ROCK ART OF ANCIENT KYRGYZSTAN, PART 2 – HUNTING WITH EAGLES:

Eagle hunter petroglyph. Cholpon ata, near Issyk-kul lake, Kyrgyzstan.

The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is possessed of a great deal of rock art, especially beautiful petroglyphs of ibex. Kyrgyzstan has been known as a land of mounted nomads for pretty much all of recorded history. Recently I was conducting an online search for public domain photos of Kyrgyzstan rock art. Among the many ibex petroglyphs that came up was the one above which, at first, I could not identify. It took me a couple of minutes to realize what this is. The other main thing that the Kyrgyz people have been known for is falconry, or more specifically hunting with trained eagles. This is a crude petroglyph of a Kyrgy eagle hunter.

Kyrgy eagle hunter. Internet photograph, public domain.

“The history of the Kyrgyz people and the land now called Kyrgyzstan goes back more than 3,000 years. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. In between periods of self-government it was ruled by Gokturks, the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan people, before being conquered by the Mongols in the 13^th century; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus and Uzbeks. In 1876 it became part of the Russian Empire, remaining in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic after the Russian Revolution. Following Mikhael Gorbachev’s democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president of the SSR. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow, and a democratic government  was subsequently established.” (Wikipedia)

Mounted eagle hunter. Internet photograph, public domain.

“Hunting with the golden eagle is an ancient tradition that dates back to the Mongol conquest of Central Asia around the 12^th and 13^th centuries, when a fine eagle and a good horse cost the same price and both lent prestige to their owner. Although the practice is gradually disappearing in this area, hunting with birds (especially with eagles) is still practiced in certain regions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Westerners tend to think of this as falconry – and although hunting with hawks and falcons does take place, it is looked down upon by those who hunt with eagles as a pastime for children and dilettantes.” (Advantour) Far from originating in the 12^th and 13^th centuries as stated above, a burial from Subeshi, near Turfan, of a woman eagle hunter (see below) has been dated to mid-1^st millennium B.C. (Barber 1999:199)

“For thousands of years, golden eagles have been the favorite raptor to train as a hunting companion across the northern steppes from the Caucasus to China. Eagles are strong predators especially adapted to winter hunting for hare, marmot, wild goat, deer, fox (even lynx, pallas cat, and wolf, although these are unnatural prey and dangerous for the eagles). Eagles have very acute eyesight for spotting prey in snow-covered grasslands and mountains. The eagles weigh up to 12 pounds and have an extremely strong grip with sharp talons. To support the eagle on a rider’s arm, a baldak, a Y-shaped wooden rest, is attached to the saddle. Female eagles, larger, fiercer, and more powerful than males, are preferred as hunting companions by Kazakhs; Kyrgyz eagle hunters train both females and males. Several types of eagles are recognized with different abilities. Fledglings or sub-adult eagles are captured from the nest and trained to hunt. According to tradition, after 5-7 years the eagles are released back to the wild to mate and raise young. Evidence pointing to eagle hunting’s antiquity comes from Scythian and other burial mounds of nomads who roamed the steppes 3,000 years ago and whose artifacts abound in eagle imagery. An ancient Scythian nomad skeleton buried with an eagle was reportedly excavated near Aktobe Gorge, Kazakhstan. Ancient petroglyphs in the Altai region depict eagle hunters and inscribed Chinese stone reliefs show eagles perched on the arms of hunters in tunics, trousers, and boots, identified as northern nomads (1^st to 2^nd century AD).” (Mayor 2016:3)

Mounted eagle hunter with his horse and dog. Photograph by Andrey Kovelenko, from Stephen Bodio. Near Golpaygan, Isfahan, Northwest Iran.

The second petroglyph shows a mounted hunter with his dog and his eagle. This photograph was brought to my attention by Adrienne Mayor and was found on a website by Stephen Bodio, a writer and traveler. The photograph was taken by Andrey Kovalenko and was located near Golpaygan, Isfahan, in the central part of Iran.

Taigan hunting dog, Kyrgyzstan. Internet photograph, public domain.

