PALEOLITHIC ARTIFICIAL MEMORY SYSTEMS:

We have long considered ancient rock art including cave paintings to be data. I also include carved bone and ivory as well as portable carved and modified stones. The authors of this new paper have a modified way of looking at these records. They refer to them as Artificial Memory Systems (AMS), suggesting that after they had been created they could be visited again later to retrieve data from them.

While they focused on bone and ivory it seems to me that their approach could just as well be used looking at painted caves, or any other rock art. “Artificial Memory Systems (AMS) encompass devices that record, store, transmit, and retrieve coded information beyond the brain, via external representations. AMS can be anything from the notches on a gunslinger's pistol, tracking past success, to the symbols on and data encoded within the Voyager spacecraft's golden record, detailing a snapshot of Earthling knowledge and culture.” (Jackson 2025) This is all true, although it is a pretty broad field of examples.

 A. and B. – marks on bone made by modern butchery. From Courtenay et al., 2025,  Figure 1, page 3.

The methodology the team used will be to analyze two groups of marked artifacts, the Paleolithic and what they refer to as ethnographic. The ethnographic artifacts are much more recent and we have actual ethnographic data about their meanings. “Current scientific knowledge suggests humans are the only species to manufacture and use these tools. While a number of artifacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic have been considered to be early instances of AMS, conclusive and systematic evidence of this function is absent. Here we contrast the spatial distribution of markings on these potential early AMSs to other Paleolithic artifacts displaying butchery and ornamental marks, as well as ethnographically recorded cases of AMS. We find that both eth­nographic and Upper Paleolithic AMSs are endowed with systematically different signatures that distinguish them from the other artifacts. These findings suggest that modern humans in at least Africa and Europe had sophisticated cognitive capabilities for information storage and retrieval, providing insights into the possible development of quantity-related cognition.” (Courtenay et al. 2025) Many researchers have considered the question of numeration in these examples of ancient art, from dots and lines among the animals on cave walls, to grooves on a boulder as a given but the question of what they do or do not count is constant.

 

C.and D. – decorative engraving in the form of zoomorphic (C) and geometric (D) motifs. From Courtenay et al., 2025,  Figure 1, page 3.

Statistical analysis was applied to the Paleolithic bone markings. “The present analysis has shown that the spatial distribution of different types of markings on bone are separable, with distinct patterns emerging for butchery activities, figurative or abstract representations, and potential AMSs; whether the latter be ethnographic examples, or Paleolithic instances interpreted as such from previous studies. These studies have proposed that four distinct factors, in isolation or com­bination, may play a role in creating codes allowing for the storage of information in an AMS; the number of marks, the accumulation of marks over time, their spatial organisation and arrangement, as well as their morphology. To date, the identification of potential Paleolithic AMSs has been based mainly on the technological analysis of marks.” (Courtenay et al. 2025)

E.  and F. – possible AMS. From Courtenay et al., 2025,  Figure 1, page 3.

Having used statistical methods to analyze the Paleolithic examples, the team then used the same methods on more recent artifacts for which ethnographic records are available. “The examined ethnographic datasets included examples of notched sticks, some of which exhibit quantity-related representations, and some that strongly suggest some form of expressive quantification. They are documented from 20th -century artefacts from Muacapenda and Muatchondo (Angola), tally sticks from Medieval England, as well as 19th -century notched wooden artifacts from the Yakun­bura community of the Dawson river (Australia). This raises a plausible interpretation for these artifacts, related with the emergence of quantitative cognition in our species. Although these artifacts present no additional discernible information about their function based solely on the mark­ings beyond the data that has been collected ethnographi­cally or historically, our statistical analyses show that they share many properties with the potential Paleolithic AMSs in our sample. An important remaining question, however, is to determine what aspects of expressive quantification might be involved in Paleolithic AMSs, since quantifica­tion is a multifaceted phenomenon that encompasses a wide range of features and cognitive mechanisms.” (Courtenay et al. 2025) Comparing the results of their study of both groups of artifacts, the team concluded that the Paleolithic markings were indeed capable of recording data, but since we have no knowledge of their languages it is unlikely that we will ever be able to retrieve that data.

G. and H. – known AMS. From Courtenay et al., 2025,  Figure 1, page 3.

Of course we are still using AMS, we just have very technologically different systems nowadays. “Writing systems, recorded music and images stored digitally in computer code represent the most modern form of AMS, utilizing the most complex mix of language and technology ever created, while essentially relying on the simplest binary system of notches and dots to encode.” (Jackson 2025) Of course writing systems, recorded music and digital images rely on considerably more complicated tools to achieve their function. Indeed, I am typing this into a Lenovo laptop computer. My actions in this are not really more complicated than carving notches in a bone would be, but I am only able to do this because someone went to considerable trouble to manufacture my tool, much more complicated than a rock flake.

