THE DISAPPEARING OWLS – IBERIAN SLATE PLAQUES ARE NOW WRITING, OR GENEALOGICAL RECORDS:

Map of locations of discovery of plaques on the Iberian Peninsula. Map from urn-cambridge.org.

Owl plaque (from 2023 posting). Illustration from Negro et al., 2022, Fig 1. Slate plaque from Cerro de las Cabezas, Valencina de la Concepción, Sevilla, Spain (Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla, REP25837).

Back in March 2023, I posted a column that identified a number of decorated slate plaques found in Iberia, as toy owls created by children. These owl themed plaques are a subset of a very large number of similar plaques from the Chalcolithic Period (Copper Age, ca. 5200 BP) created in a time frame of 5500 to 4750 BP. It is important that we note that the owl plaques are only a fraction of similar decorated plaques from that period. I found this theory hard to accept based on a level of workmanship that would, in my opinion, have taken longer to acquire than the short period of childhood.

 

From anthropology.net, Illustrations of classic slate plaques housed at Portugal’s Museu Nacional de Arqueologia. 

A new study has now been published that argues that the plaques are an early form of writing and record genealogical records (Lillios et al. 2024).

Katina Lillios and her collaborators state that the owl plaques represent only 4% of the overall number (p. 4). “Typically found as grave goods in tombs in south-western Iberia, the plaques are hand-sized objects (150 mm) most often made from slate. They are primarily found in southern Portugal but also known in south-western Spain.” (Lillios et al. 2024:4) Presently there are 1826 of these engraved plaques recorded according to the team. They argue very convincingly that the owls could not have been toys created by children primarily because they are such a small percentage of the overall number, while children are often the largest demographic group in a society.

 

Illustration from urn-cambridge.org.

“That only a minority of the plaques (4 per cent) have clear biomorphic traits, such as ‘eyes’ (or oculi) or a ‘nose’ (or ‘beak’), presents a challenge to the notion that all plaques represent a deity, such as a Mother Goddess. These plaques include the Biomorph Simple and Biomorph Whiskered types. The overwhelming majority (70 percent) are of the Classic type— the focus of this article. Classic plaques have a ‘ top’ and a ‘base’ separated by a horizontal line or bands. The bands are filled with hachures or small triangles, or are unfilled. The top can have straps (horizontal or vertical)or other motifs, such as inverted ‘v’s, rays, and a collar. In rare cases (n = 10), Classic plaques have ‘eyes’ or oculi, like the Biomorph plaques. The base is typically decorated with six design

motifs, which can be found on their own or in combination with other motifs, and are most often organized along horizontal registers. These motifs include triangles, checkerboard, vertical bands, chevrons,

zigzags, and herringbone. That these motifs are all textile weaves may suggest that the plaques were inspired by clothing or other woven goods that have not survived, except in rare cases.” (Lilios et al. 2024:5) The plaques that had been identified as owls fall into the categories that the authors here are calling “biomorph simple,” and “biomorph whiskered.” The statement that “these motifs are all textile weaves” is unproven and seems a little reckless.

Illustration from urn-cambridge.org. Note that the plaque in the bottom left (no. h) is the same as my owl plaque illustration above.

In the following paragraph, note that the authors refer to the design elements as “records” as if they somehow contain data – another leap to conclusion.  “A key question the study addresses is whether there is a correlation between the number of records on the plaques and their geographical distribution. If the plaques represent genealogical records, the researchers expected to find plaques with fewer records concentrated in Alentejo (in southern Portugal), regarded as the ‘heart’ of this tradition, while those with more records would be more geographically dispersed. This pattern would be consistent with the expansion of successive generations of a lineage to other areas. The results of the analysis show a significant, though not conclusive, correlation between the number of records and the dispersion of the plaques, which supports the hypothesis that they may represent lineages that expanded over time. Another fundamental aspect explored by the researchers was the possible relationship between the size of the tombs where the plaques were found and the number of bands separating the base from the upper part. Tomb size is an indicator of labor investment and, possibly, the status of the individuals buried within. This study found that plaques found in larger tombs tended to have a greater number of bands, which could suggest a connection between the complexity of the design and the social prestige of the individuals they accompanied.” (Carvajal 2024)

