ANOTHER POSSIBLE SOLAR ECLIPSE SYMBOL IN ROCK ART?

On February 9, I posted a column speculating on the existence of total solar eclipses in rock art.  A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. This is a spectacular sight, even to our modern society which understands the scientific reason for such an occurrence. It was surely even more impressive to our ancient ancestors who did not have our understanding of it. This is another of the subjects that I cannot imagine would not have been commemorated in rock art somewhere. I personally know of no  proven examples, but I do think there are some possible examples. In that February 9 posting I suggested that the Zia Sun symbol might be a representation of the eclipsed sun disc with solar prominences depicted radiating outward.

Possible total eclipse portrayal. Fremont or Ute. Moffat County,

Colorado. Photo: Peter Faris, September 1987.

Most recognizable from the automobile license plate from the state of New Mexico, the Zia sun symbol is actually a good representation of the moment of totality in a solar eclipse when the corona of the sun becomes visible and the sharp-eyed viewer can see the prominences in the solar atmosphere. Indeed, that is the only time one can see this phenomenon with the naked eye, and this suggests that any sun symbol with points, rays, or projections beyond the outer circle might be a representation of a total eclipse. Such an example would be the familiar sun symbol we recognize worldwide. The example illustrated above is from a private ranch in Moffat County, in northwestern Colorado, and may be attributable to the Fremont culture, or the later Ute people of that area.

Sun symbols at McConkie Ranch, Vernal, Utah.

Photog: Peter Faris, 1990.

As I have pointed out elsewhere the symbol generally accepted as a Sun symbol for most peoples of the Southwest is the concentric circle representing the sun disk. A representation of the sun done differently might possibly be assumed to record a remarkable or unique view of the sun, like a total solar eclipse.

As before, I will happily entertain any other examples you might wish to submit. Indeed, it would be interesting to be able to do a posting of a variety of candidates. Please forward any you have to me at rockartblogmail@yahoo.com. 

METEORITES IN ROCK ART - CONTINUED?

On January 18, 2013, I posed the question “can we identify meteorites or meteorite falls in rock art?” Although I have been looking for some time I have not, as yet, been able to identify any image that I can realistically state might represent a meteorite. However, there are examples of images of meteors and meteorites in Native American art that we might use as models in our search.

Lone Dog winter count, painted on buffalo hide.

In their wonderful 2007 book The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian, Candace S. Greene and Russell Thornton illustrate the imagery used by Lakota artist/historians to record each year in Winter Counts, kept as a historic record of the tribe or clan.  For the year 1821-22, many winter counts use the symbol of a star with a tail or line behind it. This records a large meteor that passed over Lakota territory from the southeast to the northwest, and reportedly exploded with great noise over Dakota Territory.

They provide illustrations of this drawn in the Lone Dog winter count, The Flame winter count, The Swan winter count, Long Soldier winter count, Cloud Shield winter count, Rosebud winter count, and Battiste Good winter count, and each example is a variation of the star with a line extending from it.

1821-22, Lone Dog Winter Count.

Greene and Thornton, 2007.

1821-22, Long Soldier Winter Count.

Greene and Thornton, 2007.

1821-22, Battiste Good's Winter Count.

Greene and Thornton, 2007.

In viewing these remember that the direction of the line may indicate where it passed overhead in relation to the observer. To understand this, think of an airplane contrail above you in the clear sky.  Thus, in the examples by The Flame, Rosebud, Cloud Shield, Lone Dog, and the one procured from Major Bush, the line is beneath the star suggesting that it was observed somewhere toward the horizon for the viewer and appeared to rise upwards as it approached the zenith. Long Soldier’s image shows it passing from right to left suggesting that he was to the south of its apparent track and he saw it going from right to left in the northern sky. Battiste Good’s drawing shows the meteorite on a generally downward path suggesting that from his viewing point the meteorite appeared generally above him, and he saw it as if descending toward the  horizon.

As I stated above, I personally know of no rock art imagery that fits these descriptions, however, that certainly does not mean that they are not out there. Indeed, given that so many illustrations of this event were created on hide and muslin in Winter Counts, the surprise would be if there were no rock art examples created also. If you know of any please send me a photo and let's get it posted.

And if you find this of interest check my PowerPoint WHEN THE STARS FELL - the 1833 meteor storm  listed in the right sidebar of this page.

http://www.slideshare.net/archeofaris/when-the-stars-fell-slide-show

REFERENCES:

Greene, Candace S. and Russell Thornton

2007    The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian, Smithsonian National Museum.

A POSSIBLE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN IN ROCK ART?

Total solar eclipse, 1999. Wikipedia.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. This is a spectacular sight, even to our modern society which understands the scientific reason for such an occurrence. It was surely even more impressive to our ancient ancestors who did not have our understanding of it. This is another of the subjects that I cannot imagine would not have been commemorated in rock art somewhere, but I personally know of no such proven examples (although I suspect some examples - explained below).