Like the other mounted nomadic hunters of that region, a Kyrgy hunter needed a good horse, his trained eagle, and one of the local breed of hunting dogs, the taigan. A man who had all three was thought of as successful, even prosperous.

                         

Female eagle hunter, 1st millenium B.C., from a burial. Subeshi, near Turfan, Tarim Basin, Zinjiang, China. Illustration from Barber, 1999.

A final pair of illustrations shows the mummified body of an Eagle Hunter (Huntress). “From its graves the Urumchi archaeologists pulled several colorfully arrayed bodies. One woman (fig. 10.3) wore a copious woolen skirt striped horizontally in shades of red, yellow, and brown, with a dark felt hat rising high above her to two conical peaks like a twin-steepled church. The pelt used to make her long coat had the turned inward for warmth, and neat leather slippers protected her feet. A gigantic leather mitten encased her left hand, the sort of protection a falcon owner might wear, and she possessed two little pouches, one the shape of a long, narrow chili pepper and the other containing a round-topped comb.” (Barber 1999:198-9) 

Now we not only have rock art illustrating this practice, we have archaeological evidence from a burial from Subeshi, near Turfan, of a woman eagle hunter that has been dated to mid-1^st millennium B.C. (Barber 1999:199) Subeshi is a lost city located near Kucha in the Taklamakan Desert in China’s Tarim Basin on the ancient silk road. A long and honorable tradition among the steppe people living in this large region.

NOTE 1: 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.

NOTE 2: How the MacArthur Foundation has gone on so long without giving Adrienne Mayor one of their “genius” grants is totally inexplicable.

REFERENCES:

Advantour, Hunting with Eagles in Kyrgyzstan, https://www.advantour.com/kyrgyzstan/cultuure/hunting-eagles.htm, accessed 7 November 2021

Barber, Elizabeth Wayland, 1999, The Mummies of Urumchi, W. W. Norton and Company, New York.

Bodio, Stephen, 2013, “New” Petroglyph, 2 January 2013, stephenbodio.com

Mayor, Adrienne, 2016, The Eagle Huntress, Ancient Traditions and New Generations, 1 May 2016, mayor@stanford.edu

ROCK ART OF ANCIENT KYRGYZSTAN – PART 1:

Petroglyph panel, Kyrgyzstan. Internet photograph, public domain.

The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is possessed of a great deal of rock art, especially beautiful petroglyphs of ibex. Kyrgyzstan has been known as a land of mounted nomads for pretty much all of recorded history. The people of this region first entered our history under the generic name Scythians. A governmentally approved and published textbook on their history introduces the Kyrgy people this way. “From the eighth to the third century B.C.E. the vast territory of Central Asia was inhabited by numerous nomadic tribes known in ancient Persian cuneiform texts as the Sakas – ‘free men, noble men (warriors).’ They have been known by several names. Ancient writers called them Scythians; in ancient Indian sources they are referred to as the Tur; the Chinese called them the Se People. Individual groups who entered this tribal confederacy had their own names – the term ‘Saka’ was used to refer to all members of this union. Herodotus, ‘the father of history’ wrote about the origins of the Scythians.” (Osmonov and Turdalieva 2016:31)

Ibex petroglyph, Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. Internet photograph, public domain.

And Wikipedia gives a short history of them this way. “The history of the Kyrgy people and the land now called Kyrgyzstan goes back more than 3,000 years. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. In between periods of self-government it was ruled by Gokturks, the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan people, before being conquered by the Mongols in the 13^th century; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus and Uzbeks. In 1876 it became part of the Russian Empire, remaining in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic after the Russian Revolution. Following Mikhael Gorbachev’s democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president of the SSR. On 31 August 1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow, and a democratic government  was subsequently established.” (Wikipedia)