“A final theory exists that states these slates may have been genealogical records, similar to how heraldic emblems denote a person’s ancestry, as did the plaques. For Prof. Lillios, the spark that led to this hypothesis was one particularly unique plaque, ‘if there was any real spark in this research, it was in the study of one particular plaque in the Museu Geologico in Lisbon, in 2003.” (Oster 2024) ) If these plaques are genealogical, perhaps there is a basic design for a clan or family that gets more complicated from generation to generation by adding lines, triangles, or stripes while maintaining the basic design. The term “heraldic” implies this connection to an identifiable group of people, whether it is family or clan.

Illustration from urn-cambridge.org.

“Our work reassesses the genealogical hypothesis for the Classic plaques using a series of statistical analyses to evaluate whether significant patterning exists among their design, their geographic distribution, and the size of the tombs in which they were found. Our study indicates a positive relationship between tomb size and the presence of plaques with high numbers of bands. There is also a relationship between the number of bands, the presence of a collar, and the base design. What the bands and collars specifically denote is, however, unclear. Perhaps bands recorded the number of children, territorial claims, military conquests, or something else considered remarkable enough for Late Neolithic and Copper Age people to record on that plaque (and the person associated with it).” (Lilios et al 20024:13) Marks to record data, this would be the idea behind claims that the slates represent a very early example of a written language, although again, I think that is going a little far.

“Clearly much more work remains to be done on the plaques to elucidate their formal patterning and understand the organization of their production. To conclude, much of the debate around the Iberian plaques, which is centered around whether they were heraldic, or were related to ancestors, or represented deities, obscures more than reveals. Individual plaques clearly had social lives, and as a class of objects, perhaps sacred texts, their use or meaning no doubt changed over time. When they were first created, Classic plaques may have been accorded to individuals whose genealogical history was central to the mythos of a community, but who, over time, became important ancestors, or even deities themselves.” (Lilios et al. 2024:14) This is a possibility that certainly cannot be disproven at this time. They were clearly important, so many of them were created.

Many of the slate plaques have one or twos hole in the  narrower end apparently to hang them up somehow. This implies display and reinforces that they represent something that identifies an individual, family, or group as different from the others. This could seemingly be defined in some ways as heraldic.

REFERENCES:

Carvajal, Guillermo, 2024, The Enigmatic Prehistoric Engraved Slate Plaques of the Iberian Peninsula are Genealogical Recordds and One of the Earliest Forms of Writing in Europe, 1 November 2024, https://www.labrujulaverde.com. Accessed online 15 January 2025.

Lillios, Katina T., Tang Zhuo, and Jay Bowen, 2024, The Engraved Slate Plaques of Late Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia: A Statistical Evaluation of the Genealogical Hypothesis, European Journal of Archaeology 2024. Accessed online 15 January 2025.

Negro, J. J., Blanco, G., Rodriguez-Rodriguez, E., et al., 2022, Owl-like plaques of the Copper Age and the involvement of children, Sci. Rep. 12, 19277, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23530-0. Accessed 2 December 2022.

Oster, Sandee, 2024, Ancient Iberian slate plaques may be genealogical records, 3 December 2024, https://phys.org. Accessed online 15 January 2025.

Sci.News Staff, 2022, Iberian Owl-Shaped Plaques Were Toys Made By Copper Age Children: Study, 5 December 2022, Sci.News online. Accessed online 1 March 2023.

 

CANARY ISLAND ROCK ART AND LITHOPHONES:

 

Map of the Canary Islands, by M. Hersher, Ancient World Mapping Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I have written about lithophones, as well as music and rock art, in previous columns (please check the cloud index at the bottom of the blog to see those articles). In this column I am going to discuss the relationship of lithophones to rock art panels on the Canary Islands.

