ANOTHER PUSH-ME-PULL-YOU OUTSIDE OF MOAB, UTAH:

Dinosaur tracks, Potash Road,

West of Moab, UT.

Peter Faris, 7 October 2001.

In Grand County, Utah, on the west side of the Colorado River across from Moab, along Potash Road, is a remarkable spot with a panel of dinosaur tracks as well as a Fremont rock art site. Given the uncertainty of identifying the animal who left the footprints, dinosaur tracks are commonly named independently of a species of actual dinosaur. These are referred to as either Grallator or Eubrontes tracks (the uncertainty here is mine, my notes have disappeared since the visit).

 Push-me-pull-you, Fremont

rock art, Potash Road,

West of Moab, UT.

Peter Faris, 7 October 2001.

Now, I don't think I can imagine anything more interesting than having both dinosaur tracks and Fremont rock art at the same location, but if I could it would probably involve finding a Fremont push-me-pull-you there. Well, here it is! He is attached to a trapezoidal bodied anthropomorph by a zig-zag line often referred to as a "power line". The animal itself has a desert bighorn head at each end as if it is going both ways at once. As before, I must confess that I don't know what it represents, and in total absence of evidence it would be irresponsible of me to speculate that it is a mythical animal inspired by the dinosaur tracks, but wouldn't that be something?

IF NOT AN ECLIPSE - PERHAPS ANOTHER SUPERNOVA?

Pictograph, trail to Peñasco Blanco,

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

Photo Peter Faris, May 1994.

Along the trail to Peñasco Blanco in Chaco Canyon is the panel that has long been identified as a representation of the 1054 A.D. supernova explosion that was the origin of the Crab Nebula. It is shown as a star or sun with ten prominences or coronal outbursts.

Newly discovered petroglyph,

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. 

www.colorado.edu, Public Domain.

I recently wrote on the announced discovery of a supposed solar eclipse in Chaco Canyon giving my reasons why I disagree with the discoverers as to it representing an eclipse. Actually, I think it just as likely that this petroglyph represents another portrayal of the supernova observed in 1054 A.D. than an eclipse.

To sum up my previous arguments, the corona and prominences of a total eclipse are really only visible during totality, at which point the sun itself is a featureless dark disk (see rockartblog for August 21, 2017, Solar Eclipse - Lessons Learned and Theories Burned). I would expect that any attempt at a realistic portrayal of a total eclipse would include the ring of the edge of the sun's disk in the center. A supernovae, on the other hand, should be expected to be as bright or brighter in the center than toward the edges, thus, no ring.

What other clues might we look for? The Peñasco Blanco supernova has ten prominences/projections or flames extending outward from the body. This new petroglyph also shows prominences/projections or flames extending outward. On each side and on the lower edge are double lines curling out from the edge in opposite directions. Between those are single lines projecting out from the edge, and, at the top is a more complicated portrayal of curling projecting lines made from double lines. If we count, not the individual lines, but the number of curled projections portrayed, we also get ten (counting each double curl at the top as a single, thicker prominence). Is this significant? I really don't know, perhaps I am stretching it too far. But it might be a possibility that should be considered.

NOTE: An image in this posting was retrieved from the internet in a search for public domain photographs. If any of this image is 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.

                               

REFERENCE:

Faris, Peter

2017   Solar Eclipse - Lessons Learned and Theories Burned, August 21, 2017, http://rockartblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/august-21-2017-solar-eclipse-lessons.html

FERTILITY, OR WEALTH:

Vulva symbols? Winnemucca Lake,

Nevada, Larry Benson, used with

permission.

The symbol of the "vulva", originally found in Paleolithic art, has long been assumed to represent fertility. This identification was originally made, I assume, by the early students of the cave art in France, who were French. Leave it to the French!

This is now the automatic assumption worldwide when we see these symbols carved or painted onto the rock. What I wonder is if there was ever any attempt to analyze these symbols to see if they could represent anything else? They have been found literally all over the world, representations by diverse and widespread ancient cultures have used this theme. Of course, human fertility is found all over the world, but what else might it represent? What else do all of these cultures have in common? Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is cowrie shells. Perhaps most commonly used in adornment; i.e. necklaces, bracelets, or decorating clothing, the cowrie shell was known and prized by many diverse cultures, all over the world, and down through time.