An online web site encouraging tourism in Kyrgyzstan gives this introduction to the rock art. “Petroglyphs – pictures drawn or etched onto stones. These drawings, left for us on high rocks and in deep caves can provide evidence of the way of life and the environment of times gone by when there was no system of writing. Rock drawings appear to have been made in two ancient artistic styles. The first technique was silhouette or shadow, typical of many ancient pictures. Blows were made with a metallic or stone instrument to take out the entire surface of the rock nearly 2 mm deep inside the silhouette. Some pictures were beaten by blunt tools which removed only a thin sunburnt rock layer, and this is typical of later periods. Another technique used tools with sharp edges and frequent blows with these produce a deep line engraved in the rock. It is probably incorrect to think that ancient people only depicted the animals that they hunted. Many scholars think that the rock drawings depict mythological images and that the consciousness of ancient painters was restricted by their knowledge of the surrounding nature and society.” (Kyrgyzstravel)

Ibex petroglyph, Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. Internet photograph, public domain.

A statement as simplistic and imprecise as the preceding quote illustrates a considerable lack of knowledge on the subject, yet also indicates enthusiasm and interest in the subject. The fact is that Kyrgyzstan is possessed of a great deal of beautiful rock art, especially the aforementioned images of ibex. Probably a common quarry of Kyrgy hunters.

Ibex. Internet photograph, public domain.

The articles in References (below) list literally dozens of rock art sites in Kyrgyzstan. One of the most highly touted is The Cholpan Ata Petroglyph Museum – “The 42 hectare open air Museum of Petroglyphs, sometimes referred as a Stone Garden, just outside of Cholpan Ata is a collection of rocks covered in ancient drawings moved by glaciers and deposited here thousands of years ago. – It contains a number of prehistoric monumental stone structures (stone circles, tombs, the remains of a boundary stone wall, and stone carvings of human heads known a balbals) and petroglyphs (dating from the 2^nd millennium BC up to the 6^th century AD). Archaeologists estimate some of these drawings to be up to 4,000 years old, with a large number of petroglyphs from the 8^th to 3^rd centuries BCE.” (Miner 2018)

        Ibex petroglyphs, Saimalu Tash,           Kyrgyzstan. Internet photographs,                        public domain.

Another prolific petroglyph site is Saimalu Tash – “(meaning ‘embroidered’ or ‘patterned stones’ in Kyrgyz) is a petroglyph site in northern Jalal-Abad Province, south of Kazarman. Over 10,000 carved pictures which are black-and-white rock paingings, have so far been identified, making the site a globally important collection of rock art.” (Miner 2018)

Sites in Kyrgyzstan contain a broad range of rock art images, from zoomorphs and anthropomorphs to abstract designs. In this particular column it has been my intention to primarily focus on the beautiful ibex petroglyphs. 

Kyrgyz horse, 1894. Wikipedia.

Kyrgy hunters depended on their horses, on a highly prized breed of sight-hound dogs known as Taigan, and Golden Eagles. The hunting of ibex would have no doubt been accomplished with their bows and arrows, but smaller game such as foxes, rabbits, marmots, etc., were hunted with the golden eagles. Among the beautiful photographs of ibex petroglyphs that I found was also a petroglyph that I identified as an Eagle Hunter.

More on the Eagle Hunter in part 2 of this column.

NOTE: 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:

Miner, Mark E., 2018, Petroglyphs in Kyrgyzstan, 13 September 2018, https://silkroadresearch.blog/, accessed on 14 October 2021.

Kyrgyzstantravel, Petroglyphs - Rock Art, accessed on 7 November 2021, https://www.kyrgyzstantravel.net/culture/petroglyphs.htm, accessed on 14 October 2021.

Osmonov, Oskon, and Cholpon Turdalieva, 2016, A History of Kyrgyzstan, From Stone Age to the Present, school and university textbook, Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek.

Wikipedia, History of Kyrgyzstan, accessed on 9 November 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kyrgyzstan

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2021

 

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, a happy New Year's Eve, and all the best in 2021. 

This illustration is used with the permission of Gary Cascio who took the photograph. Check out his beautiful photography at www.rockartsouthwest.com, or contact him at Gary Cascio, design@latenitegrafix.com.

THE CHOQUEQUILLA INCA HUACA:

Choquequilla huaca from inside the cave. Photograph Greg Willis.