So, do these markings encode data? If the obvious fact that the marks were produced on purpose by someone with an idea behind them can be considered data, then yes, they do. I really don’t know what this gets us, however. We already believed this. It sort of strikes me as arguing about the difference between red and scarlet. I suppose it is comforting to know that their statistics back up what we believed all along.

REFERENCES:

Courtenay, Lloyd Austin, Frencesco d’Errico, Rafail Nunez, Damian E. Blasi, 2025, Identifying potential palaeolithic artificial memory systems via Spatial statistics: Implications for the origin of quantification, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 17 (171). https://doi.org.10.1007/s12520-025-02286-4. Accessed online 5 August 2025.

Jackson, Justin, 2025, Searching for Artificial Memory Systems in ancient humans with spatial statistics, 5 August 2025,  Phys.org online. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-artificial-memory-ancient-humans-spatial.html. Accessed online 5 August 2025.

THE MILKY WAY IN ROCK ART:

 

The Milky Way. Vera Rubin Observatory photograph.

It is almost universally accepted that ancient cultures were very interested in the heavens, and we can assume that the prehistoric creators of petroglyphs and pictographs were also fascinated by questions of the universe. It could not have been possible to not be fascinated by the Milky Way.

Nut, Egyptian sky goddess. Internet image, public domain.

Among the most prominent features of the night sky is the side view of our galaxy that we call the Milky Way. Ancient cultures had to have an explanation for it that satisfied their world view and mythology. “The Egyptians, for examples, may not have been the only culture to link the Milky Way to a sky goddess who gives birth to other gods and, especially, other celestial objects.” (Graur 2024:37)

Citlalicue, sky-goddess. Internet image, public domain.

Peoples of the Americas had their own beliefs concerning the Milky Way. “Several of the pages in the Codex Borgia, a pre-Colombian pictorial manuscript composed by the Tlaxa-caltec people of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley in Mexico, include images of elongated beings covered with stars. These beings have been identified as the Milky Way as well as the goddess Citlalicue (Star Skirt), the “… goddess of the stars …”, and the mother of several gods, including the Venus god Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl is shown cutting his way out of the belly of Citlalicue; this and other, similar scenes in Co-dex Borgia 29-46 are interpreted as Venus crossing the Milky Way.” (Graur 2024:37)

Similar views of the Milky Way are found across Mesoamerica (Milbrath, 1999: 41). The dead of the Yucatec Maya travel along the Milky Way at night (Sosa, 1985: 432). The Quiché Maya see the Galaxy as two of four cosmic roads. Of these, the Black Road (Q’eqa b’e) or Road of Xibalba (Ri b’e xib’alb’a), which is identified with the dark band of the Milky Way’s Great Rift, leads to the underworld (Tedlock, 1985: 36, 337, 354). Similarly, the Lacandón call the Milky Way the “… white way of our true lord …”, Hachäkyum, the ruler of heaven populated by the dead.” (Graur 2024:39)

Mayan two-headed sky monster, from Clopan, altar 4,  Late Classic Period. Image from Mary Miller and Karl Taube,The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, Thames and Hudson, London, 1993.

The ancient Maya saw the Milky Way as a serpentine monster with a head at each end. “Specifically, the two-headed monster known as the Celestial Monster or Cosmic Monster. This particular supernatural creature usually has either a crocodilian or sky band body, but in at least one example, cloud scrolls form the body. - - Most commonly, the Bicephalic Monster frames scenes of accession or rulership for the Maya, but its intrinsic meaning may be to represent the arc of the heavens, the front head being identified with Venus, pulling behind it the fleshless head of the Sun in the Underworld .” (Miller and Taube 1993:45) This is considerably more picturesque than many other beliefs, but then the Maya did have amazing imaginations and left us many images of them.

First Nations people in North America had a range of beliefs concerning the Milky Way. “Many Native American peoples across North America view the Milky Way as a road along which the spirits of the dead travel to the afterlife. The souls (tasoom) of the Cheyenne are said to travel toward the home of Hemmawihio (The Wise One Above), an all-knowing high god re-presented by the Sun, via the Milky Way, which is known as ekutsihimmiyo (Adamson Hoebel, 1960: 86–87). The Lakota name for the Milky Way is Wanáǧi Thacháŋku, the Spirits’ Road, which the Lakota follow to heaven when they die (Hollabaugh, 2017: 70–72). The Pawnee come to this life as the children of stars and, when they die, become stars once more. The stars of the Milky Way are the ancestors of the Pawnee moving from this world to the next (Pawnee Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office, pers. comm., 2022)..” (Graur 2024:39) The idea that the Milky Way is a road or a path is a very common belief all around the world.