Petroglyphs on El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

In a study of the rock art and lithophones of the Canary Islands, lead author Marco Merlini explained “Rock carvings are one of the most significant expressions of Guanches, the aboriginal stone age population that disembarked at the Canary archipelago during the first millennium BCE. It was formed by Paleo-Berbers with roots in the Mediterranean North African koine and with close links to the Libyan-Punic milieu.” (Merlini 2019:1) In linguistics, a koine or koine language or dialect is a standard or common dialect that has arisen as a result of the contact, mixing, and often simplification of two or more mutually intelligible varieties of the same language. (Wikipedia) Lithophones have been found all over the world and from a great many cultures, both ancient and modern. These musical rocks consist of many different minerals from limestone, lavas and granites to jade and stalactites.

Lithophones on de la Peña de Luis Cabrera. Image from Marco Merlini, 2019, Fig. 3. The white circles on a selection of handy sized rocks allow a person to play a tune.

In the Canary Islands “lithophones are located alongside petroglyphs, drawings and inscriptions incised into rocks of archaeological sites that are often astronomically significant. The sound rock sites and their use from prehistorical times until recent times are recalled by oral tradition too. In several instances, we know only the toponyms of the lithophonic sites, their location, and a generic oral memory emphasizing their special (and sometimes reputed magic) sonorous effects. The collective, although feeble, reminiscence maintained in the Canary Islands generation after generation represents the fundamental base of the investigation on the music of the stones. It includes: explication of toponyms; association of the lithophones with the ancestral meaning of rock carvings, channels, cup-marks, and other types of rock art in the surrounding areas; their relationship with engraved texts; connections of the ringing stones with legends and related traditions as places of worship, and/or of performing special rituals, and/or of supernatural interest and consecration.” (Merlini 2019:246) The authors included no actual factual evidence of astronomic significance of either petroglyphs or lithophones, but the possibility is not out of the question.

Canary Island petroglyph boulder. Image from 4-USERS.STICC.EDU.

“Canary Archipelago possesses an atout (asset) for our chances to understand the pre-historical exploitation of rock art sites for music-making. If we get to know that a natural “rock gong” produces sounds on a musical scale, then the subsequent question is to understand how it was used in the past, and even if it was actually in use. Association with musical instruments, petroglyphs, cave paintings and archaeological remains give only partial hints. The lithophones of the Canary Islands were alive in the troglodyte pre-Hispanic period and sometimes even after it. Part of the question concerning their exploitation is therefore solvable thanks to oral traditions or legends about their role in ceremonies or in creating an alert. The Canary Islanders, descendants from the Guanches, keep memory about certain stones and rock surfaces that were in use even in historical times to produce a peculiar metallic sound when being struck, and their peculiar association with rock art engravings.” (Merlini 2019)

Robert Bednarik (2010) wrote about lithophones being useful for long distance communication. “Judging from the few recorded instances it seems the utilitarian role of lithophones or rock gongs relates primarily to the communicating or carrying ability of the produced sound, and the metallic sound of effective lithophones can carry over distances of several kilometres. as mentioned above, in one report it serves to communicate with ancestors.” (Bednarik 2010:117)

Rocking lithophone, Image from tenerifeweekly.com.

The government has sponsored a study of Canary Island lithophones. “Through the work promoted by the General Directorage of Cultural Heritage in Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro, three types of lithophones have been documented: percussion, aerophones and rocking. The latter has only been found on the island of El Hierro and, as its name suggests, the sound is produced by rocking.” (Europa Press 2022) Someone standing on the top stone with one foot on each side can, by shifting weight, start a rocking motion on the top stone. The friction between the shifting top stone and the rock beneath causes the vibration that makes the sound. I wonder if the top stone would also ring if just struck like the other lithophones?

Canary Island petroglyph boulder. Image from 4-USERS.STICC.EDU.