I have previously written about Qenqo in Peru (a three-dimensional carved boulder resembling a landscape with land contours and waterways) speculating as to whether or not it is a map. On August 17, 2013 I published MAPS IN ROCK ART – 3-D CARVED MAPS, and on May 8, 2021 I also mentioned Qenqo in A CARVED SLAB IN FRANCE IS CLAIMED TO BE THE OLDEST MAP IN EUROPE. These columns focused on the carved features resembling a landscape on the carved boulder. This, and similar carved boulders in the Incan empire were called huacas (or wak’as).

         Choquequilla huaca. Internet                    photograph, public domain.

“In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak’a is an object that represents something refered, typically a monument of some kind. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been associated with veneration and ritual. The Quechua people traditionally believed every object has a physical presence and two camaquen (spirits), one to create it and another to animate it.

Huacas are commonly located in nearly all regions of Peru outside the deepest parts of the Amazon basin in correlation with the regions populated by the pre-Inca and Inca early civilizations.” (Wikipedia)

         Choquequilla huaca. Internet                    photograph, public domain.

Not all, but many Inca huacas are large boulders or rock outcrops with carving, but not all possess landscape like features (like Qenqo). Even more common than the miniature landscapes are seat-like shelves carved into the rock, and some possess carving that looks like false doorways. One of these is known as Choquequilla Inca Huaca.

Found “within a cave opening near the present-day village of Pachar in the Sacred Valley of Peru” (HeritageDaily) it consists of a huge black granite boulder that is unmodified on the outside, but on the inside facing into the cave it has been intricately carved. The “Sacred Valley of Peru” is the Urubamba Valley North of Cusco. “When observed from the outside, it has a natural appearance, but the interior face suggests an important ceremonial purpose. This is flanked by a wall containing two rows of four double jamb niches, whilst on the opposite side of the cave is a large double jamb window. Researchers have called the site, ‘the cave of Choqequilla, the Golden Moon’, and the ‘Moon Temple of Choqequilla’, suggesting the site has a lunar connection (which is illuminated by moonlight at night), although the exact purpose of the shrine is still speculated.” (HeritageDaily)

         Choquequilla huaca. Internet                    photograph, public domain.

Ethnography, and some old Spanish accounts tell us that huacas are focal points of shrines intended for many purposes. As stated above some have miniature landscapes with waterways apparently intended for rituals. Qenqo is believed to have been associated with the burial of an Inca ruler, Pachakuti Inca Yupanqui, the founder of their empire. Other huacas seem to mirror in their contours the physical shapes of mountains around them. The mountain peaks around Incas were considered to be of great significance.

         Choquequilla huaca. Internet                    photograph, public domain.

Most importantly “the dramatic experience of high and low in the Andes was and is phenomenologically inspired – by which I mean that it is timeless and universal and can still be felt by living beings – and then became socially anchored. In Quechua worldview, the high-low opposition was manifested by male mountains and fecund female valleys.” (Christie 2012:620)

In light of this notice the view from the cave of the Choquequilla huaca, if the carved shelves of the huaca are indeed seats the peaks would provide an impressive backdrop, possibly mirroring the contours of the boulder it is carved into.

NOTE 1: For more detailed information on Inca huacas I recommend the sources listed below, especially the paper by Christie.

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 you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

 

REFERENCES:

Christie, Jessica Joyce, 2012, A New Look at Q’enqo as a Model of Inka Visual Representation, Reproduction, and Spatial Structure, Ethnohistory, Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 597-630.

HeritageDaily, 2021, The Choquequilla Inca Hauca, August 2021, https://www.heritagedaily.com.

Wikipedia, Huacas, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaca - accessed 22 September 2021.

700-YEAR-OLD PETROGLYPHS VANDALIZED NEAR MOAB, UTAH:

"Birthing Rock" site near Moab, Utah. Online photograph, public domain.

Writing for KSL.com, Carter Williams has had the sad duty of describing the vandalism of two petroglyph panels this year near Moab, Utah.

The so-called "birthing panel" near Moab, Utah. Photograph Peter Faris, 3 August 2000.