Chaco Canyon petroglyph panel. Photograph by Suzan Bradford.

Suzan Bradford's photograph overlaid against the Milky Way. Image by Robert Juhl.

Back in 2014 Robert A. Juhl sent me a PowerPoint presentation that he had created based upon a rock art photograph from Chaco Canyon that had been taken by Susan Bradford. In this presentation he likened the petroglyphs panel in the photograph to details of the Milky Way in the region of Scorpius in the night sky. When he superimposed the petroglyphs panel over this section of the Milky Way a crack across the panel seems to conform with the ‘Great Rift’ in the Milky Way, and he could match up a number of other details in the panel and the Milky Way. Additionally, although Juhl does not make this claim in his PowerPoint, the other features on the panel could represent constellations in that section of sky.

In the area of the American southwest tribes, the Milky Way is known as Ashes placed across the sky, or the Great Snowdrift in the sky by the Zuni people. (Miller 1997:183) In the design for a Navajo sand painting in the Shooting Chant Father Sky on the left side shows the Milky Way across his chest as a row of connected diamonds. (Miller 1997:187) But, most tribes in North and Central America connect the Milky Way with a path arcing across the night sky.

 

Rochester Creek petroglyph panel. Photograph Peter Faris, August 1993. Reminiscent of Nut arched across the sky, with a push me-pull you in the upper left corner to represent the Mayan two-headed monster?

With that definition in mind I will present as a possible representation of the Milky Way the great panel at Rochester Creek, near the junction with Muddy Creek near Emery, Utah. The arc in the panel might be seen as representing the Milky Way, and the creatures scattered around it might represent the constellations as identified by the people. As I said above, this is only a possibility, the arc in the panel is often presented as a rainbow as well, but the Milky Way and surrounding constellations might be a better explanation of the other figures on the panel. In any case, it is an interesting question and kind of fun to speculate on.

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:

Graur, Or, 2024, The Ancient Egyptian Personification of the Milky Way as the Sky-Goddess Nut: An Astronomical and Cross-Cultural Analysis, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 27(1), 28-45.

Juhl, Robert A., 2013, The Milky Way in Chaco Rock Art, Version 18. PowerPoint presentation.

Miller, Dorcas S., 1997, Stars of the First People, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder, Colorado.

Miller, Mary, and Karl Taube, 1993, The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, Thames and Hudson, London.

SECONDARY REFERENCES:

Adamson Hoebel, E., 1960. The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Milbrath, S., 1988. Birth images in Mixteca-Puebla art. In Miller, V.E. (ed.), The Role of Gender in Pre-Colombian Art and Architecture. Lanham, University Press of America. Pp. 153–178.

Milbrath, S., 1999. Star Gods of the Maya: Astronomy in Art, Folklore, and Calendars. Austin, University of Texas Press.

 

Tedlock, D., 1985. Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life, Revised Edition. New York, Simon & Schuster.

COULD THE CAVE ARTISTS ACTUALLY SEE THEIR COLORS – EVEN BLUE?

 

On July 12 and 19 of this year (2025) I published a two part look at color perception among ancient peoples titled Could the Cave Artists Actually See Their Colors – parts 1 and 2. These explored theories that ancient people perceived fewer colors than we do today. While I do not agree with any of those positions I did have fun exploring the topic. Now I have found a paper that helps cast light on that question and may help provide an answer. 

Isatis tinctoria L. Internet image, public domain.

The discovery was made in Dzudzuana Cave, in Georgia, in the Caucasus. “In the foothills of the Caucasus, archaeologists have recovered something unusual from Dzudzuana Cave: tiny traces of indigotin, the molecule that produces indigo blue. The residues clung to pebbles used as grinding tools 34,000 years ago. They came not from food, but from the leaves of Isatis tinctoria L. – a plant better known as woad.” (anthropology.net 2025)

Isatis tinctoria. Photograph botanic.cam.ac.uk.

The evidence was found in grinding stones. “The leaf epidermis fragments were found entrapped in the topography of the used surface of unmodified pebbles, in association with use-wear traces. Although their bitter taste renders them essentially inedible, the leaves have well-recognised medicinal properties and contain indigotin precursors, the chromophore responsible for the blue colour of woad, a plant-based dye that is insoluble in water.” (Longo et al. 2025:1) Indeed, it is woad that is traditionally used in dying the denim for blue jeans.

“This is the first evidence that Upper Paleolithic groups intentionally processed a non-nutritional plant to extract compounds for purposes beyond survival. For archaeologists, it is a rare window into how Homo sapiens looked to plants not just for calories, but for color, healing, and meaning.” (anthropology.net 2025) So now the question is whether the I. tinctoria was ground for medicinal uses, or to obtain the blue colorant, or both.

