Bartek 2020)

Petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. This appears to be an older image of a quadruped, with a newer ostrich carved over it appropriating the front leg.

Superimposed petroglyphs at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

I will go farther than Ashmawi’s statement that they “resemble raised relief in execution.” I would classify many of these petroglyphs as low reliefs. The lines are fairly deeply carved, and then the inner edge of the line is rounded off to provide a more natural looking portrayal.

Ibex petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

“The Director General of the North Sinai Antiquities and head of the archaeological mission working on the cave Hisham Hussein explained that most of the carvings are within the cave’s inner walls and depict animals such as donkeys, camels, deer, mule and mountain goats.” (Al-Youm 2020) The relatively deep carving, unlike simple scratching, suggests that the artists were there for relatively long periods of time. This allowed them to take more care in accuracy and appearance.

Quadruped petroglyph at Wadi al-Zulma, North Sinai, Egypt. Image provided by Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.

“According to a Tourism and Antiquities Ministry statement, the cave is 15 meters deep and 20 meters high. The ceiling is made of limestone, and the cave is filled with large amounts of animal waste. Ashes found inside the cave indicate it’s continuous usage by locals as shelter, where they might have stayed with their flocks during rain or winter.” (Al-Youm 2020) Given ashes indicating continuous usage for shelter there must also be fragments of charcoal that may be radiocarbon dated, although the animal waste suggests that the stratigraphy of much of the deposit has probably been stirred up by the hoofs of livestock. Perhaps careful excavation next to a wall would yield better stratification of deposits.

Given that the team stated that the cave had been used by locals with their flocks, they certainly cannot claim credit as the first discoverers of the rock art.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Al-Masry Al-Youm, 2020, Photos: Archaeologists uncover ancient cave in North Sinai, 26 April 2020, Egypt Independent, https:www.egyptindependent.com. Accessed online 27 November 2024.

Bartek, Jan, 2020, Remarkable Ancient Animal Engravings Discovered In Unknown Cave In Sinai, 1 May 2020, https://www.ancientpages.com. Accessed online 27 November 2024.

 

A DONKEY IMAGE FOUND AT KARAHAN TEPE:

Excavation at Karahan Tepe, Turkey. Image from easternturkeytour.org.

A charming petroglyph of a running wild donkey has been discovered at the site of Karahan Tepe. "Karahan Tepe is an archaeological site in (the) Sanliurfa Province in Turkey. The site is close to Gobekli Tepe and archaeologists have also uncovered T-shaped stelae there and believe that the sites are related. According to Daily Sabah, 'The excavations have uncovered 250 obelisks featuring animal figurines' as of 2020. Additiionally, the site may be the earliest known human village, predating the construction of Gobekli Tepe, dating to between 9,000 - 11,000 BC." (Wikipedia) The "Daily Sabah" is a Turkish newspaper that is published in the English language. Other publications give the total number of obelisks as 266. Given the stylistic resemblances between Gobekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe this relationship would seem to be obvious.

Running wild donkey figure, Karahan Tepe, Turkey. Image from  anatolianarchaeologyy.net.

“The ongoing excavations at Karahan Tepe, led by Professor Dr. Necmi Karul, have revealed a remarkable new find: a depiction of a running wild donkey carved onto a stone laid on the floor of an ancient structure. This depiction, approximately 20 centimeters in length, is notable not only for its size but also for its dynamic portrayal, which reflects the artistic skills of Neolithic people. ‘The donkey figure found is a figure about 20 centimeters long, placed right next to the grinding stone,’ Dr. Karul told the correspondent. Rather than its dimensions, the fact that it is mobile and depicted in proportion to the stone on which it is carved is again an indication of the skill of the artists of this period.” (Radley 2024) I would not call a paving stone set in the floor mobile, but this is merely a detail.

Running wild donkey figure, Karahan Tepe, Turkey. Image from  anatolianarchaeologyy.net.

