BOLSHOI ZAYATSKY GEOGLYPHS - ENIGMATIC ISLAND OF LABRYNTHS:

The black arrow points to the location of Bolshoi (Big) Zayatsky Island. Internet image, public domain. The arrow points to the location of the island.

New Agers and other Fringies impart great spiritual significance to mazes and labyrinths. Just following the path is supposedly going to make you feel more spiritual. Now I am admittedly a skeptic on many things considered spiritual and certainly no New Ager, but it is also the case that many cultures over the centuries have included related beliefs in their spiritual lives. Among other things, labyrinths and mazes are often used as puzzles where one starts at the outside and attempts to find the center, whether with a pencil on paper or on foot in one of the cornfield mazes currently popular in the fall. 

One of the Bolshoi Zayatsky labrynths. Online image, public domain.

“Labyrinths have been found in just about every major religious tradition in the world, have formed an integral part of many cultures, and have been found on every inhabited continent.  At about the same time as the appearance of the Greek labyrinth, an essentially identical pattern appeared in Native American culture, the Tohono O'odham labyrinth, which features I'itoi, the "Man in the Maze". A prehistoric petroglyph on a riverbank in Goa shows the same pattern and other examples have been found among cave art in northern India and on a dolmen shrine in the Nilgiri Mountains. In terms of ancient archaeological monuments, more than 300 examples of labyrinths can be found in various locations around the world.  Many questions remain around how the same pattern managed to appear at the same time in apparently disparate cultures.”(Holloway 2014)

Large stone labrynth. Internet image, public domain.

There is, however, one location where the largest concentration of labyrinths in the world can be found. “Such labyrinths have been discovered all over the world, but the greatest number of them is concentrated on the Solovetsky Islands (Arkhangelsk Region) – about 35, with 14 of them on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island. Besides these labyrinths, hundreds of mounds, piles of boulders and dolmens were also found, which proves that the archipelago in the White Sea was inhabited in ancient times. It’s known that in the 1^st millennium BC, nomadic Saami tribes lived there, but they were not the first – the radiocarbon analysis of the objects showed traces of humans of the 6^th-7^th millennium BC. The labyrinths themselves date back to about 1^st -2^nd millennium BC, which means that they should have built before the Saami or Proto-Saami people. But some stone patterns could have been made later too.” (Goldman 2022) Dating of these remains speculative for the most part, wild guesses ranging from 30,000 BCE to historical can be found.

Stone labrynth. Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, Russia. Image from Pinterest.

“Also, such labyrinths were found on the islands of the Kuzova Archipelago in Karelia and not far from the town of Kandalaksha in Murmansk Region, as well as in some areas of Siberia. All of them are either on islands or in river estuaries, i.e. near water.” (Goldman 2022) It would seem that there is something in the culture that led to this proliferation of labyrinths.

Stone labrynth. Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, Russia. Internet image, public domain. The largest labrynth measures 25.4 meters in diameter.

 "All in all, there are 35 labyrinths (known as vavilons - 'Babylons' - in the local dialect) in the Solovetsky Islands. All have been made of local boulders. Excavations in the stone heaps have yielded parts of bones. Measuring between 6 - 25.4 m (20 - 83 ft) in diameter, the labyrinths are mostly made of boulders (c. 30 - 40 cm (12-16 in) in diameter) set in a row. The rows are twisted in the form of a spiral; often there are two spirals set one into another, which has been likened to 'two serpents with their heads in the middle looking at each other." Intermittently along the spiral there are thicker or wider heaps of stones; the ends of the spirals are also wider." (Wikipedia) This complicates the matter even further, heaps of stones and widened ends are design features not shared by all of the labyrinths, so what does that mean?

Stone labrynth. Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, Russia. Internet image, public domain. 

“Apart from rituals, labyrinths, at least some of them, could also have a purely practical meaning. The Soviet archeologist Nina Gurina, having studied Karelian and Murmansk labyrinths, assumes that they were intended for fishing. The point is that the water level could have been higher centuries ago and such stone traps ‘locked’ the fish without distracting people from other things.” (Goldman 2022) While this might be a possible use it strikes me as unlikely. There are, in fact, much more effective shapes for fish traps that would have involved moving considerably less rock. And what about the ones that are on higher ground that would not have been submerged – and why so many? All questions that I have not found answers to, but an interesting subject for speculation. What do you think?

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:

Goldman, Eleonora, 2022, Mysterious stone labyrinths in the Russian North – what are they?, 15 April 2022, Russia Beyond (online), https://www.rbth.com. Accessed online 28 May 2024/

Holloway, April, 2014, The Ancient Stone Labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky, 14 April 2014, https://www.ancient-origins.net/. Accessed online 28 May 2024.

Wikipedia, Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, https://en.wikipedia.org/. Accessed online 27 May 2024.

 

A 16,800 YEAR OLD PALEOLITHIC DWELLING FOUND IN LA GARMA CAVE:

 

The dwelling floor inside the Cave of La Garma. Photograph from the government of Cantabria.