“The ingestion of non-nutritional plants containing medicinal secondary metabolites was identified in 47,000-year-old Nean­derthal dental calculus, while tentative evidence for poison 40,000 years ago was recovered from Border Cave, South Africa. Medicinal plants are reported from a number of Palaeolithic sites in the Caucasus; however, it is challenging to demonstrate that these were ingested and/or intentionally processed. To date, there is no evidence for the extraction of dyes from organic materials in the Palaeolithic; the known colourants (red, yellow, black and white) are all pigments of mineral origin apart from charcoal. They are highly resistant to ageing, with little apparent degradation and known to have been used in Palaeolithic art and for other purposes. For example, ochre is known in various applications such as tanning leather or skin, as a preservative, as insect deterrent and as skin protection.” (Longo et al. 2025:2-3)

Grinding stones with traces of Isatis tinctoria L. leaves. Photograph from PlosOne.

Also “this is the first time indigotin — a blue secondary compound, also known as indigo — has been identified on such ancient artifacts. The molecule forms through a reaction between atmospheric oxygen and the natural glycoside precursors in Isatis tinctoria L. leaves, released from the cellular vacuoles. This proves that the plant, despite not being edible, was intentionally processed as early as 34,000 years ago.” (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Press Release), 2025)

 

“Although a significant number of plants naturally contain useful secondary metabolites, many require complex processing to access these and make them usable. Even in the case of food, some nutritious plants require extensive leaching, roasting and/or pounding to eliminate toxins, while extraction of useful medicinal secondary compounds demands a deep knowledge of plants since many can be both medicinal and poisonous, with only the correct processing and dosage making the difference. The processing of plants cannot be simply assumed or ignored as it formed part of the complex tapestry of Paleolithic life. Nonetheless, to demonstrate the use of plants, exhaustive analytical studies are required and studies such as those pre­sented here, is one way to achieve this.” (Longo et al. 2025:15-16) I think common sense allows us to infer a considerable range and variety of plant use during the Paleolithic.

Microscopic trace of indigotin. Image from PlosOne.

“Many plants have extensive medicinal properties including anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, antiviral, anal­gesic, and antioxidant and there is extensive evidence for the use of these, not only in human traditional medicine, but also across the animal kingdom. All animals, and even insects, self-medicate. In the case of chimpanzees, they sometimes prepare the plants prior to consumption; Sumatran orangutans are known to apply to wounds a mashed concoction of Fibraurea tinctoria leaves. Today, the roots of I. tinctoria and other indigo-bearing plants are used in medicine because they contain flavonoids and the leaves contain indigoid-precursor molecules that have preserva­tive, antiseptic, repellent, and protective properties. It is therefore entirely within the behavioral context of humans, from all Paleolithic periods, to use plants to self-medicate.”  (Longo et al. 2025:17)

Indigotin ground from Isatis tinctoria. Photograph from archaeology.org.

“I. tinctoria is also known as a source of indigotin, a well-established blue chromophore obtained by the oxidation of precursors naturally present in the cells of the leaves. The use of I. tinctoria to obtain a blue hue is well known, and this knowledge extends into later prehistory. The use of this plant has been recorded as dye since Egyptian times, the earliest written source being the Papyrus Graecus Holmensis (also known as the Stockholm papyrus, retrieved in the XIX century). However, while the possibility exists that I. tinctoria was transformed into woad dye and used during the Early Upper Palaeolithic, there is currently no archaeological evidence for this. However, and more broadly, color was  known, in particular in rock art where red, yellow, white and black are present across the Eurasian continent and the Indonesian archipelago from around 40,000 years ago. Blue is a relatively rare color in nature and to the best of our knowl­edge, blue pigment (mineral-based) from Palaeolithic contexts has only been reported for Siberian figurines.” (Longo et al. 2025:17-18) Organic based paints (i.e. plant-derived) tend to disappear through oxidation and weathering over the millennia. I. tinctoria may have been used as a colorant for rock art but we may never know it.

Given that no known evidence remains of the use of I. tinctoria as a colorant from this long ago so it may well be that the intended use was medicinal, however, the fact that the people there were engaged in grinding it in preparation for something would seem to be proof that they could see it. So, the question of whether ancient painters could see blue or not 34,000 years ago is closed – as I said before, they could.

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 originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Anthropology.net, 2025, The Blue Shadows of Dzudzuana, 2 September 2025, https://anthropology.net. Accessed online 3 September 2025.

Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Press Release), 2025, Traces of blue indigo on 34,000 year old grinding tools suggest Paleolithic plant use scenarios, https://phys.org/news. Accessed online 2 September 2025/

Longo, Laura et al., 2025, Direct evidence for processing Isatis tinctoria L., a non-nutritional plant, 32–34,000 years ago, 9 May 2025, PLOS One, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal/pone.0321262. Accessed 3 September 2025.