“The period of domestication and distribution of the donkey (Equus asinus) in Turkey occurred around 5000 to 7000 years ago. They are thought to have their origins from the Nubian (Equus africanus africanus) and Somalian (E. a. somaliensis) ass, both of which are subspecies of the African wild ass. The African wild ass lived in the deserts and other arid areas of the Horn of Africa, in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. However, it formerly had a wider range that extended into Egypt.” (Milligan 2024) This timeline does not seem to fit the estimated dates of occupation for Karahan Tepe (ca. 11,000 – 9,000 BCE) unless it was occupied for two thousand years or more, which is not backed up by estimations for the occupation dates there.

Running wild donkey figure, Karahan Tepe, Turkey. Image from  anatolianarchaeologyy.net.

 “According to Dr. Karul, the wild donkey motif is the first of its kind discovered at Karahan Tepe, adding a new dimension to our understanding of animal iconography and the relationship between humans and their environment during this perion. He explained that the animals depicted in the iconography of the era generally fall into two categories, those with an erie, imposing presence, often seen on obelisks, and more commonly consumed animals, such as birds, gazelles, and wild donkeys. The latter were animals that people lived with, consumed, and were surrounded by, compared to the more fearsome creatures. ‘The depiction of the wild donkey in motion, carved onto the base of a grinding stone is particularly notable as it is the first time we have encountered such a moving wild donkey motif.’” (Radley 2024)

Closeup of running wild donkey figure, Karahan Tepe, Turkey. Image from anatolianarchaeologyy.net.

Once again we seem to have discrepancy because pictures very clearly show the stone that the donkey is carved onto next to a grinding stone, not on its base. These discrepancies of date and location are mere details (errors of reporting) however, compared to the very early and wonderful depiction itself which we can confirm in the photographs.

NOTE: It is even possible that the small, factual discrepancies between reports could have resulted from differing interpretations during translation from an original report in Turkish.

REFERENCES:

Milligan, Mark, 2024, Donkey depiction discovered at Karahan Tepe, 22 August 2024, Heritage Daily online, https://www.heritagedaily.com. Accessed online 17 October 2024.

Radley, Dario, 2024, Running wild donkey figure discovered at Karahantepe, 31 August 2024, Archaeology magazine online, https://archaeologymag.com. Accessed online 17 October 2024.

Wikipedia, Karahan Tepe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karahan_Tepe. Accessed online 23 October 2024.

15,800 YEAR OLD IMAGE OF PALEOLITHIC AGE NET FISHING:

Fish in a net, engraved-plaquette, Gonnersdorf, Germany. Illustration from archaeology.org.

By far the earliest depiction of catching fish with a net has been discovered on a stone plaque at Gonnersdorf, Germany. “Scientists from the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie and Durham University have examined a collection of 406 engraved schist plaquettes found at the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf in Germany. The ancient engravings provide valuable insights into the fishing techniques and tools used by Paleolithic peoples, and how these practices were translated into visual culture through the depiction of nets characterized by interlaced diamond-shaped and square meshes.” (Prostak 2024)

Drawing of fish in a net, engraved plaquette, Gonnersdorf, Germany. Illustration from archaeology.org. Blue lines represent the fish, black lines are the net.

“The ~15,800 year-old Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, in Germany, has produced 406 engraved schist plaquettes which have been extensively studied in the past. The introduction of advanced imaging technologies, notably Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), has now precipitated a re-evaluation of these artifacts, uncovering nuanced depictions of fishing practices previously unrecorded for the Upper Palaeolithic. Our investigation harnesses RTI to elucidate fine engraving details on the plaquettes, revealing depictions of fish and accompanying grid motifs. The analytical process enabled by RTI has exposed an intricate link between the grid patterns and fish figures, showing that they were a deliberate combination portraying the use of fishing nets. This discovery posits a significant departure from earlier interpretations of the site’s iconography, which predominantly emphasized more naturalistic representations of fauna. Furthermore, these findings illuminate aspects of Magdalenian cultural praxis, suggesting that representations of aquatic life and fishing technologies were not merely utilitarian in nature but were embedded within a broader symbolic framework. This study enhances our comprehension of Magdalenian peoples’ interaction with the aqueous milieu, revealing a sophisticated symbiosis between ecological adaptation and artistic expression.” (Robitaille et al. 2024)

Salmon figure, Abri du Poisson Cave, France. Internet image, public domain. The rectangular lines are saw cuts remaining from an illicit attempt to remove the carving.