Another Paleolithic dwelling has been discovered, this one in a decorated cave in Spain – La Garma.

Stenciled handprints, La Garma Cave, Spain. Photograph from arterupestrecantabrico.es.

La Garma Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

“The La Garma cave complex is a parietal art–bearing paleoanthropological parietal cave system in Cantabria, Spain, located on the southern side of La Garma Hill, north of the village of Omoño, part of the municipality of Ribamontan al Monte. The cave complex contains more than 4,000 fossils and more than 500 graphical units, with 109 signs, 92 animal figures, and 40 hand stencils. The cave complex is noted for containing one of the best preserved floors from the Paleolithic. La Garma is listed as part of the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain World Heritage Site.” (Wikipedia)

Another view of the dwelling floor, La Garma Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

“A project led by Pablo Arias and Roberto Ontañon from the University of Cantabria has recently announced the discovery of a Paleolithic dwelling within the cave system, described as ‘one of the best preserved Paleolithic dwellings in the world.’ The dwelling is an oval space and is delimited by an alignment of stone blocks and stalagmites that supported a fixed structure of sticks and skins leaning against the cave wall. The total area of the space is around 5 square meters that centered on a camp fire. Archeologists also found vestiges of various daily activities associated with Magdalenian hunters and gatherers at the dwelling, including evidence of stone manufacturing, bone and antler instruments, and the working of fur.” (Milligan 2023) It is assumed that the dwelling was constructed of animal skins over a framework of sticks, somewhat like the North American Tipi.

Note the presence of the fire in the dwelling. The temperature of the inside of a cave (away from the entrance) is relatively consistent year round and stays close to the average surface temperature of the region it is located in (usually somewhere between 50˚F and 70˚F). Much below the 70˚F mark and they inhabitants would need to keep a fire going for warmth. This also implies that they must have carried fire wood inside the cave. We can possibly also infer that they used a torch to traverse the distance from the cave mouth to the dwelling, which was 130 meters.

Carved bone aurochs, La Garma Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

Carved bone ibex, La Garma Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

“Researchers believe there was a small bonfire in the center of the space, in which a multitude of daily tasks would have taken place. They believe a group of Magdalenian hunters and gatherers shared the space and they have documented 6,614 objects from the dwelling including deer, horse and bison bones as well as 600 pieces of flint, needles and shells of marine mollusks. Among the discoveries was a decorated bone and several pendants that researchers believe dwellers wore as jewelry.” (Stavrou 2023)

Carved bone animals from La Garma Cave, Spain. Photograph by Pedro Saura.

Of course we have no proof that the residents of this dwelling in La Garma are the people who created the cave art. We do, however, have indications that they were industrious in the 6,614 artifacts retrieved from the dwelling.

A number of these are carved bone animals of the same species as the wall paintings, lending a certain degree of credence to the case for the painting of these same animals on the cave wall by the inhabitants.

Cave painting, La Garma Cave, Spain. Photograph unilad.com.

“It has been described as a ‘time capsule’ by the local government as the original entrance to the cave was blocked by a landslide around 16,000 years ago, preserving the ancient remains inside.” (Stavrou 2023) This should be considered irrefutable proof of the ancient age of the dwelling, the bone carvings as well as the cave art. They have to have been done more than 16,000 years ago. How many more marvelous discoveries are waiting to be found if we only keep searching?

NOTE 1: Strangely, I have been totally unable to find a translation of the word Garma from Spanish to English.

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:

Milligan, Mark, 2023, 16,800-year-old Palaeolithic dwelling found in La Garma cave, 1 December 2023, https://www.heritagedaily.com. Accessed online 2 December 2023.

Stavrou, Athena, 2023, Archaeologists discover prehistoric ‘time capsule’ in mystery cave dwelling, 6 December 2023, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/, Accessed online 19 December 2023.

Wikipedia, La Garma Cave Complex, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Garma_cave_complex. Accessed online 10 Januardy 2024.

MUSIC AND DANCE IN ROCK ART - THE TORO MUERTO PETROGLYPHS:

Dancers from Toro Muerto, Peru. Image from Toro Muerto Archeological Research Project Archives.

A huge number of petroglyphs can be found at a site called Toro Muerto in Peru. Although Toro Muerto is one of the largest rock art sites in Peru it has not been extensively studied. Recently a team of archeologists has published studies of the rock art of Toro Muerto. Andrzej Rozwadowski, Liz Gonzales Ruiz and Janus Z. Woloszyn published a paper in 2019 covering the rock art of Toro Muerto in general, and then in 2024 Rozwadowski and Woloszyn followed that with an analysis of the themes on some of the boulders as dancers and representations of the music accompanying the dancers.

Toro Muerto petroglyph boulder. Photograph A. Rozwadowski.

Dancers with zig-zag lines. Toro Muerto petroglyph boulder.  Drawing Polish-Peruvian research team.