“Sometimes Guanches shaped the acoustic space. In certain cases, they arranged the stone blocks to empower their sonority. For example, lithophones have been oriented to empower the sounding board effect of the surrounding space. In other cases, the natural sound of the rocks was accentuated by artificial layout and configuration of the place (Ulbrich 2003). Lithophones are located alongside petroglyphs, drawings and inscriptions incised into rocks of archaeological sites that are often astronomically significant. The sound rock sites and their use from prehistorical times until recent times are recalled by oral tradition too. In several instances, we know only the toponyms of the lithophonic sites, their location, and a generic oral memory emphasizing their special (and sometimes reputed magic) sonorous effects. The collective, although feeble, reminiscence maintained in the Canary Islands generation after generation represents the fundamental base of the investigation on the music of the stones. It includes: explication of toponyms; association of the lithophones with the ancestral meaning of rock carvings, channels, cup-marks, and other types of rock art in the surrounding areas; their relationship with engraved texts; connections of the ringing stones with legends and related traditions as places of worship, and/or of performing special rituals, and/or of supernatural interest and consecration. However, still nowadays the ancestral sonorous rocks are affected by suspicions that chains them to "pagan culture and spirituality". Lithophones have a diversity of forms, structures, geological frames and sounds, but they share a gloomy common denominator: most of them have been vandalized, plundered, but never Christianized, i.e. reformulated and taken under control by the Catholic Church and its liturgy. Contrariwise, the lithophones had a social and cultural solid place in the Canary native world.”  (Merlini 2019)

In the statement by Bednarik above (2010) he speculates that the primary utilization of lithophones is for communication. This generalization seems based on the fact that any form of sound produced and then heard is, in some sense, communication. “Most likely, their ancient function was multiple, taking advantage of their sonority and the exceptional loudness that benefit the sites in which they are embedded. Prehistoric and protohistoric manifestations firstly inserted the lithophones among the natural sites that anchored animism and attested the magic-ritual features of the sound of the volcanic stones. Music had not only a playful character, but also ceremonial in association with crops, cures, and offerings to divinities and deceased. Spanish conquerors and their chroniclers inform about rites of the ancient Canarians, mainly hinged on the request for rain. They included fasting of the entire village, processions with their livestock to certain elevated places or to the ocean, lamenting invocations by humans and even cattle and flocks (that Europeans misunderstood as yelling and barking), round dances, beating the ocean with sticks, sink palms and branches into the sea to make them weep, etc. Lithophones offered support for rhythmic or a-rhythmic sound production within the proscenium for the sacred acts aimed to gain the divinities’ pity (Ulbrich 2003).” (Merlini 2019) Again, the purpose is assumed to be communication, in this case with the divinities.

Canary Islands petroglyph boulders. Online image, public domain.

Of course tapping or pounding a boulder with another rock will eventually make marks, especially since reportedly many of the lithophonic boulders make different notes what struck in different locations. The question then should be are these marks also petroglyphs although they are a result of making a sound, not an image? Unfortunately, Merlini’s paper (2019) neglects to establish any relationship between the lithophones and certain petroglyphs, although a few may be discerned from illustrations.

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:

Bednarik, R. G., 2010. About lithophones. In R. Querejazu Lewis and R. G. Bednarik (eds), Mysterious cup marks: proceedings of the First International Cupule Conference, pp. 115-118, BAR International Series 2073, Archaeopress, Oxford. Accessed online 18 June 2024.

Europa Press, 2022, Documented a new typology of lithophones in El Hierro, 15 June 2022, Tenerife Weekly, https://tenerifeweekly.com. Accessed online 11 February 2024.

Merlini, Marco, 2019, The Sound of Rock Art: Canary Lithophones, https://www.academia.edu. Accessed online 17 June 2024.

Wikipedia, Koine language, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/koine_language. Accessed online 16 September 2024.

SECONDARY REFERENCE:

Ulbrich, H. J., 2003, Frequenzanalyse eines Lithophons auf Lanzarote (Kanarische Inseln), Almogaren XXXIV, Wien, p. 331-346.

