FORESHORTENING IN ROCK ART:

Eland rear view, 5 in. high. The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province. South Africa. Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, pl. 32.

We are so used to seeing rock art in side or frontal views that we don’t usually think of any alternatives but, once in a while, an image is found that is seen in a unique position which requires foreshortening, related to a technique called forced perspective.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (2023d) defines foreshorten as “to shorten by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained.” What this means, if effect, is that the lines representing dimensions extending toward or away from the viewer are shortened to conform with the dictates of perspective which says that the more perpendicular the line or edge is to your position the shorter it will appear as it recedes from your position towards the ‘vanishing point.’

This is a minor element in ‘linear perspective’ as it was developed during the renaissance. “Filippo Brunelleschi, a famed Italian architect and engineer who lived from 1377 to 1446, rediscovered a specific methodology for achieving accurate perspective in art. Around 1420, Brunelleschi used a vanishing point and lines that connected to that vanishing point in order to sketch an incredibly realistic-looking picture of a baptistery in Florence. So, Brunelleschi was the first to accurately achieve perspective in art.” (Cummings)

Foreshortening is a small part of ‘linear perspective,’ but a very important part. Foreshortening allows the portrayal of something that is not just full-face frontal to the eye of the viewer, or crosswise (side view) to the viewer. Foreshortening allows for varying degrees of posture toward and/or away from the viewer, or more importantly, something that is in a bent or skewed posture toward or away from the eye of the beholder.

Close-up of eland, rear view, 5 in. high. The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province. South Africa. Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, pl. 32.

The examples I illustrate here all come from Africa, mostly from South Africa, and mostly produced by San artists. The first, and by far the most impressive, is a beautiful painting of two elands. This illustration from Wilcox shows one eland as if standing on a slight slope upwards to our right, and a second eland portrayed as if lying down seen from the back with its head partly raised and turned toward us. This second eland is listed as being 5” high. According to Wilcox the photo is from The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province, South Africa. In this beautiful picture the whole body of the second eland is foreshortened. (Wilcox 1963: Illus. 32)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, fig. 23, p. 58.

A petroglyph of an indeterminate antelope with its body facing to the right but its head turned around looking backwards requiring foreshortening of the upper neck. This petroglyph is listed as coming from Groot Moot. (Wilcox 1963:58)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

Other examples from Wilcox include a petroglyph of a giraffe facing away from the viewer, but with its head turned sideways to our right. This was recorded at Bosworth, near Klerksdorp, Transvaal. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

A supposed gemsbock from Kinderdam, Vryburg district, Northern Cape Province, also facing away from the viewer but with the head turned looking to our left. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, p. 76.

And, a sheep from the Vryburg district standing facing directly out at the viewer seen from the front. In the sheep example the foreshortening is shown in glimpses of the back and tail. (Wilcox 1963: 76)

Kathryn's Post, painted by Helen Tongue, photo Stella Myers Reed, p.79, Rock Art of Africa, Carson I. A. Ritchie.

My final example of foreshortening in this particular column, also from Africa, comes from Carson Ritchie (1979) with a much reproduced panel of a grouping of quadrupeds identified as elands, rhebucks, and oxen from a location listed as Kathryn’s Post, reproduced from a painting by Helen Tongue, photographed by Stella Myers Reed. (Ritchie 1979:79) In this very much faded image the central reclining animal has his head positioned either toward or away from the viewer with its body facing directly right.

All of these examples are believed to have been produced by San artists at unknown dates, and illustrate an amazing attention to detail as well as a sophistication in presentation. These so-called primitives were effectively using an art technique supposedly discovered by the famous artists of Renaissance history. Examples may be found from other rock art traditions, but, it is a technique that is quite advanced in visual portrayal, and thus relatively rare.

NOTE: For further information on these references you should read the originals  listed below.

REFERENCES:

Cummings, Erica, Linear Perspective in Renaissance Art, https://study.com. Accessed online 22 March 2023.

Merriam-Webster, Forshorten, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreshorten. Accessed 12 March 2023.

Ritchie, Carson I. A., 1979, Rock Art of Africa, A. S. Barnes and Company, Ltd., Cranbury, New Jersey.