“Toro Muerto, meaning ‘dead bull’ in Spanish, is a significant rock art complex located in southern Peru, nestled within a desert gorge near the Majes River Valley. Encompassing and expansive area of approximately 10 square kilometers (3.86 sq mi), this site holds around 2,600 volcanic boulders, each adorned with ancient petroglyphs. These petroglyphs vary in size and complexity ranging from small stones featuring single motifs to massive boulders adorned with intricate arrays of multiple images.” (Pandey 2024)

Another Toro Muerto petroglyph boulder with dancers and zig-zag lines. Photograph A. Rozwadowski. Drawing Polish-Peruvian research team.

“Unique to the Toro Muerto petroglyphs are the drawings of the so-called "danzantes" or dancers. A danzante is a schematic drawing of a human figure, usually 20-30 cm high, often depicted in a dynamic pose with one arm raised and the other lowered, legs slightly apart (sometimes bent at the knees), and the head presented in profile or facing forward. While the geometric patterns, lines, and zigzags accompanying the danzantes were initially thought to represent snakes or lightning bolts, Polish scientists who analyzed these 2,000-year-old rock carvings have proposed a different theory.” (Waters 2024)  On 15 April 2012, I wrote a column on RockArtBlog about Dancing Figures in rock art (Faris 2012). At that time I had not yet seen any of these marvelous petroglyphs at Toro Muerto.

Another Toro Muerto petroglyph boulder with dancer and zig-zag lines. Photograph A. Rozwadowski.

“A new study published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal proposes a novel interpretation: the abstract geometric shapes adorning the volcanic boulders might be representations of ancient songs potentially linked to shamanic rituals involving hallucinogenic plants.” (Radley 2024) I would think that this implies a strange twist on the neuropsychological model, stating that the petroglyphs represent visions seen accompanying music during hallucinations.

“It is worth noting that Antonio Núñez, Cuban ambassador to Peru and one of the most important early researchers of Toro Muerto, suggested that some of the geometric motifs he observed at this site (zigzags, straight lines, points) represent ‘musical or dance signs’ (signos musicales o danzarios), or ‘sound communication’.” (Rozwadowski and Woloszyn 2024)

Rudolph Laban. Image from Wikipedia.

Laban Dance Notation System chart. Internet image, public domain.

So, the idea that the lines, zigzags, etc., represented music that the anthropomorphs are dancing to has been considered a possibility since these petroglyphs were first studied. When I first saw the pictures I was struck by their resemblance to Laban diagrams invented to record dance movements. This is officially known as “Laban Movement Analysis." “LMA is largely taken from Rudolph Laban’s ‘The Mastery of Movement,’ first published in 1950. A choreographer and dance theorist hailing from Austria-Hungary, Laban was a pioneer of modern dance as we know it today. - - He also created intricate taxonomies for understanding human movement, such as labonotation, a theory of dance notation and analysis.” (Woltmann 2022) Now, I am not suggesting that these petroglyphs that accompany the ‘dancers’ are actually something like a Laban diagram, but I find the resemblance to be striking, a fascinating coincidence.

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, 2012, Dancing Figures, 15 April 2012, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Dancing%20figures.

Pandey, Sahir, 2024, Are Toro Muerto’s Petroglyphs in Peru Hallucinogenic Visions in Stone, 10 April 2024, https://www.ancient-origins.net. Accessed online 25 May 2024.

Radley, Dario, 2024, Geometric petroglyphs in Peru may represent ancient songs from shamanic rituals, 8 April 2024, https://archaeologymag.com. Accessed online 9 April 2024.

Rozwadowski, Andrzej, and Janus Z. Woloszyn, 2024, Dances with Zigzags in Toro Muerto, Peru: Geometric Petroglyphs as (Possible) Embodiments of Songs, pp. 1-21, published online by the Cambridge Archaeological Journal on behalf of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, UK. Accessed online 13 May 2024.

Waters, Connie, 2024, Ancient Petroglyphs In Toro Muerto Are Not What We Thought – Archaeologists Say, 24 May 2024, https://ancientpages.com. Accessed online 24 May 2024.

Woloszyn, Janus Z., Liz Gonzales Ruiz, and Andrzej Rozwadowski, 2019, The Petroglyphs of Toro Muerto: new documentation and discoveries at the largest South American rock art complex, pp. 1-8, Antiquity, Vol. 93, No. 372. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.200. Accessed online 14 May 2024.

Woltmann, Suzy, 2022, Laban Movement Analysis: An Introduction for Actors, 18 July 2022, https://backstage.com/magazine/article/laban-movement-analysis-guide-50428. Accessed online 26 June 2024.

RESCUING THE AMMOGLYPH:

Over the past few years I have written two previous columns about Ammoglyphs (click on ammoglyph in the cloud index at the bottom of the page). This newly designated form of rock art consists of a design drawn in sand which then became covered with more sand instead of being erased or destroyed. This sand can become consolidated over time to sandstone and splitting open layers of sandstone may reveal the original design. Obviously, this requires a number of precarious things to take place for the design to survive the millennia, but this is exactly what happened on a South African beach.