 

A NEWER CANDIDATE FOR THE OLDEST ROCK ART – 66,000+ YEAR-OLD HAND PRINT:

 

Maltravieso Cave entrance. Photograph from httpwww.turismoextremadura.com.

Every so often I get to write another column for RockArtBlog about a newly announced date breaking the record for the oldest rock art. You will find links to a number of them in the cloud index at the bottom of this blog. My column of 13 February 2021 concerned a pictographic image on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that has been dated to at least 45,599 years ago. “Rock art researchers in Indonesia have announced the discovery of another candidate for the oldest representative rock art image, a picture of a Sulawesi Warty Pig found in a cave on the island of Sulawesi. The warty pig from Leang Tedongnge cave dates to at least 45,599 years ago, making it the earliest known representational work of art in the world (Sci-News 2021). Leang Tedongnge cave: the cave is located at the foot of a limestone karst hill. – (The) rock art panel is located on a ledge toward the rear of the cave and features at least three large figurative paintings of pigs.” (Faris 2021) Note that the researchers have limited their claim to “representative rock art” images, but not specifically defined what they intend that to mean. While we can all agree that a painting of a Warty Pig would be representative, one wonders what they would think of ancient hand prints. They cannot be called geometric or abstract so are they representative, or another special category?

Maltravieso Cave handprint (center of picture). Image from atlasobscura.com.

“Stencils and prints of the human hand are some of the earliest forms of deliberately created visual artwork preserved in the archaeological record. Maltravieso Cave houses more than 60 red hand stencils, but their precise ages have remained a mystery.” (Jackson 2024) This has now been corrected as a new paper describes the retrieval of Uranium-Thorium dates from carbonate crusts that have formed over a number of the handprints.

Photograph of Maltravieso Cave handprints above, and D-Stretch version below. Image from Standish et al., 2024, figure 6, page 6.

“U-Th dating of associated carbonate crusts has been applied to date parietal art in Maltravieso cave, Extremadura, Spain. Known for its large collection of red hand stencils (≥60), one example previously dated to >66.7 ka was taken to suggest Neandertal authorship. Here we present a more detailed U-series study of hand stencils within the cave, and place the results in the context of the chronology of these motifs worldwide. Twenty-two carbonate samples overlying pigment of hand stencils were dated from the cave’s Sala de las Pinturas and the Galería de la Serpiente. Minimum ages for the art range from the Holocene to the Middle Palaeolithic. Alongside published dating results from other sites, this demonstrates that Neandertals as well as modern humans could create these motifs.” (Standish et al. 2024:1)  These dates taken by Uranium-Thorium dating represent minimum ages because they are taken from material on top of the original hand print. This means that the actual hand prints must be even older. This minimum dating is pre-homo sapiens in this area so the hand prints must be Neanderthal.

 

Photograph of Maltravieso Cave handprints above, and D-Stretch version below. Image from Standish et al., 2024, figure 5, page 5.

Christopher Standish et al. (2024) re-stated this in their conclusions. “U-Th dating of carbonate crusts overlying painted rock art in Maltravieso cave indicates that the tradition of making hand stencils in Europe began prior to the Aurignacian; a conclusion that is consistent with wider chronological information for examples elsewhere. In Maltravieso, two samples from one stencil, including one sequence of four sub-samples that demonstrates closed-system behaviour of the carbonate and therefore reliability of the dates, gave minimum ages well within the range of the Middle Palaeolithic and long before the Initial Upper Palaeolithic; the oldest of these being 66.7 ka. Together with published dating evidence from sites elsewhere in the world, this suggests that Neandertals as well as modern humans created these enigmatic motifs.” (Standish et al. 2024:9) And as I said above “These dates taken by Uranium-Thorium dating represent minimum ages because they are taken from material on top of the original hand print. This means that the actual hand prints must be even older. This minimum dating is pre-homo sapiens in this area so the hand prints must be Neanderthal.”

In other words, the handprint was made considerably earlier than the arrival of modern humans in the area – thus, Neanderthal.

