Back in February 2022 I did a column on some pictographs of honey gathering from Spain. In that one I focused on the idea of the importance of honey to the societies and the lengths they would go to gather it. Recent studies have taken another track, to the implications of the climbing itself and the ropes and other equipment required in acquiring the honey.
“Direct or
indirect evidence of ropemaking are scarce in European prehistory. Only a few
references to Middle or Upper Palaeolithic remains are known to us, with more
examples towards the Holocene. The archaeological contexts of ropes offer
little information about possible uses, as the activities they are used for are
often archaeologically invisible. However, some rock-art traditions shed some
light on potential uses, worth exploring. In Spain, Levantine rock art offers
the best graphic examples across Europe showing various uses of ropes,
including climbing. Starting from the recently discovered climbing scene of
Barranco Gómez site (Teruel, Spain), including the best preserved and more
complex use of ropes seen so far in Levantine art. - Different rope-making
techniques were used by Levantine societies, which we believe are indicative of
a complex rope-making technology, requiring a considerable investment of time
and efforts. It also shows a certain variety of rope climbing techniques and
rope climbing gear, illustrating that both were mastered by Levantine
societies. Moreover, a preferential use of ropes in honey-hunting scenes is
observed.” (Bea et al.
2023)
There have been a few samples of rope
recovered from ancient sites in Europe. These pictures from Don Hitchcock at www.donsmaps.com show an excavated sample of rope, as well as an imprint
in dried mud of a rope that has disappeared with age.
.%20(1%20&%202)%20Los%20Trepadores%20(after%20Beltr%C3%A1n%20Reference%20Beltr%C3%A1n2005);%20(3)%20La%20Higuera%20(after%20Baldello.jpg)
“The catalogue of Levantine Rock Aat includes hundreds of sites, but explicit representations of ropes or rope-ladders are rare. Some of the known examples cannot be linked to a specific activity, but most of them are related to climbing. Nevertheless, climbers do not only use ropes and rope ladders, but occasionally climb some type of plants, branches or trees. Climbers are either related to wild boar hunting, honey hunting or unidentifiable activities, as they are isolated or are part of incomplete scenes.” (Bea et al. 2023)
“Within the foothills of the Iberian System Mountain Range in
northeastern Spain, archaeologists have discovered a 7,500-year-old painting
depicting prehistoric humans gathering honey. The exceptionally detailed image
shows a figure climbing a rope ladder to reach a colony of bees.” (Saed 2021)
While we have the pictures of figures climbing ropes up cliffs we have no
indication of their equivalents of modern climbing equipment. I suppose we can
project a few things like a wooden peg pounded into a crack in the rock with a
hammerstone, instead of a metal piton, and a loop tied into the rope instead of
a carabiner.
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Flexible climbing systems. Stirrup ladders: (1) Barranco Gómez; (2) Cingle de l'Ermità. Ropes: (3) La Araña (Hernández-Pacheco; (4) Los Trepadores (after Beltrán). Images from Bea, 2013.
“Manuel Bea, a
researcher from the University of Zaragoza, authenticated the painting
alongside colleagues Ines Domingo and Jorge Angas. ‘We have a perfect
photograph,’ he explains, that provides insight into just how these practices
were conducted: by climbing ropes. The Barranco Gomez rock shelter was found by
a nearby resident in 2013, but the analysis of the painting published just this
year.” (Saed
2021) The Barranco Gomez pictograph clearly shows some sort
of rope ladder with a pair of ropes connected somehow creating openings for the
feet. The authors of the paper (Bea et al. 2023) postulate that the second rope
is repeatedly tied around the first, spaced comfortably apart to create a
series of loops for the foot. This suggestion seems to fit comfortably with
what can be seen in the image. What cannot be seen, however, is how it is
fastened at the top of the rope, what secures it to the cliff?
The team was able to get quite a bit of information out of their analysis. “The unique honey-hunting scene from Barranco Gómez site illustrates the use of a truly complex rope-making technology. Close observation of this depiction does not assist in identification of the rope-making techniques (whether twisted or plaited fibres), but the use in climbing and the length show that Levantine societies were technologically advanced in the production of quality ropes. We estimate that each loop of the ladder (considering a minimum of 25 cm high and 20 cm wide) requires up to 80–85 cm of rope (including the necessary knots), so the rope length was possibly 25 m after the 29 stirrups depicted in the scene. Given that, the ladder itself could have been up to 7.5 m in length. The proportions of the length of the ladder and the height of the climber (assuming a height of 1.7 m) would fit perfectly.” (Bea et al. 2023)
The image from Cueva del las Aranas appears to show three vertical ropes with no horizontal rungs or loops of any kind. This may be meant to show an instance of shimmying up the rope, but again no details on its connection at the top other than some angled lines that the ropes connect with. These angled lines at the top have been suggested to represent branches.
“What is important is that Levantine groups had a refined
technique for rope making, which was adapted to produce long ropes for climbing
activities. When the action represented in the scenes displaying rope equipment
can be deduced, honey hunting is the only well-defined activity. While this
activity was depicted in different parts of the Levantine territory in the
final stages of the sequence, it is completely absent in the initial stages,
marking a significant change in the cultural treatment this activity had over
time.” (Bea et al. 2023)
The authors of this study (Bea et al. 2023) have also included images of a number of other climbing scenes from rock art in the Levant including not only more that appear to be climbing ropes, but also apparently using trees or limbs for vertical access. This is an interesting and informative look at a vestige of early technology that we seldom think of, and I highly recommend it for fascinating reading.
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:
Bea, Manuel, Didac Roman, and Ines Domongo, 2023, Hanging over the Void. Use of Long Ropes and Climbing Rope Ladders in Prehistory as Illustrated in Levantine Rock Art, 8 June 2023, Cambridge University Press (online). Accessed online 19 July 2023.
Faris, Peter, 2022, Some Sweet Pictographs – Honey Collecting in Spanish Rock Art, 12 February 2022, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/honey%20gathering
Hitchcock, Don, A rope from Lascaux Cave, https://donsmaps.com/lasc
auxrope.html. Accessed online 25 July 2023.
Saed, Omnia, 2021, Found: A
7,500-Year-Old Cave Painting of Humans Gathering Honey, 16 December 2021, Atlas
Obscura, https://atlasobscura.com/articles/honey-cave-painting
Wikipedia, Rope, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope.
Accessed online 25 July 2023.
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