Wilcox, A. R., 1963, The Rock Art of South Africa, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Johannesburg, South Africa.

BICEPHALIC DRAGONS/SISIUTLS REVISITED, THIS TIME IN BULGARIA:

Reconstructed Thracian shrine, Razlog, Bulgaria. Internet illustration, public domain.

On 28 January 2023 I published a column titled ‘SISIUTL AND CHINESE DRAGONS - A CONNECTION?’ in which I addressed a comment I received from Jay (last name unknown) concerning a 4,000 year old carving found in China’s Shimao, in Shaanxi province, of a two-headed dragon that closely resembles the Sisiutl of North America’s northwest coast first peoples. I my response I postulated some degree of two-way cultural exchange that may have planted the idea at both ends of the route.

Stele from the Thracian shrine and a rubbing of the petroglyph, Razlog, Bulgaria. Internet illustration, public domain.

This possibility gets a whole lot more complicated, however, because I recently ran across an article from 2015 about an ancient Thracian Sun Shrine in Razlog, Bulgaria, dating from the 2^nd century BC, with an image of a bicephalic (two-headed) dragon carved on a rock. The hypothesis of cultural exchange still can be applied because the ancient Chinese Silk Road runs through Turkey. and Bulgaria is next to Turkey on the southwestern side of the Black Sea. This suggests that the idea of the two-headed dragon/sisiutl could have traveled from Shaanxi China to Razlog along the Silk Road.

Closeup of the petroglyph panel. Two-headed dragon at center with warrior at lower right. Internet illustration, public domain.

The Razlog dragon lacks the central face of the North American Sisiutl and the Shimao, China, two-headed dragon, but all three share the layout of the two heads at both ends of a snake-like body. The Razlog dragon is incorporated as the bottom element of a large, complicated petroglyph of interlocking swirls, and he is confronted on the right side of the design by an anthropomorphic figure which appears to be holding a weapon (sword?) and interacting with that head, perhaps fighting.

Closeup of the same portion of the tracing. Two-headed dragon at center with warrior at lower right. Internet illustration, public domain.

So, where did Sisiutl/2-Headed dragons really come from; Bulgaria, China, the Northwest Coast of North America? On the basis of very little information I would have to guess China based upon its central position in the map of occurrences of this image, as well as its known time depth in China. But, this is only a guess, and probably a shaky one at best. We have to be on the lookout for more examples of the image.

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:

Dikov, Ivan, 2015, Bulgaria’s Razlog Unveils Restoration of 2^nd Century BC Reliefs From Ancient Thracian Sun Shrine, 18 September 2015, http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com. Accessed online 15 March 2023.

Faris, Peter, 2023, Sisiutl and Chinese Dragons – A Connection?, 28 January 2023, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com.

RECORDS OF COLONIALISM IN ROCK ART

An equestrian raider with a musket and stolen domestic stock. The zoomorph at top right is interpreted as a 'rain animal' magically summoned to wash away the tracks. Photograph from Sam Challis and Brent Sinclair-Thompson.

On 11 September 2021 I posted an article titled “In South Africa, Colonialism Was Written on Stone” about armed resistance by indigenous peoples to European colonialism in South Africa. It was illustrated by pictographs from South Africa taken by Challis and Sinclair-Johnson (2021) of equestrian and armed figures including one identified as an armed stock raider.

Porterville galleon. Photograph from Trust for African Rock Art.

Another paper, this one by Kimon DeGreef (2016) has now identified a ship pictograph in South Africa as a record of colonial imperialism. “Whoever painted the ship trekked far inland before leaving his or her mark: the nearest coastal bays lie 100 kilometers to the west. The painting, dubbed the Porterville Galleon, is found in one of the richest rock art areas in southern Africa. The parched and rugged mountain range 200 kilometers north of Cape Town known as Cederberg has several thousand ocher paintings on boulders and sandstone ledges. The images record the lives and rituals of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the Cape of Good Hope for hundreds of generations before European settlers – first from the Netherlands, then Britain – took control of the land.” (DeGreef 2016)

“In caves and overhangs throughout the area, San rock art can be found, evidence of the earliest human inhabitants. European settlement brought forestry and some agriculture, and led to massive destruction of the local cedar trees, with thousands felled for telephone poles, furniture and housing. The European arrival also led to the elimination of the San population.” (Wikipedia) An example of all the sins of Colonialism, the eradication of the San people was merciless.