A COMET PETROGLYPH AT LOS ALAMOS:

I have written before on the subject of comets pictured in rock art here on RockArtBlog. I find the concept of an astrophysical manifestation like a comet being recorded in this way to be eminently reasonable, something as amazing as a close approach of a comet might well spark the desire to make a record.

Los Alamos petroglyph panel. Photograph by Bruce Maase, 2013.

One apparently memorable comet appearance was in 1264 AD. This one was supposedly seen pretty much worldwide, and mentioned in records. According to Herman E. Bender “Unambiguous images of comets in North American rock art are rare. What is or may well be even more rare to non-existent was/is the ability to date the images. This potentially changed with discovery in or about 2013 of a comet pictograph near Los Alamos, New Mexico. The comet in the pictograph was identified by a scientific team as the Great Comet of 1264 AD. Backing up the claim, European and Asian medieval comet records firmly indicated the comet had entered eastern Orion in mid-August and had five tails. Because three stars in a row, i.e. Orion’s ‘belt stars’, were indicated on the rock art panel along with the comet and its five tails, the comet in the pictograph was dated to mid to late August, 1264 AD.” (Bender 2023:21)

Los Alamos petroglyph panel. Photograph by Bruce Maase, 2013.

Here Bender is correlating the vertical row of three dots below the supposed image of the comet to the belt of the constellation Orion. 

One interesting identifying feature of the comet portrayal is that it is shown with five lines of dots that are taken as its tails. “Five tails was a salient feature of the Great Comet of 1264 AD. The Korean records stated that, ‘On a chia-hsi~ day in the seventh month of the fifth year of WSnjong [26th July] a comet was observed at the NE. Its tail, which measured 7 to 8 ft, gradually divided itself into five branches pointing towards the NW.’ Further corroborating the five tails time-line for August 17 (1264 AD), the Korean record went on to state that, ‘On a jen-yin day in the eighth month [23rd August] the [five] branches reunited and the tail increased in length.’ The European records leave no doubt that the comet sported five separate tails, but also echo Asian records of where the comet was seen with its five tails on the early morning of August 17, 1264 AD, i.e. ‘between the Dog [Sirius and Canis Major] and Orion’.” (Bender 2023:21-22) I have so far been the actual dating method used to reach this conclusion, however, Bruce Masse (2013) implies that it was estimated based on the position of the comet to a supposed indication of the constellation Orion on the panel. This position was also found in the Korean record.

Woodblock print depicting the great comet of 1264, dated 15th century. Internet image, public domain.

The remarkable appearance of this comet would have been memorable indeed. Donald K. Yeomans (2007) reported that “on July 26, Chinese observers reported the tail spanning 100 degrees.” This is obviously an extremely impressive manifestation with it spanning 100 degrees across the arc of the sky. This appearance was well recorded with J. R. Hind citing over three dozen contemporary sources in his 1884 book On the expected return of the great comet of 1264 and 1556.

Adoration of the Magi, Giotto di Bondoni, 1301. From Karam, 2017, p. 72.

As I had stated above, I find the concept of an astrophysical manifestation like a comet being recorded in this way to be eminently reasonable, something as amazing as a close approach of a comet might well spark the desire to make a record. A more famous example of such a record is the fresco painting Adoration of the Magi by Giotto di Bondoni in 1301 in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy. In this, Bondoni shows the magi before the Holy Family in the manger with the Star of Bethlehem shown in the form of a comet.

Having been lucky enough to have seen a few comets in my life I can well understand the urge to leave a record of such a wondrous occasion. While I have not always totally agreed with Bender’s analyses in other things I can find no reason to disagree with this one. Congratulations to all involved in winkling out the facts to this fascinating story.

NOTE 1: If you wish to refer to P. Andrew Karam’s (2017) book on comets be sure to check pages 66 and 67 where he has included my photograph and field sketch of the great comet from the famous panel in Chaco Canyon.

NOTE 2: 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:

Bender, Herman E., 2023, The Great Comet of 1264 AC in Rock Art – Two Views from North America, Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies, Inc., Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA. Accessed online 14 September 2024.

Hind, J. R., 1848, On the expected return of the great comet of 1264 and 1556, Published by G. Hoby, 123 Mount Street, Berkeley Square, London. Accessed online 6 August 2025.

Karam, P. Andrew, 2017, Comets, Reaktion Books, London.

Masse, W. Bruce et al., 2013, A Probable Ancestral Pueblo Comet Petroglyph at Los Alamos National Laboratory, PowerPoint presentation at IFRAO 2013 conference, American Rock Art Research Association, Glendale, Arizona. Accessed online 7 August 2025/

Yeomans, Donald K., 2007, Great Comets in History, from Solar System Dynamics, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Accessed online 6 August 2025.