The rescued boulder showing the preserved drawing in sand. Photograph by Charles Helm.

“Our own remarkable discovery happened on a rugged, remote stretch of coastline east of Still Bay on South Africa’s Cape south coast. It was low tide, and three members of our ichnology team (people who study tracks and traces) were in search of newly exposed Pleistocene vertebrate tracksites in aeolianites (cemented dunes). Ahead we saw a large rock that had tumbled down from the cliffs above. On its surface was a pattern of linear groove features in a large triangular shape, complete with an almost perfect bisecting groove. The sides of the triangle were close to a metre in length. After extensive research, we concluded that these grooves must have been made on a dune surface of unconsolidated sand by our human ancestors in the Middle Stone Age. The patterns are likely between 143,000 and 91,000 years old.” (Helm 2024)

Stilbaai (Still Bay) lies almost 400 kilometers east of Cape Town. Photograph from South African Tourism Board.

This remarkable discovery in South Africa opened our eyes to another entirely new category of rock art which they named ammoglyphs. Intentional marks made on sand later consolidated into sandstone and subsequently exposed again by natural forces like erosion. This makes that particular piece of beach in Still Bay on South Africa’s southern Cape coast the ‘type’ site for ammoglyphs, important indeed.

Boulder in the process of being rescued by helicopter. Photograph by Richard Webb.

“But there was a problem. On a follow-up visit we found a smaller rock close by with a similar triangular feature. Subsequently, it was destroyed, likely by storm surges or high tides buffeting and overturning it. We knew that the larger rock inevitably awaited a similar fate of we did nothing. From our perspective this is one of the most important rocks in the world: it takes us back to our roots as a species and indicates the kind of ‘proto-art’ we were capable of creating so long ago. So we staged and unusual mission: a ‘rescue operation designed to get the approximately 500 kilogram rock to safety – in a museum.” (Helm 2024)

"The rock has subsequently been encased and placed on exhibit, with interpretive text panels. It joins similar exhibits in the museum; the grooves were an example of an ammoglyph, a term we had coined to describe a pattern created by humans in sand that is now evident in rock that has become cemented and then re-exposed." (Helm 2024)

The boulder that had been proposed for relocation. Pat Canyon, Baca County, Colorado. Photograph Peter Faris, September 1986.

Thirty-five years ago there was a considerable amount of talk about Historical Tourism, and a small town in southeastern Colorado near Picture Canyon devised a plan to build a prehistory museum to attract tourists. They proposed to start by moving a petroglyph covered boulder from a ranch in the area to be one of their major displays. Now moving a petroglyph boulder to rescue it from destruction, and moving it for a profit motive are two entirely different things. I thought the museum idea was a great idea considering the large quantity of rock art in that area, but I was appalled at the thought of desecrating the rock art site for it. Luckily it never happened. What I heard was that they could not afford equipment big enough to handle the boulder. Luckily, in this South African example, they could arrange for the right equipment, and it was moved to save it – rescued.

REFERENCE:

Helm, Charles, and Jan Carlo De Vynck, 2024, Rock Stars: how a group of scientists in South Africa rescued a rare 500 kg chunk of human history, https://news.yahoo.com. Accessed online 24 May 2024.

ANOTHER UNDERWATER DRIVELINE – THE DROP 45 SITE IN LAKE HURON:

About a utilitarian geoglyph for hunting animals.

North American Laurentide ice sheet. Illustration from Pinterest.

Laurentide ice sheet, Illustration from smithsonianmag.com.

Map of the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets. Online image, public domain.

It is easy to overlook, or forget, that the glacial periods had so much water locked up in ice that considerably more territory was available to prehistoric humans. Not only at continental margins, but where large lakes now exist, land was exposed and, no doubt, lived on and utilized by the populations. With the last melting of glacial ice this water was released and raised water levels considerably. This means, of course, that many traces of prehistoric life and activities are now underwater.

“Some of the most pivotal questions in human prehistory necessitate the investigation of archaeological sites that are now under water. The advance and retreat of glacial ice throughout the period of human development and dispersal, and the associated global changes in sea level, repeatedly exposed, and then submerged, significant coastal land masses. As a result, questions as diverse as the origins of early human culture, the spread of hominids out of Africa, and the colonization of the New World all hinge on evidence that is under water. Although the discovery and investigation of such sites presents methodological challenges, these contexts also have unique potential for preserving ancient sites without disturbance from later human occupation. The Alpena-Amberley Ridge (AAR) beneath modern Lake Huron in the North American Great Lakes provides just such a setting.” (O’Shea, et al. 2014:6911)

Diagram of Drop 45 Site beneath Lake Huron. Illustration from O'Shea et al., 2014.