Borderland region painting with horses and guns. Photograph by Sam Challis and Brent Sinclair-Thompson.

“Some paintings found near the Cederberg are more than 3,500 years old, left behind by ancient San hunter-gatherer societies. They depict animals, humans, and therianthropes – people with hybrid animal features metamorphosing during trance states. Geometric patterns, handprints, and paintings of domestic sheep overlay some of these images, which are thought to date to the appearance of Khoi pastoralists 2,000 years ago. The ship painting marks a more recent and dramatic historical contact.” (DeGreef 2016) While most of our attention to rock art of the region has been directed at the remarkable San imagery, the pictographs reported here are from a later phase. They were produced by people we can call the Khoisan, also once known as ‘Hottentots.’

Another armed equestrian, either a stock raider or a guard. Photograph by Sam Challis and Brent Sinclair-Thompson.

“In around 2300 BP, hunter-gatherers called the San acquired domestic stock in what is now modern day Botswana. Their population grew, and spread throughout the Western half of South Africa. They were the first pastoralists in southern Africa, and called themselves Khoikhoi (or Khoe), which means ‘men of men’ or ‘the real people.’ - - The Khoikhoi brought a new way of life to South Africa and to the San, who were hunter-gatherers as opposed to herders. This led to misunderstandings and subsequent conflict between the two groups.” (South African History Online) I really do not know how accurate this short expose’ of the history of the peoples of South Africa is. The record is so full of colonial racism and apartheid and I am not expert enough in their history to know who to trust.

“The Khoikhoi were the first native people to come into contact with the Dutch settlers in the mid 17^th century. As the Dutch took over land for farms, the Khoikhoi were dispossessed, exterminated, or enslaved and therefore their numbers dwindled. The Khoikhoi were called the ‘Hottentots’ by European settlers because the sound of their language was so different from any European language, and they could not pronounce many of the words and sounds.” (South African History Online) This is seemingly a rerun of the Ancient Greeks dubbing all other cultures ‘barbarians’ because their language sounded to the Greeks as if they were babbling gibberish – bar, bar, bar.

The lessons represented here can, and should, be applied to anywhere Western Colonial peoples moved into land occupied by indigenous people, including the North American continent, and can give us new insights into how we interpret rock art in our own studies.

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:

Challis, Sam, and Brent Sinclair-Thomson, 2021, South Africa’s Bandit Slaves and the Rock Art of Resistance, 20 August  2021, The Conversation Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

De Greef, Kimon, 2016, In South Africa, Colonialism Was Written on Stone, 12 December 2016, https://hakamagazine.com/article-short/south-africa-colonialism-was-written-stone/. Accessed online 12 March 2023

Faris, Peter, 2021, The Rock Art of Resistance, 11 September 2021, https://www.rockartblog.blogspot.com/.

South African History Online, The Khoisan, https://sahistory.org.za/article/khoisan. Accessed online 25 March 2023.

Wikipedia, Cederberg, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cederberg. Accessed online 15 March 2023.

SWIMMING IN ROCK ART CONTINUED - MYTHICAL BEINGS/MERMAIDS:

Ezelsacht, near Oudtshoorn, Cape Province, South Africa. Illustration from The Rock Art of South Africa, A.R. Wilcox, facing p. 35.

Close-up, Ezelsacht, near Oudtshoorn, Cape Province, South Africa. Illustration from The Rock Art of South Africa, A.R. Wilcox, facing p. 35.

I am presenting this column as a sort of sequel to my recent column about swimming in Paleolithic Art and rock art. In doing online research for the subject of swimming I ran across a number of online websites which talked about Mermaids and mermaid mythology in South Africa. I do not know how authentic all this material is, and I cannot personally vouch for any of it, but I found it interesting enough that I want to present it to you and let you decide for yourself.