A PALEOLITHIC SHRINE IN THE SINAI PENINSULA?

 

Flint nodule manuports erected in the shrine on Har Karkom. Image from Emmanuel Anati.

This column originated when I accidentally ran across a picture on the internet of a shrine on Mount Har Karkom in Israel’s Sinai Desert. It was labeled Paleolithic in age and what attracted my interest was that it is centered on upright standing stones that look weirdly human. When I tracked it down it came from a book by Emmanuel Anati (2001) titled “The riddle of Mount Sinai: Archaeological discoveries at Har Karkom.”

This book presents a great deal of archeological work in this area and mentions hundreds of features and thousands of petroglyphs, unfortunately, it does not give any scientific facts so the reader has to take Anati’s conclusions on trust. For instance, Anati seems to have set the age of this shrine as Paleolithic based on the styles and shapes of a large number of stone tools located there. There is no mention of any scientific dating.

Eastern cliff of Har Karkom, site HK86B. Emmanuel Anati, Fig. 9, p. 20.

Anati’s writings, of which the book cited is only one sample, ostensibly about the archaeology of Mount Har Karkom, are actually expressing Anati’s interpretation of the facts to prove his theories about biblical truth and that this is indeed Mount Sinai. “Presuming that the Israelites travelled across the Sinai Peninsula towards Petra in a fairly straight line, a number of scholars have contemplated the possibility of Har Karkom being the biblical Mount Sinai. Following this theory, Emmanuel Anati excavated at the mountain, and discovered that it was a major Paleolithic cult centre, with the surrounding plateau covered with shrines, altars, stone circles, stone pillars, and over 40,000 rock engravings. Although Anati, on the basis of his findings, advocates the identification of Har Karkom with Mount Sinai, the peak of religious activity at the site may date to 2350-2000 BCE, and it appears to have been abandoned perhaps between 1950 and 1000 BCE. The Exodus is sometimes dated between 1600-1200 BCE. However, there is no archaeological evidence supported by scholars to maintain a date of 1600-1200 BCE. Anati instead places the Exodus, based on other archaeological evidence, between 2350 and 2000 BCE.” (Wikipedia)

View of the two "breasts," the twin summits of Har Karkom, from the Paleolithic shrine site HK 86B. Emmanuel Anati, Fig. 198, p. 176.

Now I am uninterested in whether Har Karkom is or is not Mount Sinai, but the discovery of the shrine on top of the mountain fascinates me.  “In 1992 the discovery of the Palaeolithic ‘sanctuary’ (HK86B) changed the previous assessment of Har Karkom’s cult use. The flint industry in the sanctuary belongs to a phase known in several sites at Har Karkom as ‘Karkomian,’ that is the initial phase of the Upper Paleolithic age, likely to be about 40,000 years old. This site is located on the eastern edge of the plateau, where its heights dominate the Paran Desert from above.”  (Anati 2001:16)  I cannot say that Anati does not have hard dates for any of this. I can only state that I have been unable to find any. So to repeat what I said above, Anati apparently is basing his paleolithic age for the shrine on the style of flint tools found there in large numbers. A practice that I find somewhat shaky.

Petroglyph on a nodule shaped like a resting animal. Emmanuel Anati, Fig. 193, p.171.

“Traces of Neolithic and Hellenistic cult sites have thus been found in the area of Har Karkom. Further, the discovery of the Paleolithic sanctuary HK86B provides a new temporal frame for the cult functions of this mountain. We know of no other cult sites with such a testimony: a Paleolithic sanctuary likely to be 35,000 to 40,000 years old, a Neolithic sanctuary, and over 100 BAC (Note: BAC stands for Bronze Age Culture.) cult sites, then, after a lapse of time, an Iron Age sanctuary and a Hellenistic sanctuary.” (Anati 2001:111-114) But, once again notice no sign of actual data on how these dates were assigned.

Anati uses a number of features in the landscape to back up his conclusions. “Another ceremonial trail runs from the Paran Desert to the Paleolithic sanctuary (HK68B). These various roads show a tradition of ceremonial processions while people climbed to the Har Karkom plateau.” (Anati 2001:117) Notice that this is a ‘ceremonial’ trail. If it is a ceremonial trail it must lead to somewhere that ceremonies happen.

Modified manuport, Emmanuel Anati, Fig. 192, p.171.