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 New Candidate for the Oldest Pictograph – The Sulawesi Pig, 13 February 2021. https://rockartblog.blogspot.com.

Jackson, Justin, 2024, Neanderthals were making hand stencil rock art more than 66,000 years ago, U-series dating suggests, 4 December 2024, Phys.org (online). Accessed online 4 December 2024.

Standish, Christopher D. et al., 2024, The age of hand stencils in Maltravieso cave (Extremadura, Spain) established by U-Th dating, and its implications for the early development of art, 19 November 2024, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 61, www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep. Accessed online 3 December 2024.

EGYPTIAN PETROGLYPH IDENTIFIED AS A CONSTELLATION – THE EL-HOSH CAPRICORN (GOAT-FISH):

The el-Hosh Capricorn petroglyph, Egypt. Image from msn.com.

A recent paper (2024) by Linda Evans and her team discuss a petroglyph with a combination of the apparent fore-quarters of a quadruped and the rear half being a fish tail, discovered at a rock art site in Upper Egypt. Their analysis led to conclusions that it represented the goat-fish symbol for the constellation Capricornus.

Close-up of the el-Hosh Capricorn petroglyph, Egypt. Image from phys.org.

“A new study by Dr. Linda Evans and her colleagues from Macquarie University, Australia, published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, has recently identified what may be an Egyptian petroglyph depicting the zodiac sign Capricornus, a hybrid creature with the forequarters of a goat and the body of a fish. Zodiac symbols are completely unattested in Egyptian rock art, making this image the only known example. By studying the history of the zodiac sign, its introduction into Egypt, and its use, the researchers were able to determine the likely period of and possible reason for its creation.” (Oster 2024)

Enhanced image of the el-Hosh Capricorn petroglyph, Egypt. Image from phys.org.

Drawing of the petroglyph. Image from Evans et al., 2024.

At some point in prehistory hominins came up with a number of ideas concerning the night sky. One was that the stars made patterns that they believed that they could identify with beings, creatures, or implements. With this belief established it is not a long way to the assumption that these stellar creatures or beings influence life here on earth. “The ‘goat-fish’, a mythical creature incorporating the horned forequarters of a goat and the torso of a large fish, has long been known from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean regions. It first appeared in Mesopotamia, where it later represented the zodiac sign of Capricornus. There is also sporadic evidence of the sign in Egypt, beginning in the Graeco-Roman Period. Here we present an unusual petroglyph at the rock art site of el-Hosh in Upper Egypt (70 km north of Aswan, on the west bank of the Nile), which depicts a hybrid mammal and fish figure that we propose may also represent Capricornus.” (Evans et al. 2024) And, once we have accepted the proposition that what happens in the heavens influences life here on earth, then it is only natural to look for patterns or movements to try to analyze what they portend, and to develop rites and rituals to try to influence these portents.

The Sumerian god Enki. Illustration from mythology.net

Sandee Oster (2024) described the development of Capricornus as a symbol for a constellation. “The first occurrence of something resembling Capricornus occurred in Mesopotamia, where the Sumerian got Enki and the Akkadian equivalent Ea were usually depicted as bearded men with horned caps, wearing gowns. At the shoulders of these gowns, water streams filled with fish would spout. This later evolved into the first recognizable depiction of a goat-fish hybrid at the feet of the god on cylinder seals dating to ca. 2112-2004 BCE.” (Oster 2024) This cylinder seal was not illustrated.

Babylonian Capricorn on a boundary stone. (redrawn from Hinke 1907 fig. 36) Evans et al., 2024.

Greek Capricorn (sea goat). Illustration from Wikipedia.