One traditionally published source was Wilcox’s 1963 volume on The Rock Art Of South Africa. Wilcox published a photo of a panel he designated “Ezelzacht near Oudtshoorn, Cape Province.” Wilcox continued “the story behind the painting – was, according to Dr. Bleek, told to a Mr. Ballot by an old Bushman then still living in the district, but this record seems to have been lost. It is described as a fine old legend, the subject being the ‘watermaidens’. The site is only about 30 miles from the sea and we can plausibly guess that the creatures, fish-like up to the waist and human above, were based upon the marine mammal the dugong of the Indian Ocean seen by Bushmen at the coast. This animal or its near relation the manatee is believed also to have given rise to the mermaid legend of European folklore.” (Wilcox 1963:35) Doctor Bleek and Mr. Ballot were not identified so the provenance of the data there is weak, but the photograph seems genuine enough.

More recently, many other writers have found pictures of the same panel and used them, often to illustrate stories of indigenous mythology of South African peoples. In a 2020 article titled “Are Mermaids Real? You Decide,” the writer (using the name Mecheshier) wrote – “South Africa: In the mountains near Oudtshoom in the “Little Karoo” are inexplicable mermaid paintings that have baffled archaeologists for years. These paintings are very unique and are engraved into the walls, not painted. The paintings have been referred by the native people as water spirits or mermaids. There is also a legend in the Karoo which speaks of a beautiful mermaid that can be seen sitting on a rock combing her hair. Tales about the mermaid are still active today; children are warned not to go near deep pools because Water-auntie or the Water-meid might pull them in.”

You can see the problems here immediately. In spite of calling the panel “paintings” three times he says they are “engraved into the walls, not painted.”  I really do not know what to make of this. The illustration of the panel in Wilcox (1963) certainly looks real enough, the painting looks authentic. These figures look less authentic in many of the later illustrations, but these just may be cases of photographic enhancement. In any case, with the figures apparently sporting fish-like tails, and with many of them in swimming-like positions, this panel is pretty convincing.

San rock art, mermaid, Karoo desert, South Africa. Illustration from Dianecarnevale.blogspot.com.

Then we have a photograph of a figure identified as a mermaid by Diane Carnevale in her blog “La Bella Vita – Mermaids in Art.” She stated that it came from the Karoo region of South Africa as well.

Highly doubtable mermaids. Identified as a photograph from the Karoo Caves, South Africa (questdionable).

Image of fighting between San and mermaids, location unknown but in the same style as above. Online image, public domain.

Then we have some pictures of so-called mermaids, also of indeterminate origin. I found these online as public domain photographs, a couple of which were labeled as from the Karoo Caves also, although one was labeled “Cave of the Swimmers.” The difference in style, however, makes me somewhat suspicious of them so I present them to you as possibles without further comment.

Mermaids, Chandraketugarh, India. Ca. 2,200 BCE. Online images, public domain.

I will finish this up with some lovely mermaids from approximately 2,200 BCE. These relief carvings are from Chandraketugar, India. “Chandraketugarh is a 2500 years old archaeological site located near the Bidyadhari river, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-east of Kolkata, India, in the district of North 24 parganas, near the township of Berachampa and the Harua Road trailhead. Once it was an important hob of international maritime trade. The history of Chandraketugarh dates back to almost the 3^rd century BCE, during the pre-Mauryan era. Artefacts suggest that the site was continuously inhabited and flourished through the Shunga-Kushana period, onwards through the Gupta period and finally into the Pala-Sena period. Archaeological studies suggest that Chandraketugarh was an important town and a port city. It had a high encircling wall complete with a rampart and moat. The residents were involved in various crafts and mercantile activities.” (Wikipedia)

So, are any of these images of real mermaids? Well – no, but the myths have given us many great stories and portrayals, and the world is richer for them.

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:

Carnevale, Diane, 2013, The mermaid in art, 17 July 2013, La Bella Vita, https://dianecarnevale.blogspot.com/search?q=karoo . Accessed online 9 March 2023.

Mecheshier, 2020, Are Mermaids Real? You Decide, 16 May 2020, https://discover.hubpages.com/education/Are-Mermaids-Real-You-Decide. Accessed online 8 March 2023.

Wikipedia, Chandraketugarh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandraketugarh. Accessed  online 18 March 2023.

Wilcox, A. R., 1963, The Rock Art of South Africa, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Johannesburg, South Africa.