What immediately caused my interest in this is the use of large flint upright stones in this shrine. As can be seen in the photographs there are some that are eerily human looking. These remarkable examples of pareidolia would also be great evidence for the fringies who look for ancient aliens. “About forty flint monoliths with sinuous and provocative shapes were grouped in the ‘sanctuary’ by Paleolithic man. Some were collected locally and erected, while others derive from two different flint sources, one of which is nearly three kilometers away. Some, more than one meter high, are still standing, like silent ghosts with human forms, while others have fallen from upright positions. On the surface of this area of about four hundred metre, several flint stones of natural anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes have been found, along with numerous flint tools. Some have been retouched by man, modified by an Upper Paleolithic technique of flaking, picking, and etching to produce figurative details and more defined facial features.” (Anati 2001:16) Large numbers of these flint forms are manuports, having been gathered from around the mountain together as a collection at this shrine. And, as reported, some have been altered to emphasize an appearance.

 

Geoglyph near Paleolithic shrine. Emmanuel Anati. Fig. 188, p. 169.

“In a corner of this ‘sanctuary’ the paleosoil is covered by alignments of flint pebbles in non-figurative patterns.” (Anati 2001:16)

There are also geoglyphs here created, like the ones at Nazca, by removing stones to leave the soil bare, and alignments of stones as well.

“The geoglyphs of Har Karkom represent anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures and a variety of patterns. Several details give clues to their dating. Non-figural geoglyphs in the palaeosoil of the Paleolithic sanctuary (KHK86B) seem to mark sectors in the area next to the sanctuary. Because of the quantity of Upper Paleolithic flint implements, it may be postulated that the geoglyphs belong to the same age as the sanctuary.” (Anatie 2001:114) So, once again we see that the whole dating construct is based upon the appearance of the stone tools. Anati may be correct, I really do not know, but again this seems to me to be a pretty shaky conclusion.

Anati’s main aim seems to be verification of the bible and to try to prove that Mount Har Karkom is the biblical Mount Sinai. I couldn’t care less about any of that, but am absolutely fascinated by the flint figures in and about the shrine HK86B recorded in his writings. I am really grateful he has recorded these and will let him interpret things any way he wishes. I just do not have to agree.

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:

Anati, Emmanuel, 2001, The riddle of Mount Sinai: Archaeological discoveries at Har Karkom, Studi Camuni Vol. 21, Valcamonica, Italy.

Wikipedia, Mount Karkom, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Karkom. Accessed online 26 July 2025.

A NEWLY DISCOVERED PRE-DYNASTIC EGYPTIAN ROCK ART PANEL:

Map of location of panel near Aswan, Egypt (the red dot in lower left). Image from cambridge.org.

A newly discovered rock art panel near Aswan in Egypt is considered pre-dynastic and thought to shed light on the beginnings of the Pharaohs. “A rock art panel near Aswan, Egypt, may depict a rare example of an elite individual from the First Dynasty, shedding light on the formation of the ancient Egyptian state. The late 4th millennium BC was a key period in Egyptian history which saw the beginning of political unification across Egypt, ultimately leading to the formation of the Egyptian state by the first pharaoh, Narmer, about 3100 BC.” (Egan 2025) The composition was carved at the bottom of a cliff and was pretty much covered by talus from above; soil washed down from above, sand blown up against the cliff, mud deposited from high water events and detritus from quarrying up above the petroglyphs position on the rock face.

Site of panel (seen on left). Photograph by Dorian Vanhulle.

Dorian Vanhulle, of the Musẻe du Malgrẻ-Tout, in Viroinval, Belgium, wrote “Uncovered on the west bank of the Nile at Aswan, the engraving consists of a putative authority representative seated in a processional boat, a scene that is otherwise well attested in Late Predynastic (Naqada IIC–D, c. 3450–3350 BC) and Protodynastic (Naqada IIIA–B, c. 3350–3085 BC) iconography. Stylistic similarities between this decorated rock panel and Protodynastic and early First Dynasty official imagery suggest the existence of rock-art specialists commissioned by regional authorities. Building on this contextual analysis, this article also advocates for the better integration of rock art in discussions focusing on the development of kingship and state formation in Egypt and Lower Nubia.” (Vanhulle 2025) The style of boat portrayal is pre-dynastic and the figures are simple and lack much detail, indeed, the five individuals pulling the rope seem to be simple vertical lines.

                               

Image on cliff partly covered by talus. Photograph by Dorian Vanhulle, Figure 5.

The identification of the lines on the right as five figures pulling a rope would seem to be reasonable. What was important was the boat and its passenger (and the steersman) so they are the parts of the composition that deserved more careful attention to detail. “The engraved composition consists of an ornate boat dragged by five figures to the right. The boat is propelled by a standing figure holding a rudder-oar and transports what seems to be a seated figure. The engraving is positioned at the eastern edge of a long, flat and otherwise untouched sandstone canvas that is visible from the modern road, although the drawing is too small to be observed from that distance. The current topography of the hill has, however, been drastically altered by quarrying activities and does not offer a pristine image of the original landscape. The (lack of) visibility of the panel in antiquity would have varied depending on factors such as the level of river water during flooding, light levels and the time of day/year.” (Vanhulle 2025) This suggests that it represents either a procession with an elite individual being pulled on the boat, or perhaps the boat is in the Nile being pulled upstream by the five individuals at the end of the rope. In either case, the passenger must be an important person.