Illustrations of fish have been discovered in a number of the Paleolithic painted caves of Europe, and elsewhere such as Lortet, Mas d’Azil, and Abri du Poisson.

 “Unlike the more celebrated sites known for their vivid fish depictions, Gönnersdorf’s abstract and minimalist style offers a fresh perspective on the socio-cultural dynamics of Magdalenian communities. Fishing with nets, deriving from a broad spectrum economy, reveals the diversity, adaptability and creativity of prehistoric communities, showcasing their proficiency in utilizing a variety of fishing techniques to sustainably exploit aquatic resources.” (Prostak 2024)

Ancient bone fish hooks have been discovered, as well as barbed harpoon points carved from bone, antler, or ivory.

“Prehistoric fishing deployed a diverse range of technologies and techniques, including various strategies for obtaining fish that can be summarised as active fishing, which requires direct human involvement with or near the fishing equipment, passive fishing, involving trapping methods, or a combination of both,” said Dr. Jérôme Robitaille of the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie and colleagues. Some methods were developed for individual catches, such as angling, while others were refined to maximize yields through the use of collective nets and traps. The selection of a particular method was influenced by the target fish species, as well as the distinct habitats and terrains where specific aquatic resources thrived. Although evidence for fishing in the Upper Plaeolithic (20,000 to 14,500 years ago) is not abundant, there is sporadic direct and indirect evidence of several fishing techniques, such as barbed points or harpoons, bows and arrows, traps, and fishing nets.” (Prostak 2024)

While we did know that Paleolithic peoples had cordage, and we knew that they ate fish from bones found in excavations, this is probably the first illustration of net fishing from that period. In a way this makes them more human and relatable. Imagine them sitting around their fire telling lies about the one that got away.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Nitzsche, Christina, 2024, Oldest depictions of fishing discovered in Ice Age Art: Camp site reveals 15,800 year old engravings of fish trapping, 7 November 2024, Phys.org, https://phys.org/news/2024. Accessed online 7 November 2024.

Prostak, Sergio, 2024, 15,800 Year Old Engraved Plaquettes Shed Light on Paleolithic Fishing Techniques, 11 November 2024, https://www.sci.news/archaeology. Accessed online 11 November 2024.

Robitaille, Jerome, et al., 2024, Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gonnersdorf, Germany, 6 November 2024, Plos, https://journals.plos.org. Accessed onlne 7 November 2024.

1.4 MILLION YEAR OLD STONE SPHERES?

Limestone spheroids, Ubeidiya, Israel. Illustration from phys.org.

This column is not about rock art, per se, but a fascinating phenomenon found at early hominin sites. Carefully manufactured stone balls or spheres. These discoveries come from a number of Acheulean sites spread over much of the world.

“Acheulean tools were produced during the Lower Paleolithic era across Afriica and much of West Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Europe, and are typically found with Homo erectus remains. It is though that Acheulean technologies first developed about 2 million years ago, derived from the more primitive Oldowan technology associated with Homo Habilis. The Acheulean includes at least the early part of the Middle Paleolithic. Its end is not well defined, depending on whether Sangoan (also known as “Epi-Acheulean”) is included, it may be taken to last until as late as 130,000 years ago. In Europe and Western Asia, early Neanderthals adopted Acheulean technology, transitioning to Mousterian by about 160,000 years ago.” (Wikipedia)

Spheroid sites in Israel including Ubeidiya. Illustration from royalsocietypublishing.org.

A publication authored by Antoine Muller of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently presents his team’s analysis of a number of limestone spheroids retrieved from an Early Acheulean site in Israel known as Ubeidiya dating to ca. 1.4 million years ago. “Excavations at the Early Acheulean site of ‘Ubeidiya have yielded a large number of stone balls offering a unique opportunity to conduce quantitative and objective three-dimensionsl (3D) analyses to explore how and why these curious artifacts were made. ‘Ubeidiya is situated in the Dead Sea Rift Valley, at the northern margin of the Red Sea – East African Rift System. Dated to ca 1.4 Ma, the site presently constitutes the oldest evidence of the Acheulean outside of Africa. Its geographical position in the southern Levant makes it a key site for exploring the first Acheulean hominin forays out of Africa.” (Muller et al. 2023)

Known spheroid sites worldwide. Illustration from royalsocietypublishing.org.