        Solar Eclipse of  Aug. 7, 1869, portrayed by Lone Dog (left) and

The Swan (right). From Greene and Thornton,

The Year The Stars Fell, Smithsonian, 2007.

There are examples of Native American images of total eclipses that may allow us to speculate what a total eclipse might look like in rock art. These consist of a number of examples from Lakota Winter Counts portraying the total eclipse of August 7, 1869. The line of totality for that eclipse crossed Lakota territory, and obviously impressed them enough to result in these images.  In each known example they portray it by showing the obscured sun as a black disk and in each case a couple of bright stars are shown, reflecting the fact that in the darkened sky during totality bright stars may be visible. Greene and Thornton (2007) illustrate a few examples in their fascinating book The Year the Stars Fell; Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian. “An Eclipse of the Sun, a drawing by the winter count keeper Lone Dog (Greene and Thornton 2007:264), commemorates the blackening of the sun on August 7, 1869 and accompanying visibility of otherwise invisible stars in the darkened sky.”

Pecos, Texas rock art, Photo Teresa Weedin, 2004.

Painted Cave, Bandelier, Los Alamos

County, NM. Photograph: Russ Finley.

I stated above that I suspect some rock art may indeed represent a total solar eclipse. My candidate for this would be the solar portrayal with projecting rays from the four quadrants that is known as the Zia sun symbol. The Zia Indians of New Mexico regard the Sun as a sacred symbol. Their symbol, a red circle with groups of rays pointing in four directions, is painted on ceremonial vases, drawn on the ground around campfires, and used to introduce newborns to the Sun. (Wikipedia) The examples illustrated above come from the Pecos region in Texas, and a personified Zia sun symbol toward the left of the panel from Painted Cave at Bandeliere, New Mexico. 

New Mexico automobile license plate.

Most recognizable from the automobile license plate from the state of New Mexico, the Zia sun symbol is actually a good representation of the moment of totality in a solar eclipse when the corona of the sun becomes visible and the sharp-eyed viewer can see the prominences in the solar atmosphere (see the first illustration of a total eclipse). Indeed, that is the only time one can see this phenomenon with the naked eye, and this suggests that any sun symbol with points, rays, or projections beyond the outer circle might be a representation of a total eclipse.

Also, representations of the sun with triangular projections around the rim could well be attempts to illustrate this phenomenon. What candidates do you know of?

REFERENCES:

Greene, Candace S. and Russell Thornton (editors)

2007    The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.

http://www.eclipse.aaq.org.au/

Wikipedia

THE OLDEST ART IN EUROPE?

In the January – February, 2013, issue of Archaeology magazine, a fascinating article entitled Structural Integrity, by Nikhil Swaminathan, discusses domestic spatial utilization by Paleolithic people in the ancient rock shelter of Abri Castanet. Randall White, of New York University, has been conducting studies there for eighteen years and has recovered about 150,000 artifacts, from limestone blocks to burnt reindeer bone and minute beads. White has also found markings engraved on stone (petroglyphs) that he estimates at 35,000 years old (lab results will be back early in 2013). These engravings seem to have mostly been found on block and slabs of stone that had fallen from the roof of the cave and there are both aesthetic and functional examples.

Anneaux with engraved line on limestone block.

Abri Cansanet, France. From Archaeology Magazine,

January - February 2013, Structural Integrity,

by Nikhil Swaminthan, pages 55 to 63.

Perhaps the most interesting functional examples are called anneaux. These are pairs of pits or gouges cut into the rock next to each other which have then been joined with an undercut down by the bottom of the pits leaving what is essentially a stone ring or stanchion. Thirty anneaux on 18 different slabs of rock, both from the ceiling and the floor have been found. It is believed that they served as tying points or anchors to tie up a reindeer hide curtain for protection from harsh weather conditions making them part of an early mechanical system.

Petroglyph identified as a vulva. Abri Castanet, France.

From Archaeology Magazine, January - February 2013, p. 29.

As early as 1909 the landowner, Marcel Castanet, was digging at the site, prompted by his discovery of an ivory bead nearby in a fox hole. After a couple of months he found a limestone slab which had the petroglyph of what he thought at first to be a heart on one side, later identified by Abbe Henri Breuil as a portrayal of a vulva.

One block of stone had lines on it that had been identified as the hindquarters of an animal. The adjoining piece of stone was recovered later and displayed the remainder of the creature, allowing the team to identify it as an aurochs.

Estimates of the age of material from the excavation of Abri Castanet (37,000 b.p.) make this material possibly the oldest rock art in Europe made by modern (Cro Magnon) humans. I sincerely hope that Archaeology will keep us updated on this.

REFERENCE:

Swaminithan, Nikhil

2013    Structural Integrity, pages 55 – 63, Archaeology Magazine, January-February 2013.