During the last glaciations, before the birth of the Great Lakes, paleoIndian hunters roamed the area and left traces of their existence. “Since 2008, more than 60 stone constructions on the AAR have been identified and visually inspected within two targeted research areas. Targets of potential interest identified during acoustic survey are examined via video provided by a remote operated vehicle (ROV) and, if warranted, are directly mapped and sampled by self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba)-trained archaeologists.” (O’Shea, et al. 2014:6911) These investigations are now made possible by the development of the new technologies.

Blinds and drive lines seen from above. Drop 45 Site beneath Lake Huron. Illustration from O'Shea et al., 2014.

“Underwater archaeologists have discovered evidence of prehistoric caribou hunts that provide unprecedented insight into the social and seasonal organization of early peoples in the Great Lakes Region. An article detailing the discovery of a 9,000-year-old caribou hunting drive lane under Lake Huron appears in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ‘This site and its associated artifacts, along with environmental and simulation studies, suggest that Late Paleoindian/Early Archaic caribou hunters employed distinctly different seasonal approaches,’ said John O’Shea, the Emerson F. Greenman Professor of Anthropological Archaeology and lead author of the article. ‘In autumn, small groups carried out the caribou hunts, and in spring, larger groups of hunters cooperated.” (Swanbrow 2014)

Rollins Pass drive line, Grand County, Colorado, 25 July 1987, 1 mile of fence, 174 pit blinds and 184 cairns, ca. 6,000 - 3,000 BC. Photograph Peter Faris, 1987.

Although a low stone wall could have been easily crossed by the game animals, the appearance of such artificial features on the landscape seemingly make the animal uneasy, they tend to turn aside and parallel such a wall instead of crossing over. The high-altitude Rocky Mountain archaeologist James Benedict once told me about watching a deer approach a linear stone feature on Rollins Pass in the Colorado Rockies. Although the stone line is basically only one stone high nowadays the deer turned aside instead of crossing it. (Benedict, Personal communication, 1987)

Diver recording a hunting blind, Drop 45 Site beneath Lake Huron. Illustration from O'Shea et al., 2014.

Drop 45 Site beneath Lake Huron. Illustration from O'Shea et al., 2014.

Diver and underwater drone. Drop 45 Site beneath Lake Huron. Illustration from O'Shea et al., 2014.

“Researchers based at the University of Michigan think the roughly 9,000-year-old structure helped natives corral caribou herds migrating across what was then an exposed land-corridor – the so-called Alpena-Amberly Ridge – connecting northeast Michigan to southern Ontario. The area is now covered by 120 feet (37 meters) of water, but at the time, was exposed due to dry conditions of the last ice age.” (LiveScience Staff 2014)

“Paleoenvironmental analysis indicates that the area was a subarctic environment consisting of sphagnum moss, tamarack larch and spruce trees, along with small lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Radiocarbon dates on preserved wood yielded dates from 8,900–8,640 cal B.P., whereas charcoal recovered from the middle of a circle of small stones yielded a date of 9,020 cal B.P. The environment that emerges from these studies is one that would have been ideal for migrating caribou and for their human pursuers”. (O’Shea, et al. 2014:6911) I find it remarkable that we even have these hard dates for these features. Wonderful work.

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:

Benedict, James, 1987, Personal communication.

LiveScience Staff, 2014, In Photos: Hunting Structure Hidden Beneath Lake Huron, 28 April 2014, https://www.livescience.com. Accessed online 6 May 2024.

O’Shea, John M., et al., 2014, A 9,000-year-old caribou hunting structure beneath Lake Huron, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), 13 May 2014, Vol. 111, No. 19, 6911-15. Accessed online 6 May 2024.

Swanbrow, Diane, 2014, Prehistoric caribou hunting structure found beneath Lake Huron, 28 April 2014, https://record.umich.edu. Accessed online 6 May 2024.

GAME BOARD PETROGLYPHS IN INDIA:

Petroglyph rock and water hole at the site. Photograph Kumar, 2021-22, Figure 1.

Over the years I have posted a number of columns about petroglyphs apparently created as game boards in various parts of the world (see the cloud index at bottom of page). This revisiting of the subject adds some petroglyphs interpreted as game boards located at Buchkewadi, Taluka Junnar, District Pune, Maharashtra India. Ajit Kumar, in a paper published in 2021 discussed new petroglyph discoveries at this site including a number of game boards.

It seems board games have been popular throughout human history. Most early games of this type are variations of moving pieces and/or possibly capturing pieces from the other player. I have previously written about game boards carved into the rock in Oman, Azerbaijan, Hawaii, Kenya, Greece, and Mexico, so we can assume that these are pretty much a world-wide phenomena.

Solah Guttiya-Guti game board (right), and possible Pallanguzhi board (left), Photograph Kumar, 2021-22, Figure 11, page 73.