Early Chinese shell money,

3,000 BCE, June 20, 2017,

Smithsonianmag.com.

Writing on Smithsonian.com, Chapurukha Kusimba posited that "Objects that occurred rarely in nature and whose circulation could be efficiently controlled emerged as units of value for interactions and exchange. These included shells such as mother-of-pearl that were widely circulated in the Americas and cowry shells that were used in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia." (Kusimba 2017) So for so many ancient cultures the cowrie shell represents wealth, wealth that is to be displayed for personal aggrandizement. What better way to symbolically display your wealth than to carve it into, or paint it on, the rock, on a cliff, a boulder, or the walls of a cave?

Deer cowrie shells, 

pinterest.com,

Public domain.

Midewiwin shell symbols,

Rajnovich, Reading Rock Art,

p. 53, Fig. 41.

There are examples of this symbol that can be documented as representing something other than vulvas. A very different aspect of the shell, at least here in North America, was found in the Midewiwin Society of the Algonkians.Writing on the Midewiwin Society of the Algonkians, Rajnovich stated: "The Midewiwin was widespread among the Algonkians, practised by the Ojibway, Odawa, Miami, Menominee, Illinois, Shawnees, and others. Archaeologist Charles Callender suggested we cannot rule out the possibility that aspects of the Midewiwin go back 2,500 years among the Indians of Ohio. The symbol of the society and of the power of the medicine itself is a tiny white seashell, often a marginella originating on the southeast coast of the United States. These shells, called megis by the Mides, are shown in Midewiwin picture writing in various forms (Fig. 41), including a small oval figure with radiating power lines, and it may be on the rock paintings as well, possibly at Burnt Bluff (Figure 39). The people of the Shield travelled great distances to obtain the shells. The Odawa(the word means "trader") journeyed throughout the Great Lakes and surrounding areas, covering vast distances in their bark canoes, exchanging goods including the shells among the many Algonkian groups." (Rajnovich 1994:52-3)

Vulva Symbols, Patterson, p. 203,

A Field Guide To Rock Art Symbols,

Petersborough, Ontario.

Linnea Sundstrom apparently agrees that on the Great Plains this symbol originated with the Algonkians, although she also assumes that it may represent fertility as she ascribes its creation to girl's puberty rituals. "Track-Vulva-Groove style rock art clearly had its origins in the Algonkian and Siouan territories east and southeast of the plains (figure 8.13). It is more difficult to determine who made this rock art in the Black Hills country and why. Perhaps some was made by girls as part of a puberty ritual. In other parts of the West, girls sometimes made abraded grooves for other kinds of petroglyphs as part of their puberty rites." (Sundstrom 2004:88) This suggests an Algonkian influence in inland North America that could have brought ideas about the shell to the middle part of the country.

Do these images represent shells, or vulvas? Well, I don't really know but it seems to me that we owe it to ourselves to thoroughly analyze all the possibilities before we blindly relegate a whole category of rock art symbolism to definition by a French assumption. Fertility, display, or wealth, you tell me?

NOTE: Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet after 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:

Kusimba, Chapurukha

2017 Making Cents of Currency's Ancient Rise, June 20, 2017, https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/6b/de/6bde6880-df7b-4c03-b2d6-26023d72a2fb/file-20170619-28475-4rc2o7.jpg

Patterson, Alex

1992 A Field Guide To Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest, Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado

Rajnovich, Grace

1994 Reading Rock Art: Interpreting the Indian Rock Art of the Canadian Shield, Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto, Ontario

Sundstrom, Linea

2004 Storied Stone: Indian Rock Art In The Black Hills Country, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

ZORATS KARER - AN AMAZING SITE IN ARMENIA:

Zorats Karer (Karahunj), Armenia,

Pinterest, Public domain.