Birthing Rock Vandalism: I have never been able to see the petroglyph that this site was named for as an instance of giving birth. If anything, it looks to me like a case of medical prolapse, but whatever it is, it is an example of rock art and now this site has been vandalized. “Birthing Rock includes birthing images drawn on the rock by Native American groups at least as far back as the Ancestral Puebloan Culture, a couple of thousand years ago. More petroglyphs were added through the years. Judging from photos, Elizabeth Hora, and archaeologist for the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, said it appeared most of the damage was to petroglyphs left by people from the Fremont Culture. The Fremont in that area stretched from 500 A.D. to about 1300 A.D.” (Williams, April 2021)

Vandalized panel at "Birthing Rock" site near Moab, Utah. Online photograph, public domain.

A party, or parties, unknown wrote “White Power” across a portion of the petroglyph panel. This makes very little sense as Moab, Utah, is a bastion of white power if ever there was one. According to figures from the 2019 Census, white alone (not Hispanic or Latino) population is 73.6%, the Hispanic or Latino proportion of the population is 16.6%, with American Indian and Alaskan Native at 4.9%, and Black or African American coming in at 0.6% (U. S. Census 2019). This strikes me as sort of like praying for rain in the middle of a flood.

Vandalized Mill Creek Canyon site, Moab, Utah. Photograph ksl.com.

Mill Creek Canyon Vandalism: And in another unbelievably stupid act - “Pictures of the vandalism show the unknown vandal or vandals wrote ‘Petroglyphs’ and what appears to be the names ‘Taylor’, ‘Tray’, ‘Wes’ and ‘Travis’ plus the date of Aug. 3.” (Williams 2021)  This destruction was apparently done with a motive of photographing for social media. “The vandalism was discovered by someone visiting Mill Creek Canyon, southeast of Moab, on Aug. 10, according to Rachel Wootton, a public affairs specialist for the Bureau of Land Management. She said the petroglyph is believed to have been drawn by northern San Juan members of the Ancestral Puebloan Culture likely between 350 B.C. and 1300 A.D.” (Williams, August 2021)

 Restorer treating the vandalism at the Mill Creek Canyon site, Moab, Utah. Photograph ksl.com.

Moab has had an official policy of publicizing the locations of rock art for the purpose of attracting tourists. This has made it a popular destination for students of rock art, but apparently it also attracts more than its share of idiots and fringies.

You will notice I have not tried to be politically correct in my descriptions of the perpetrators of this vandalism. These morons need to be called out, arrested, and made examples of. If anyone knows anything about these crimes you should call the Police Department, Moab, Utah.

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:

U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts, Moab, Utah, Population estimates, July 1, 2019, accessed 29 October 2021

Williams, Carter, 2021, 700-year-old petroglyph vandalized in southern Utah, 25 August, 2021, KSL.com

Williams, Carter, 2021, ‘This is not an accident’: $10K reward offered after well-known Moab petroglyph found vandalized, 27 April 2021, KSL.com

A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF PAIN IN AN ANTHROPOMORPHIC PETROGLYPH?

 Spotted Woman, Picture Canyon, southeast Colorado. Photograph Peter Faris, 1986. Chalking by some unknown vandal.

In Picture Canyon, in southeastern Colorado, are found hundreds of petroglyphs, among them this anthropomorphic figure with circles on the body. On February 6, 2021, I published a column titled “A Petroglyphic Age Notation” in which I broached the possibility that the circles representd the age of the figure based on a symbol in Garrick Mallery’s 10^th annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology. That symbol, a series of circles with short lines connecting them, was obtained from “The Dakotas”. The lines on the right side of the head of the figure I discussed as representing an ear and head of hair.

In his 2008 book Thunder and Herds, Lawrence Loendorf discussed that same petroglyph and identified the portion of lines on the right side of the head of that anthropomorph as a pain symbol, based upon a resemblance to similar symbols from the Battiste Good winter count that Good had used to represent pain.

Battiste Good, 4th from left. Beside him (2nd from left) possibly his wife Goes in the Midst. Far right his son High Hawk.

Blackens-Himself died in winter of 1724-5, Battiste Good winter count. From Mallery, Fig. 281, page 298.