 “Game boards of different nature are noticed in the Petroglyphs here. The common game board noticed is of Solah Guttiya/Guti (Sixteen soldiers or balls) which in some areas is also called Bagh Bakari.  Other game boards noticed include that of Pallanguzhi (called Mankal in some areas) and Chaupar or Pachisi. The largest Solah Guttiya board is around 70cm square. Similar game boards are also noticed on the floors of some caves at Ellora and Nasik. Though these games were prevalent in society from ancient times, the game boards in the caves were possibly engraved after they fell into disuse for religious practices. Game boards are not seen in cave sites like Ajanta or Nadsur, which remained isolated and unused for leisure activities after their abandonment. Ajanta seems to have been totally abandoned possibly around 7th - 8th CE (based on inscriptions) and Nadsur around 2nd CE (in the absence later inscriptions and Buddha sculptures).” (Kumar 2021:70-71)  Some of these game boards in Buchkewadi are considerably more complex than most of the examples we have previously seen. Particularly the Solah Gottiya board is not a simple pursue and capture type board. It has much more complicated rules suggesting a level of cultural sophistication.

Solah Guttiya-Guti Game Board. Photograph Kumar, 2021-22, Figure 13, page 74.

Solah Guttiya is played much like the game we know as checkers where pieces are moved along from node to node on the pattern on the board and can capture the opponent’s pieces by jumping over them to an empty node. The pieces should be distinguishable from the opponent’s pieces and each player starts with sixteen pieces.

Pallanguzhi game board. Photograph Kumar, 2021-22, Figure 12, page 74.

Possible pallanguzhi game board and bull petroglyphs. Photograph Kumar, 2021-22, Figure 15, page 75.

“The Pallanguzhi board has 16 cups for holding the Tamarind or similar seeds or gotis (tokens) and at times, there are also larger receptacles on the board ends or middle to keep the seeds /gotis. This game is still played in many parts of India, especially Tamil Nadu. The Solah Guttiya game board has four main squares separated in the middle and two triangular boards attached to either side. Each of these main squares are further divided into 8 segments and each player gets a total of 16 segments from the two squares. Player(s) choose differently colored gotis and arranging 16 gotis each on the board, they sit opposite to each other and make their moves. Players capturing the greatest number of gotis, thus leaving the opponent with no gotis to play with becomes the winner. This game is still vogue in some rural parts of India, though not popular with younger generations. Engraved here is also a game board of Chaupar or Pachisi. This game also has a great antiquity and continues to be still played in some pockets of India. There are also large game boards some with 40 cups, and others 24 cups and as they are close to the Solah Guttiya and other game boards, it seems that it was meant to play some modified version of the Pallanguzhi game.” (Kumar 2021:73) Pallanguzhi uses a game board much like the African Mancala game board, and the Pachisi game is known here as Parchisi, a game adopted from the Indian.

These carved game boards are associated with a considerable number of bull petroglyphs. “This is possibly for the first time that such a large number of bull figurines associated with game board(s) and Shivling/Yoni (Shiva lingam/Yoni) motif(s) have been observed on basalt rock formation(s) as petroglyphs, especially from the Maharashtra region. The motif, especially the bull(s) facing each other depicted here have similarity in style with those reported along the Western Coast. It is interesting to note that only ithyphallic bull finds (are) represented and not cows or other bovine forms. The bull represented here seems to be of the Khilar/Khilari breed, which is still vogue on this region along with other breeds like the Holstein, Friesian and others. The petroglyphs depicted here are possibly creations of shepherds who visited the area for grazing and watering livestock. From the various game boards noticed along the hillock it is apparent they also spent quality time in recreation while attending to the livestock. The Shivling/Vulva and Labyrinths/Concentric circle motifs are definitely of the religious sphere, possibly done as votive offerings.” (Kumar 2021:60)

Finding original versions of Pachisi (our modern version is Parchisi) game boards carved into rock suggests a truly immense time depth for this game. Indeed, the resemblance of the other game boards to various modern games carries the same implication of time depth. It was not until the modern addition of electronic circuitry to games that games proliferated into the huge variety we see today. For millennia, most games basically were based upon moving and/or capturing tokens. Some were more complicated than others, some were made with greater craftsmanship, or more precious materials than others, but the basic principles were the same up until the latter half of the 20^th Century.

NOTE 1: In my quotations from Kumar I have made a number of spelling corrections and some grammar changes to reflect the usages of English. No meanings have been altered in this process.

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 this reports you should read the original report at the site listed below.

REFERENCES:

Kumar, Ajit, 2021, An Appraisal of Petroglyphs from Buchkewade, Taluka Junnar, District Pune, Maharashtra, Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 9, 2021-22, pp. 67-79. Accessed online 19 March 2024.

 

CAVE ART AS A REPOSITORY FOR THE SPIRITS OF HUNTED ANIMALS:

Animal frieze from Chauvet Cave, France. Online image, public domain.

An approach that turns the old idea of cave art as ‘hunting magic’ on its head imagining the art after the fact instead of before the hunt.