Muller and team performed a detailed analysis of the stone spheres to investigate whether they were intentionally created stone balls, or if this was essentially an accidental result of their being used as hammerstones.

Limestone spheroids, Ubeidiya, Israel. Illustration from phys.org.

“If spheroids represent hammerstones or percussors, then they should become both smoother and more spherical. If spheroids represent expedient cores, then we expect to see some pattern in the removal of scars. This pattern could take the form of scars of regular size, orientation or distribution over the surface. The spheroids may even become smoother during a final stage of battering attempts to remove flakes. However, we do not expect them to become more spherical. While even random flaking can mimic intentional artifact shaping, this strategy is unlikely to approach anything as unnatural as a true sphere. Due to the limits on the fracture mechanics of flaking that govern detachable platform angles, the high-angled flake removals necessitated by a spherical form would require much more effort and shaping than is involved in expedient flaking.” (Muller et al. 2023) In the end the Muller paper does not give a conclusion as to why these (or any other) stone spheroids were laboriously created.

A large number of stone spheres were also recovered from Qesem Cave, of roughly the same age as the Ubeidiya site, also in Israel.

Fremont figure at Balanced Rock, Nine Mile Canyon, Utah. Photograph Peter Faris, 1993.

On 4 April 2021 I published a column on RockArtBlog titled “The Enigmatic Figure at Balanced Rock, Utah – Bolas, Juggling or Rattles” in which I mentioned that some have interpreted the stone balls found in Fremont cultural contexts might have been used to create bola or boleadero, the implement commonly associated with South American gauchos. The Fremont culture is roughly dated to a span the ran from AD 1 to AD 1301 and has no connection to the Acheulean period at all so this is just a coincidence.

Fremont stone sphere. Illustration from Madsen, 1989.

“For a long time stone balls commonly found at Fremont village sites were thought to be part of a game, but recent work suggests that they may have been used with metates.” (Madsen 1989:33) and “Some stone balls, such as this highly polished specimen from the Old Woman site, suggest a use other than as a grinding tool.” (Madsen 1989:66) I also concluded that the Balanced Rock petroglyph was likely carrying a rattle, not a boleadero so this throws no light on the frequent occurrence of stone balls at Fremont sites at all. As I said above, this is just a coincidence, but a very interesting one.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Faris, Peter, 2021, The Enigmatic Figure at Balanced Rock, Utah – Bolas, Juggling or Rattles, 4 April 2021, RockArtBlog, https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7760124847746733855/1434956800556132596.

Madsen, David B., 1989, Exploring the Fremont, University of Utah Occasional Publications No. 8, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City.     

Muller, Antoine et al., 2023, The limestone spheroids of ‘Ubeidiya: intentional imposition of symmetric geometry by early hominins?, Royal Society Open Science, Volume 10, issue 9, September 2023. Accessed online 6 September 2023.

Wikipedia, Acheulean, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acheulean. Accessed online 10 Sept. 2024.

 

Wikipedia, Qesem Cave, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qesem_cave. Accessed online 14 October 2024.

SHAMANISM AND ROCK ART - REVISITED:

A Siberian shaman. Illustration from behance.net.

I am taking the opportunity to revisit the subject of ‘shamanism’ in rock art because it seems that more and more references to shamanism can be found in books and articles about rock art.

I once had an opportunity to attend a lecture by the great Joseph Campbell, author of so many books on mythology and belief systems. Campbell believed that similarities in myths were of much greater significance than differences, so he had no trouble equating myths from different sides of the globe. At this particular lecture he explained the significance of the dying man/wounded bison panel from the chimney at Lascaux Cave in France in terms of  Australian Aboriginal belief. To my way of thinking this goes way too far afield. These cultures were separated by tens of thousands of years and thousands of miles, with no apparent possibility of reciprocal influencing.