“Renaud noted the presence of several anthropomorphs, which included the ‘realistic figure of a human body, the most striking petroglyph discovered this season, a woman with sign of smallpox over the body. The interpretation was made more certain after finding four similar drawings in ‘Battiste Good’s Winter Counts’ as given by Mallery in the 10^th annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology.’” (Loendorf 2008:198)

Loendorf wrote the following about the symbol on the right side of the figures head. “The anthropomorph that Renaud described as a female figure with the ‘sign of smallpox over the body’ is over a meter high and is shown in profile view. Its fleshed-out arms and legs and its round head, eyes, and mouth make it appear more realistic than most rock art representations of humans. Identification of the figure is based on a bulge on its right side that some researchers believe represents a breast, although this is not a convention for designating gender else-where on the High Plains. It is the presence of 16 or 17 circles on the figure’s body that prompted Renaud’s diagnosis of smallpox, which he based on similarities between the circles and mnemonic icons in ‘Battiste Good’s Winter Count’ which are known to represent smallpox.

Not all researchers accept the validity of Renaud’s comparison, supporting their rejection by citing circles that are not indicative of smallpox on similar figures at other rock art sites. Bill Buckles, for example, has pointed out that a similar petroglyph in the Galisteo Basin near Santa Fe, New Mexico, is identified by Pueblo Indians as a representation of Shulawitsi, the Fire God, and that another similarly spotted figure in a painting by George Catlin represents a Mandan spirit.” (Loendorf 2008:199)

The pain symbol from Battiste Good's winter count. Tracing by Peter Faris.

It is true that Mallery illustrated four drawings from Battiste Good’s winter count with a symbol representing internal pain included. The symbol chosen by Good was a representation of the stomach and intestines and in one of his illustrations he shows it to be in the interior of a man’s figure. In the other instances it is used externally. “Battiste Good had developed a fascinating and unique symbol to represent pain. In the 1724-25 image showing “Blackens Himself died winter” he portrays the cause of death. This was assumed to be an intestinal problem and Good shows it as the stomach and intestines in front of Blackens Himself representing his bowels in violent commotion, “going round and round”. Good used this symbol thereafter to illustrate pain in a number of subsequent portrayals.” (Green and Thornton 2007:78)

 

Whorl from the right side of the head of Spotted Woman, Picture Canyon, southeast Colorado. Tracing by Peter Faris.

Close-up of Spotted Woman, Picture Canyon, southeast Colorado. Photograph Peter Faris, 1986. Chalking by some unknown vandal.

Loendorf compared the lines at the right side of the head of the Picture Canyon anthropomorph to Battiste Good’s pain symbol and also a symbol used by the Aztecs to illustrate pain. (Personal communication 10/16/2021)

 

Figure 7.5, page 200, Thunder and Herds, Loendorf, 2008.

"Figure 7.5. On the left is the anthropomorph at Picture Canyon that may be suffering from smallpox. On the right is a composite illustration showing the Battiste Good drawing of smallpox and the Aztec pain symbol. Redrawn by Elaine Nimmo from Mallery 1972:308,313; and Historia De Las Cosas de Nueva Espana, Volume 4, Book 12, Lam, cliii, plate 114, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University." (Loendorf 2008:200)

That particular Aztec symbol is used for breath and speech and could very easily be meant to illustrate pain. If used in conjunction with illness or a wound I would take it to represent a groan or a cry from the pain. But, does that particular portion of the figure with circles from Picture Canyon possess an adequate resemblance to Battiste Good’s pain symbol? 

Spotted Woman, Picture Canyon, southeast Colorado. Photograph Peter Faris, 1986. Chalking by some unknown vandal.