“During the first half of the twentieth century Abbé Breuil’s interpretation of cave paintings as simple hunting magic prevailed. His idea was that the paintings tried to bewitch the animals to ensure success in hunting. According to French archaeologist André Leroi-Gourhan, this idea originated from some extremely rare paintings depicting wounded or speared animals in European caves. Some prehistorians believed that the depicted animals were painted to encourage fertility of the game.” (Ijäs 2017:72)

Horses and rhinoceros, Chauvet Cave, France. Online image, public domain.

Many groups of indigenous hunters feel that the animals they harvest are willingly sacrificing themselves to the hunter to provide food and raw materials for his well-being, and they have customs of thanking the animal for giving itself up. For instance there are records of Inuit hunters not only thanking the dead game animal for sacrificing itself, but also pouring a little water in its mouth to give it a drink. “When Inuit kill an animal in the traditional way, they give it a drink of water or, if there is no water, they melt snow with their mouths.” (Laugrand and Oosten 2015:210) This act is a way of giving back to the animal who gave itself up to the Inuit hunter.

Such an act of giving back illustrates the attitude of honor, respect, even kinship that an indigenous hunter feels toward his quarry. “For hunter-gatherers, occupying environments where animal protein is essential to subsist, the hunt is an act of necessity. Such events, however destructive and aggressive as they tend to be, are commonly associated not with the hunter’s sense of malice, disdain, or even casual disinterest, but an abiding sense of respect and honor for his prey.” (Buckner 2020)

Horses, Chauvet Cave, France. Online image, public domain.

“Respect for animals was organized by many rules that varied for each animal. Some basic principles applied to all animals. An animal should not be abused, or ridiculed. Unnecessary suffering should be avoided.” (Laugrand and Oosten 2015:66) They did not need a local chapter of the SPCA, basic human decency was apparently enough.

Among indigenous cultures, hunting is more than just a way to procure meat. Hunting also has deeply meaningful cultural and spiritual significance governing the relationships of the hunter to the animals he is pursuing.

Horse, Axial Gallery, Lascaux, Image from Lewis-Williams, 2002, The Mind in the Cave, Fig. 23.

“Hunting is not just a means of survival for indigenous peoples; it also plays a significant role in their cultural and spiritual practices. Many hunting rituals are deeply intertwined with indigenous ceremonies and belief systems. These rituals often involve prayers, songs, and offerings to show gratitude to the animals for their sacrifice. The animals are seen as kin and are honored accordingly.” (Thomas 2023) This is pretty much at the core of their culture; their ceremonies and rites are often centered on hunting success and the relationship with the animals.

The interaction of the hunter and the hunted is seen as a reciprocal relationship. “Among the Cree Indians of northern Canada, it is believed that animals intentionally present themselves to the hunters to be killed. The hunter consumes the meat, but the soul of the animal is released to be reclothed with flesh. Hunting there, as among many northern peoples, is conceived as a rite of regeneration: consumption follows killing as birth follows intercourse, and both acts are integral to the reproductive cycles, respectively, of animals and humans. However, animals will not return to hunters who have treated them badly in the past. One treats an animal badly by failing to observe the proper, respectful procedures in the process of butchering, consumption and disposal of the bones, or by causing undue pain and suffering to the animal in killing it.” (Ingold 1994:9) So, the hunter not only has to behave correctly in respect to the animal he is hunting, the animal’s soul also has to be given due respect in order for the compact between hunter and prey to be properly fulfilled.

Auroch, horses and deer, Lascaux Cave, France, Online image, public domain.

“The animals in the environment of the hunter do not simply go their own way, but are supposed to act with the hunter in mind. They are not just ‘there’ for the hunter to find and take as he will, rather they present themselves to him. The encounter, then, is a moment in the unfolding of a continuing – even lifelong – relationship between the hunter and the animal kind (of which every particular individual encountered is a specific instance). The hunter hopes that by being good to animals, they in turn will be good to him.” (Ingold 1994:14-15) In other words, it is a reciprocal relationship with both human society and the animals having roles to play, and if the roles are played well success is expected to follow.

“For many Native Americans, the act of hunting was about more than just acquiring food. It was a way to connect with the natural world and to show respect for the animals that were being hunted. Hunting was also a way to teach young people about the ways of their culture and to instill in them the values of their people. ‘We should be grateful for the gift of the animals because they were created to feed the Anishnaabe people, giving them strength.’ It was important for hunters to pray and express gratitude when they took the life of an animal, as taking that life would allow them to feed their own families.” (Mika 2023)

For the Anishnaabe people “They believed that the animals were created to feed the Anishnaabe people, to give us strength, and we should be thankful for that gift. It was very important for the hunter to pray and give thanks when taking the life of an animal, as taking that life meant that he could feed his own family. It was also said that if we stopped hunting and fishing, that we were no longer grateful for the gifts that the creator had given us – therefore it is an act of cultural tradition to not only hunt and fish, but to give thanks by placing sacred medicines when an animal life has been taken for the survival of the tribe.” (Tribal Trade Co. 2020)

Aurochs, horses and deer, Lascaux Cave, France, Online image, public domain.