A site in Armenia with many standing stones, Zorats Karer (also called Karahunj or Carahunge) is much debated. Some theories call it an astronomical observatory while many other purposes have also been proposed including defensive, and a cattle market. The site is found at a "latitude of 39ᵒ 34' and longitude of 46ᵒ 01' on the mountain plateau having (an) altitude (of) 1770 m. and occupies a territory of about 7 hectare(s) on the left side of the Dar river canyon, the tributary of the river Vorotan (at 2 km). It is located on a rocky promontory near Sisian." (Wikipedia)

Interior of Zorats Karer,

www.ancient-origins.net,

Public domain.

"The first scholarly account of Zorats Karer took place in 1935 by ethnographer Stepan Lisitsian, who alleged that it once functioned as a station for holding animals. Later, in the 1950s, Marus Hasratyan discovered a set of 11th to 9th BCE burial chambers.  But the first investigation which garnered international attention to the complex was that of Soviet archaeologist Onnik Khnkikyan, who claimed in 1984 that the 223 megalithic stones in the complex may have been used, not for animal husbandry, but instead for prehistoric stargazing. He believed the holes on the stones, which are two inches in diameter and run up to twenty inches deep, may have been used as early telescopes for looking out into the distance or at the sky." (Vann 2017) I am assuming that the association of the stones with pastoralist and their animals would have been based upon some idea such as the stones with holes are hitching posts to tie the animals up to. The prehistoric stargazing is certainly destined to be a much more popular theory at the present time given current enthusiasm and overemphasis on archaeoastronomy.

Zorats Karer (Karahunj),

WordPress.com,

Public domain.

"In recent years, to the dismay of local scientists, the monoliths have garnered the interest of the international community after some pre-emptive research emerged drawing comparisons between the astronomical implications of Zorats Karer and that of the famous Stonehenge monument in England. Many touristic outlets responded to the comparison by branding Zorats Karer colloquially as the 'Armenian Stongehenge' and the resulting debate between the scientific community and popular culture has been a fierce one." (Vann 2017)

Close-up view of a drilled stone,

Dreamstime.com,

Public domain.

The problem in the archaeoastronomical interpretation comes with identifying the holes in the stones as sights for viewing. If you are close enough to a 2" hole to see much at all though it your field of view is going to be 20 to 30 degrees wide, not a very precise measuring tool. I have also been unable to find any reports that mention holes in adjacent rocks lining up which would have actually been a much more precise sighting device. In the photo above you can see a monolith through the hole as if they were a rifle's peep sight and front sight, but they line up on the distant hillside, not anything on the horizon or sky. Obviously not a marker.

View through a drilled stone,

Dreamstime.com,

Public domain.

"In 1994, Zorats Karer was extensively analyzed by Professor Paris Herouni, a member of the Armenian National Academy of Science and President of the Radio Physics Research Institute in Yerevan. His expeditions revealed a great deal of fascinating information about the site. First of all, his team counted 223 stones, of which 84 were found to have holes." (Klimczak 2016) (the holes are, however, especially fascinating.)

Map of Zorats Karer,

Wikipedia.

Public domain.

Klimczak continued that "a number of researchers concluded that the monument is at least 7,500-years-old, but possibly much more. It is believed to have been created for ritual reasons and the need to understand the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. The people who created (it) connected their beliefs with the early science of astronomy. it seems that the main functions of the observatory, which was also a temple, were to serve in the cult of the Sun god of early Armenians, to provide protection through cultivating the Armenian god of science, to serve as a school, and to function as an observatory." (Klimczak 2016)

In other words, we don't have any idea exactly what Zorats Karer was intended for. Also, none of the reports I have been able to find explain how the daring was arrived at. Probably, as in so many other cases, the uses changed over time with the beliefs and interests of the inhabitants of the area, and maybe all of the suggestions have a germ of truth in them. In any case, it looks like an absolutely fascinating site, and deserves much more study. The truth must be in there somewhere.

NOTE: Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet after 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:

Klimczak, Natalia

2016 Armenian Stonehenge: Incredible History of the 7,500-Year-Old Observatory of Zorats Karer, http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/armenian-stonehenge-incredible-history-7500-year-old-observatory-zorats-karer-021027

Vann, Karen

2017 Unraveling the Mystery of the "Armenian Stonehenge", http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/unraveling-mystery-armenian-stonehenge-180964207/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorats-Karer