I find it fairly easy to disagree with Renaud’s interpretation, having found many errors in his illustrations and recording of rock art. Pretty much all the accepted representations of smallpox, and especially Battiste Good’s representations, show the small pox pustules as dots or blotches on the body, not as large circles. As I said above I suggested a very different interpretation for the circles on the body, an age count. Disagreeing with Larry Loendorf is a different matter altogether, and I would not do so lightly. His remarkable rock art recording projects set the bar exceedingly high for the rest of us, and he has done remarkable interpretations as well. I will just end by saying that I am uncomfortable with the differences between Battiste Good’s pain symbol and that portion of the Picture Canyon anthropomorph, and, if I doubt that the figure represents a case of smallpox, then it follows that I have to doubt that the figure is expressing pain.

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

REFERENCES:

Faris, Peter, 2021, A Petroglyphic Age Notation, 6 February 2021, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Greene, Candace S., and Russell Thornton, 2007, The Year The Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian, Smithsonian National Museum, Washington.

Loendorf, Lawrence L., 2008, Thunder and Herds, Rock Art of the High Plains, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California.

DID A REVERSAL OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD STIMULATE THE RISE OF ROCK ART?

Cave of El Castillo, Spain. Handprints dated to 40,800 years BP. Photo 2012, University of Bristol.

It is fairly well known that the Earth’s magnetic field has been weakening and the North magnetic Pole has been shifting at increasing rates, prompting speculation about a forthcoming reversal of the magnetic field of the Earth, and its effects on the life on Earth. “Over the recent past, Earth’s magnetic field has steadily weakened (~9% in the past 170 years), and this, along with the current rapid movement of the magnetic North Pole, has increased speculation that a field reversal may be imminent. The estimated economic impacts of such a reversal have focused on the increased exposure to extreme solar storms, with multibillion-dollar daily loss estimates likely to be conservative.” (Cooper et al. 2021:1)14

 

As to what impact such a change in Earth’s magnetic field, a recent study, based on new evidence from an ancient C14 sequence looked at the consequences of such an event known as the Laschamps Excursion. “One of the best opportunities to study the impacts of extreme changes in Earth’s magnetic field is the Laschamps Excursion (hereafter Laschamps) – a recent, relatively short-duration (<1000 year) reversal -41 thousand years ago (ka). Sedimentary and volcanic deposits indicate a weakening of the magnetic field intensity to <28% of current levels during the reversed phase of the Laschamps and , notably, as little as 0 to 6% during the preceding transition as polarity switched. (Cooper et al. 2021:1)

 

Cave of El Castillo, Spain. Handprints dated to 40,800 years BP. Photo 2012, University of Bristol.

The researchers found that “a return to periglacial conditions that occurred at 42.23±o.2 ka, coincident with the weakening of the magnetic field during the transition into the Laschamps. The periglacial conditions lasted until the Holocene suggesting pervasive and widespread cold conditions (associated with a strengthening or northward shift in the core westerly airflow) across this sector of the Southern Ocean.” (Cooper et al. 2021:6)

The term ‘periglacial’ refers to conditions at the edge of a glacier, and such conditions could well have driven populations into caves for shelter from the cold.

 

Cave of El Castillo, Spain. Handprints dated to 40,800 years BP. Photo 2012, University of Bristol.

“Overall, the signals – suggest that contemporaneous climatic and environmental impacts occurred across the mid- to lower latitudes ~42 ka, coincident with Earth’s weakened geomagnetic field immediately preceding the reversed state of the Laschamps. We describe this as the ‘Adams Transitional Geomagnetic Event (hereafter ‘Adams Event’), named after the science writer Douglas Adams because of the timing (the number ‘42’) and the associated range of extinctions.” (Cooper et al. 2021:7) The name ‘Adams Event’ was in reference to Douglas Adam’s 1979 book Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which declared that the answer to the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, was ‘42’.

“These broad-scale atmospheric circulation changes appear to have had far reaching consequences. Within Australia, the peak megafaunal extinction phase is dated at ~42.1 ka, both in the mainland and Tasmania, and has generally been attributed to human action, although well after their initial arrival at least 50 ka. Instead, the megafaunal extinctions appear to be contemporaneous with a pronounced climatic phase shift to arid conditions that resulted in the loss of the large interior lakes and widespread change in vegetation patterns.” (Cooper et al. 2021:7)

Babirusa, 45,500 BP, Leang-Tedongnge Cave, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Internet photograph, public domain.