“The Native American Hunting Practices are based on the unity of nature and humans. They recognize that nature is not only a sustainer of life, but it is also an essential part of human beings. Also, hunting is a way of life and a sacred act of honoring the animal’s spirit. However, with the encroachment of colonization, these practices were misunderstood, exploited, and became a pain point for Native Americans.The primary aim of Native American Hunting Practices was to provide food for the community while ensuring that every part of the animal was utilized to avoid wastage. The practice was done in reverence for the animal’s life and the understanding that its sacrifice would provide for the community.” (Justo 2023)

To the north Inuit beliefs were much the same. “Many Inuit believed that animals offered themselves to the hunter in order to be killed. If the animals were hunted they would multiply; if they were not hunted, they would feel neglected and disappear. - Animals were thus often described as giving themselves to the hunters who would make good use of their meat.” (Laugrand and Oosten 2015:41)

Among the Inuit again “When departing from a hunting area the heads of the caribou must always face in the direction in which the party is setting out. The soul of the animals slain will then follow the same course and good hunting will result.” (Laugrand and Oosten 2015:241)

The Inuit believe that the game animals want to give themselves to the hunter. By doing so their soul is released to be, in effect, reborn. A hunter who passes up an opportunity to harvest a game animal risks insulting it and being shunned by all game thereafter. “Killing game is not only a necessity to survive, it is also an obligation placed upon the hunter by the animals themselves. Hunting is not a matter of choice, but a moral obligation one cannot escape. Only by hunting can the Inuit as well as the animals prosper. (Laugrand and Oosten 2015:343)

While most of the examples I have cited refer to Native American or Inuit peoples, the situation is essentially the same among indigenous people worldwide. The relationship between hunter and hunted is one of respect, often even courtesy. And, if the proper attitude and rituals are maintained, the soul of the animal is freed to be reborn, to come back to the hunter again in the future. In the Inuit belief, the soul of a sea mammal such as seal or walrus that is killed returns to Sedna, the ‘Sea Woman’ to wait for its rebirth.

So, to return to the proposition that the cave art might have been produced after the successful hunt instead of before it, there could be a couple of motives involved. The first, of course, might be bragging rights, to commemorate the success of a difficult hunt. The cave picture might have been the visual equivalent of a fisherman’s tale. The second might well have been to serve as a repository for the soul of that animal until it can be reborn. In a number of ways this would seem to make more sense than the “Increase Theory” of hunting magic, that multiplying images of a certain animal would result in the increase of the numbers of the actual animal in the landscape.  Keeping in mind that for many indigenous peoples the soul of an animal taken by a hunter will recycle, will be reborn as a new animal if treated properly and with respect. What if, after a successful hunt, the hunter returned and produced the picture of the animal on a cave or cliff wall to provide a repository for the soul of his dead prey until it could be reborn. In the same way that the soul of an Inuit hunter’s sea mammal victim returned to Sedna to await rebirth, then, the animals, knowing their souls would be provided for, would be more likely to be willing to give themselves to him in the future. The artist would then be part of the natural recycling of the soul of this animal. This could also an explanation for the palimpsests of large numbers of some animal images, each soul would need a new representation. Finally, this also might explain the spiritual and ritual nature of cave 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 this subject you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Buckner, William, 2020, The Psychic Toll of Severing the Hunter-Prey Relationship, 14 October 2020, Nautilus, https://nautil.us. Accessed online 20 April 2024.

Ijäs, Mikko, 2017, Fragments of the Hunt, Persistence Hunting, Tracking and Prehistoric Art, Doctoral Thesis, School of Arts, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.

Ingold, Tim, 1994, From Trust to Donimation, An alternative history of human-animal relations, pp.1-22, in Animals and Human Society, Changing Perspectives, Audrey Manning and James Serpell (editors), 1994 Rutledge, New York.

Justo, 2023, Exploring Traditional Native American Hunting Practices: A Cultural Legacy, 31August 2023, https://nativetribe.info. Accessed online 20 April 2024.

Laugrand, Frederic, and Jarich Oosten, 2015, Hunters, Predators and Prey, Inuit Perceptions of Animals, Berghahn Books, New York and Oxford.

Mika, 2023, The Sacredness of Hunting in Native American Culture, 1 March 2023, https://www.indiancountryextension.org. Accessed online 17 April 2024.

Thomas, Connor, 2023, Exploring Hunting Traditions of Indigenous Peoples, 11 September 2023, https://www.findahunt.com. Accessed online 15 October 2023.

Tribal Trade Co., 2020, Cultural Traditions of Native American Hunting & Gathering, April 2020, https://tribaltradeco.com. Accessed online 17 April 2024.