My example from the Campbell lecture is indicative of a problem that I see cropping up all too frequently in rock art studies. The shamanic or neuropsychological model for explaining rock art has become such a fad explanation that it is hard to find people giving credence to any other possibilities. As far as trancing and/or entoptics influencing rock art I really do not need a trance hallucination or entoptic vision to inspire the images I make. Once the pigments or hammerstones are picked up in front of a rock face there are only so many things I can do with them. Trying to reproduce an image from life or create a geometric shape needs no artificial stimuli. There are only so many geometric shapes available, and a reproduction of a living being is inspired by the being itself. To attribute these to anything else is nonsense.

An understandable, but biased interpretation of rock art is found in the tendency of the viewer to attempt to define what they are viewing on the basis of what has been successfully applied to interpretations in the past. An example of this is seen in the case of David Lewis-Williams whose early work with interpreting South African rock art in light of San bushman shamanism so impressed the rest of the rock art community. Since that early success Lewis-Williams seems unable to consider any other possible interpretation no matter what the conditions or location the rock art is found in, or what age it is from. An early success of intellectual application that was thought to approach the genius level seems to have led him to the status of a one-trick pony.

I suggest that Lewis-Williams made the mistake of taking the wrong message away from his earlier work. Instead of learning the lesson that he had succeeded by a rigorous application of reasoning based upon knowledge of ethnographic material for the San people of Africa, he seems to have come away with the message that “shamanism” was the correct answer so it would always be the correct answer. In other words he seems to have subsequently used his mental abilities, knowledge, and reason, to fit other rock art into his shamanic framework instead of using those same gifts and abilities to find a unique answer that would fit the unique conditions of the rock art he was appraising.

“Throughout the book by Clottes and Lewis-Williams, possibilities are presented as ‘evidence’, then used as building blocks for speculation that magically acquires the status of ‘fact’ (Bahn 1997). This is a crucial problem for, in the words of Carl Sagan, if we become ‘self-indulgent and uncritical, when we confuse hopes and facts, we slide into pseudoscience and superstition’ (Sagan 1997: 27). As Hamayon (1997:65-66, my translation) puts it, the book’s ‘approach is devoid of any critical thought: conjectures on one page become, as if by magic, assertions on the next . . . I have rarely seen such reductionism, I have rarely seen such simple-minded determinism.” (Bahn 2010:118-119) This is a phenomenon I see all too often in rock art writings. A concept that is introduced as a possibility on one page will be used as a fact a page or two later to support another surmise. 

A shaman with paraphernalia. Internat image, public domain.

We would do well to remember that the limited remains of the physical cultures studied by archaeologists represent a very small proportion of those cultures. They had a whole world of beliefs, mythology, rituals, and physical knowledge that is not necessarily represented by those physical remains. Rock art represents that world of beliefs, mythology, rituals, etc. aspect of the whole world that these people lived in, and we have no physical artifacts from that world for most of the cultures that we are studying.

In 2011 I wrote “In his 2002 book The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art, David Lewis-Williams revisited the shamanism argument for the dying man panel. Lewis-Williams originally swept the rock art community with his early analysis of much of South African rock art in light of San (bushman) religious practices that he defined as Shamanism. He eventually served as director of the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand from which he retired in 2000. He has since published many important books and reached a position of respect world-wide. He has a great ability to organize and analyze data and search for clues and patterns. As might be expected, considering his focus and early success on the interpretation of South African rock art in light of shamanic influences, he tends to find shamanism behind pretty much anything he looks at. At this point I must confess that I believe that the use of shamanism as an explanation of rock art is hugely overdone. I have gotten to the point where I think of shamanism as the “S”-word. It has reached the position where anyone who cannot come up with a better explanation for rock art just calls it shamanic. A few decades ago pretty much all rock art of animals was dismissed as “hunting magic” and much of the early respect afforded Lewis-Williams came from the fact that he very convincingly gave us an alternative to that overused term. We need to be very careful that we now do not just automatically substitute the “S- word” for “hunting magic” and continue to make the same mistake.” (Faris 2011)

Self portrait by Samantha, 1998.

”A number of years ago on a field trip an enthusiastic rock art fan explained to me that all human figures in rock art that have their arms stretched out straight represent shaman figures. Upon return from that trip to the museum where I worked as exhibits curator at the time I was confronted by the illustration above. It turned out that the picture had been done by a young girl named Samantha who had run out of space on the page when signing her name. The resulting picture had been posted on a lobby wall by the institution’s education curator. I kept a copy of the picture because at that time its innocent childishness seemed to sum up so perfectly the statement that “all figures in rock art that have their arms outstretched straight represent shaman figures”; why she even spelled shaman almost correctly. At the very least it represents scientific proof as definitive as some of Lewis-Williams’.” (Faris 2011) In this I have not modified my opinion since.