Although this study was primarily based upon data from the southern hemisphere, its conclusions are applied globally. “For instance, the Adams Event is very close in timing to the globally widespread appearance and increase in figurative cave art, red ochre handprints, and changing use of caves ~40 to 42 ka, e.g., in Europe and Island Southeast Asia. This sudden behavioral shift in very different parts of the world is consistent with an increasing or changed use of caves during the Adams Event, potentially as shelter from the increase of ultraviolet B, to potentially harmful levels during GSM or SEPs, which might also explain an increased use of red ochre sunscreen. Rather than the actual advent of figurative art, early cave art would therefore appear to represent a preservation of preexisting behaviors on a new medium.” (Cooper et al. 2021:7)

This last statement, that the shifting of the Earth’s magnetic field event, had the effect of a “widespread appearance and increase in figurative cave art, red ochre handprints, and changing use of caves” requires some kind of explanation. How could that event actually affect human creativity?

43,900 year old Anoa, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Internet photograph, public domain.

In 2009, Allan Snyder, director for the Center for the Mind at the University of Sydney, published the results of an inquiry into magnetically induced creativity. He stated “We cannot draw naturalistic scenes unless we are taught tricks. This is surprising because our brains obviously possess all of the necessary visual information required to draw, but we are apparently unable to consciously access it for the purpose of drawing. Unlike artistic savants, we tend to be more aware of the meaningful whole than its constituent parts. Snyder et al. (2003) directed low-frequency rTMS (repetetive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)for 15 minutes over the LATL (left anterior temporal lobe) of 11, right-handed, healthy participants. The participants were given 1 min. to draw a dog, horse or face from memory, before, during, immediately after and 45 min. after rTMS treatment.

Magnetic stimulation caused a major change in the schema of the drawings of 4 out of 11 participants. Two of these also underwent sham (inactive) stimulation either the week before or after the real test. The changes in drawing style were observed only following active stimulation and not after sham stimulation. In some cases, the drawings returned to ‘normal’ 45 min. after rTMS ceased. Several participants reported greater awareness of detail in their surrounds after active rTMS. One participant published his experience, stating that he ‘could hardly recognize the drawings as his own even though he had watched himself render each image.’” (Snyder 2009)

40,000 year old Babirusa, Borneo, Indonesia. Internet photograph, public domain.

While I do not know if Cooper et al. envision the swapping of the Earth’s magnetic poles as some kind of magnetic wave sweeping through the minds of Paleolithic peoples, or if it was the return to full magnetic strength after the decline through the millenia preceding the event that supposedly triggered the creativity of ~42.1 ka, but as they reported, cave painting appeared right around the time of that event on both sides of our globe. In El Castillo cave in Spain handprints and other painted figures have been dated to 40,800 years ago (University of Bristol 2012) and on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi zoomorphic figures in a cave have been dated as early as 43,900 years ago (Smith 2019).

And this did not require every human to be artistically affected. Remember Snyder’s statement “We cannot draw naturalistic scenes unless we are taught tricks”. Even of only a small percentage of the population became this creative, once the first improved images are painted the “tricks” are taught, they can be studied and repeated.

So, did this really happen, I think the jury is still out on this one, but it is sure to attract (magnetically) some thought.

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:

Cooper, A. et al., 2021, A Global Environmental Crisis 42,000 Years Ago, Science, Vol. 371, 19 February 2021, p. 811, doi: 10.1126/science.abb8677.

Snyder, Allan, 2009, Explaining and Inducing Savant Skills: Privileged Access to Lower Level, Less-Processed Information, 27 May 2009, Philosophical Transactions B, The Royal Biological Society, vol. 364, pp,1399-1405

Smith, Kiona, 2019, A 43,900-year-old cave painting is the oldest story ever recorded, 15 December 2019, Ars Technica, https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/12/a-43900-year-old-cave-painting-is-the-oldest-story-ever-recorded/

 

University of Bristol, 2012, Uranium-series dating reveals Iberian paintings are Europe’s oldest cave art, Science Daily, 14 June 2012, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012,06,120614142840.htm