PARANORMAL PHENOMENA IN ROCK ART - FLYING RODS - April 1:

Flying rod. Photograph from abovetopsecret.com.

Flying rod. Photograph from assap.ac.uk.

This year for my April 1^st column I am going to reveal a paranormal phenomena illustrated in rock art that has been covered up – the Flying Rod.

“Flying rods are a phenomena in which mysterious rod-shaped objects appear in video footage or photographs. Some people believe these rods to be an unknown form of life, perhaps extraterrestrial in origin. Skeptics believe most flying rods are actually insects or small birds that only appear to have the mysterious rod shape because they are blurred by photographic exposure time.

Flying Rod. Photograph anomalien.com.

A typical flying rod includes the following features:

•       A central rod-shaped “torso.”

•       Multiple fins or wings.

•       May be anywhere from a few centimeters to a few meters in length.

•       Travel at high velocities, changing direction at will.

•       Invisible or barely visible to the human eye without the aid of photographic or video equipment." (Paranormal Encyclopedia)

Flying rods. Online photograph, public domain.

"Flying rods are also known as Sky Fish or Solar Entities. Flying Rods were popularized by film maker Jose Escamilla. On March 19^th 1994 Escamilla filmed some unexplained flying objects in Midway, New Mexico. These were the first images to be interpreted and labeled as flying rods, and the flying rod theory was born. Many people assumed the rods to be a new form of cryptid (unknown or unexplained life form).” (Paranormal Encyclopedia)  We obviously have a mysterious phenomena which many believe to be completely new.

At this point the cover-up began, the powers that be, for some reason, went out of their way to explain away these sightings.

“Robert Todd Carroll (2003), having consulted an entomologist (Doug Yanega), identified rods as images of flying insects recorded over several cycles of wing-beating on video recording devices. The insect captured on image a number of times while propelling itself forward, gives the illustion of a single elongated rod-like body, with bulges.

A 2000 report by staff at “The Straight Dope” also explained rods as such phenomena, namely tricks of light which result from how (primarily video) images of flying insects are recorded and played back, adding that investigators have shown the rod-like bodies to be a result of motion blur, if the camera is shooting at relatively long exposure times.” (Wikipedia)

“In August 2005, China Central Television (CCTV) aired a two-part documentary about flying rods in China. It reported the events from May to June of the same year at Tonghua Zhhenguo Pharmaceutical Company in Tonghua City, Jilin Province, which debunked the flying rods. Surveillance cameras in the facility’s compound captured video footage of flying rods identical to those shown in Jose Escamilla’s video. Getting no satisfactory answer to the phenomenon, curious scientists at the facility decided that they would try to solve the mystery by attempting to catch these airborne creatures. Huge nets were set up and the same surveillance cameras then captured images of rods flying into the trap. When the nets were inspected, the “rods” were no more than regular moths and other ordinary flying insects. Subsequent investigations proved that the appearance of flying rods on video was an optical illusion created by the slower recording speed of the camera.” (Wikipedia)  So what are they all covering up?

Flying rod petroglyph, Picketwire Canyonlands, Bent County, Colorado. Photograph 1995, Peter Faris.

This phenomenon has been photographed literally all over the world since 1994, but is that really when they first appeared as some cryptozoologists have maintained? Flying rods have indeed been observed and recorded for centuries before photography and video technology existed. They are recorded in petroglyphs and pictographs all over. Here in the western United States I have examples from Nine-mile Canyon and Cedar Mesa in Utah, and Council Rocks in Arizona.

Flying rods, from Council Rocks, Arizona. Online photograph, public domain.

Moon House Ruin, McCloyds Canyon, Cedar Mesa, Utah. Online photograph, public domain.

Others, from Colorado and California, either show different species of flying rods, or, because the portrayals are different, perhaps they represent differences in how their observers perceived them. In any case, they seem to be omnipresent – at least on April Fool’s Day.

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:

Paranormal Encyclopedia, Flying Rods, https://www.paranormal-encyclopedia.com/f/flying-rods/. Accessed online 6 March 2023.

Wikipedia, Rod (optical phenomenon), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rod_(optical_phenomenon). Accessed online 6 March 2023.