“The “shamanism” or “neuropsychological” model proposed by Lewis-Williams and colleagues has had a powerful impact on rock art research, and has significantly added to our knowledge of past foragers lifeways in southern Africa and elsewhere in the world. However, this model is primarily based on the view of shamanism as a universal and unvarying characteristic of foragers over space and time. This paper raises both theoretical and empirical problems with this view. The paper examines the relationship between the specific social roles and practices of shamanism and the overarching cosmological structures on which they are based in both southern Africa and Northern Eurasia. In both cases, the paper argues that many cosmological beliefs are highly persistent and durable, extending into prehistory, while the specific practices and roles of shamans are variable, changing to meet the immediate and local needs of their communities.” (McCall 2006)

Picture of a dancing siberian shaman in full regalia. Image from DALL-E.

This concept of rock art being the product of shamanism had been pushed by the Abbe Breuil. “By Breuil’s death in 1961, the concept of shamanism aligned an idea of universal early religion with the eminence of the painter, the beauty of the cave art, the violence of the imagined ritual, and the political influence of the charismatic leaders. It explained the painter as a shaman too. Like Picasso, Breuil enjoyed what this meant for himself: the painter saw and moved where others could not, and like the shaman he plumbed the animal depths and made them accessible to everyone. The Renaissance of cave painting in the twentieth century was built on this myth. Contemporary artists, confronted with an unpleasant, disenchanted world in their own time, couldn’t resist.” (Geroulanos 2024:302) I, for instance, grew up in the Unitarian church, my wife a Baptist church. If either, or both of us were to paint a picture of a deer on a cliff or cave wall, would it then be shamanic in nature. According to Breuil and Lewis-Williams it would.

Bahn argued basically the same point. “Unfortunately, the claim is often made that ‘shamanism is the religion of all hunting and gathering cultures’, which, as we have seen, is simply not true. For example, there is no shamanism at all in Australia. Trance and ecstasy are not found in many cultures known to have produced prehistoric and historic rock art.” (Bahn 2010)

“There are both theoretical and empirical flaws with the view that shamanism is a universal feature of forager societies, and that forager rock art invariably relates to shamanism. Future rock art research in southern Africa must work to address these flaws in moving beyond past paradigmatic dispositions. This paper has also argued that rock art is (a) class of archaeological remains originating from the process of landscape enculturation. The production of rock art is affected by many short-term and local contingencies, but rock art affects human behavior at scales beyond human lifetimes. The accumulation of rock art on landscapes represents a long-term, inter-generational process. Therefore, this paper has argued that the content of rock art at regional scales is easier to relate to the durable and persistent cosmological structures of forager societies than to the variable, flexible, and transitory social practices of shamanism.” (McCall 2006)

I feel the need to state here (again) that I am not denying that there is shamanistic rock art. I am stating that there are a myriad of potential meanings for a rock art image and reasons for its production, some of it shamanic, some not. Let us not automatically jump to the use of the “S-word” in all instances. It is just not the only answer.

NOTE 1: In some of the quotations I have included above I have left citations that are not listed in my references below. To find these I recommend that you go to the sources listed.

NOTE 2: Some images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain images.

REFERENCES:

Bahn, Paul G., 2010, Prehistoric Rock Art: Problems and Polemics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Faris, Peter, 2011, The S-Word, Shamanism- or, The Dying Man in Lascaux Revisited, Rock Art Blog, 9 July 2011, https://www.rockartblog.blogspot.com.

Geroulanos, Stefanos, 2024, The Invention of Prehistory, Liveright Publishing Company, a division of Norton and Co., New York.   

McCall, Grant S., 2006, Add Shamas and Stir? A Critical Review of the Shamanism Model of Forager Rock Art Production, 25 September 2006, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2006.09.001

Williams, David Lewis, 2004, The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the origins of Art, 1 April 2004, Thames and Hudson, New York.