                              

Panel exposed showing petroglyph. Photograph by Dorian Vanhulle. Figure 6A.

As stated elsewhere, the boat image is in the style of pre-dynastic watercraft on the Nile river. “The outline of the boat is traced by an accumulation of peck marks. The inner part of the hull is left untouched. No trace of smoothing nor any kind of enhancement of the final image has been identified. The boat consists of a sickle-shaped hull completed by two vertical extremities. The apex of the prow (pictured right) ends with a horizontal bar from which emerge two short garlands that curl down inwards and another that falls vertically outwards. The stern (pictured left) adopts a slightly incurved movement and shows a rounded profile. The standing figure, with a rounded head and square shoulders, is wedged between the stern and the rear deck structure. Only the right arm and front leg are depicted, the other limbs being hidden as an effect of the perspective. The figure is holding a long rudder-oar that ends with a rounded blade. The prow is oriented to geographical north, and the boat is thus depicted sailing downstream, against the wind, which could justify the presence of the stylized figures that appear to be pulling it. Yet even if the direction of travel is incidental, ceremonial barques, with no proper means of propulsion, were presumably always dragged.” (Vanhulle 2025) In other words, with no sign of a sail or oars for propulsion, this watercraft can be reasonably assumed to be a ceremonial craft. This is, in effect, a stage setting to show off a very important person. This boat is oriented north because the cliff it is carved into is oriented north/south. The artist may have chosen to have it pointing downriver, or may have not thought about that at all. Presumably, a boat going downriver could have drifted on the current so five figures pulling may in fact suggest that it was intended to indicate that it is going up river, against the current. I do not believe we can know this one.

                              

Drawing of petroglyph by Dorian Vanhulle, Figure 6B.

Vanhulle is here assuming that the location of the boat is purposeful, in this place that was an ancient power center in Egypt. “The Aswan-Kom Ombo region and the First Cataract were inhabited by a population mixing Upper Egyptian and Lower Nubian cultural traits. Various forms of political and territorial power could, therefore, have emerged at the same time in the Lower Nile Valley, with their evolution shaping the process of state formation in Egypt. It could also be suggested that Lower Nubian polities were less able to control a population that largely remained attached to a nomadic way of life. Differences in pace and form in the structuring of power in Egypt and Nubia could partly explain the outcome, which saw Narmer found the First Dynasty in Egypt c. 3085 BC and the A-Group disappear from the Nubian archaeological record in the subsequent reigns. Pharaonic kingship is the result of a centuries-long process, and its inception was not as straightforward as generally assumed, nor was it restricted territorially or culturally.” (Vanhulle 2025) This, the most stable of ancient cultures, developed a political system that, although it had its ups and downs lasted for over one millennium.

Enlarged from the Photograph by Dorian Vanhulle. Figure 6A.

Vanhulle is assuming that the panel was created upon instruction by a person in authority. “Rock art was not an accidental practice but rather a social action that followed rules and had intrinsic meanings, functions and goals. Addressing the use of rock art by local and regional rising powers in Egypt during the fourth millennium BC offers new insights on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods. It also facilitates discussions about the constitution of a centralized management of the original Egyptian territory and its administrative delimitation. It offers information on how Nilotic and desert landscapes were invested with

codified messages by local authorities, and the ways in which these messages were diffused, influenced and appropriated by groups of different ethnic origins. The rock panel at SM36 is an important addition to the existing corpus of engravings that can help us to better understand the role of rock art in the crucial events that led to the

formation of the Egyptian state. Its fortuitous discovery shows the extent of the work to be done and the wealth of data yet to be discovered in the vast open-air museums of Egypt and Nubia.” (Vanhulle 2025: 14) Here, I take him to be saying that this image would not have been created without permission. This description of the importance of the rock art may make sense in a society as tightly controlled by a small number of elites as ancient Egypt, but I am not sure that this would preclude independent creation of petroglyphs by commoners. If this were done on the instruction of an elite these early period stone carvers are certainly not as accomplished as the sculptors of later Pharaohnic Egypt.

REFERENCES:

Egan, Robert, 2025, Rock art hints at the origins of Egyptian kings, Antiquity Publications Ltd., https://phys.org/news/2025-07-art-hints-egyptian-kings.html. Accessed online 10 July 2025/

Vanhulle, Dorian, 2025, An early ruler etched in stone? A rock art panel from the west bank of Aswan (Egypt), Antiquity Publications Ltd., published online by Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.60. Accessed online 10 July 2025.