According to Oster, the Greeks got the idea of the zodiac from the early Mesopotamian civilizations. “From Mesopotamia, the zodiacs and their associations eventually spread to Greece (5^th century BCE) and from there to Rome (1^st and 2^nd century CE). By at least 300 BCE, zodiacs were known to Egypt and their earliest depictions could be found on zodiac ceilings in Egyptian Ptolemaic temples such as the temple Montu and Rattawy at Armant (c. 44-30 BCE). Later these zodiac symbols, including Capricornus, occurred in Roman-era temple ceilings, coffin lids, tombs, and even coins.” (Oster 2024)

Interestingly, I can find no mention of a capricornus or goat-fish hybrid therianthrope  anywhere online as being part of the Egyptian zodiac. Capricorn is one of the constellations in the Greek zodiac suggesting the possibility that this would have been introduced into Egypt by the Greeks or Romans

Later Egyptian (Greek period) Capricorn from the hypostyle hall, temple of Hathor, Dendera (traced from photograph), Evans et al. 2024.

Later Egyptian (Greek period) Capricorn from the Osiris chapel, temple of Hathor, Dendera (traced from photograph), Evans et al., 2024.

Linda Evans et al. (2024) came to the same conclusions when discussing the potential date of the petroglyph in question. “If a connection with Capricornus is accepted, a Graeco-Roman date for the petroglyph’s production may be possible. Furthermore, the creature’s outstretched tail possibly indicates a period earlier than the second century CE, when the Roman loop-tailed version of Capricornus became popular. It should be noted, however, that it has been proposed that Egyptian knowledge of the zodiac could have come directly from Mesopotamia, rather than via Hellenistic Greece.” (Evans et al. 2024)

Evans et al. discuss whether the possible origin of the symbol could be Mesopotamian or Graeco-Roman and note that if it was Mesopotamian the goat-fish could predate the Graeco-Roman Period. Their conclusion, however, is that it is more likely to have been created between the first century BCE and the end of the first century CE. One major clue that led them to this conclusion is the presence of Greek script carved on a nearby petroglyph panel.

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:

Evans, Linda, Fred Hardtke, and Wouter Claes, 2024, The Goat-Fish of El-Hosh: An Unusual Petroglyph Identified, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Online. Accessed online 20 November 2024.

Oster, Sandee, 2024, First ever goat-fish petroglyph reveals Egyptian  understanding of zodiac symbols, 19 November 2024, Phys.org. Accessed online 20 November 2024.

2025 C.R.A.P. AWARD - PETROGLYPHS OF INDIAN TEMPLES AND STUPAS IDENTIFIED AS VIMANAS (PREHISTORIC FLYING MACHINES):

Hypothetical vertical section of a vimana. Drawing by T. K. Ellappa, Bangalore, India. 12 February 1923. Image from Wikipedia. Note - the little T-shapes in the blue cups at the top are the propellers which will provide the lift to make it fly.

It is time again for the RockArtBlog coveted annual C. R. A. P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award, and do I have a really deserving recipient this year? Not to a particular person, but for an area of fringie writing using twisted and convoluted beliefs to turn petroglyphs of stone temples into flying machines. I am talking about the hokum surrounding modern “theorists” about Vimanas, the flying machines from the annals of ancient writings in India, and modern websites pushing these beliefs.

One characteristic of many of these websites is that they are anonymous, it is difficult to find an actual person’s name to associate with it. The writing is credited to “the editorial team,” although some sites originating in India have the author’s name on them.

Hypothetical illustration of a vimana. Illustration from theancientzen.com.

Another characteristic is exaggerated fringie hype about things like interstellar visitors, antigravity, and technologically advanced civilizations back during the Paleolithic or Neolithic ages. I want to reiterate that I am not attacking writings from India about vimanas any more than I would attack the bible because Ezekial saw the wheel. I am giving the C.R.A.P. award to the people who tell us that petroglyphs of stupas and Indian temples are actually the flying machines. You are entitled to believe whatever you want, but, as I have said before, RockArtBlog has a responsibility to call out outright lies when found.

I am going to pass on a number of the most egregious claims and statements to illustrate how ridiculous this can get, but I am not going to identify any particular internet site. If you want to find this garbage for yourself you can go online and do so, but I will not give them the publicity.

Indian warriors observing a vimana. Internet image, public domain.

“According to Ancient Indian history – one of the most extensive on the planet – their ancient sacred texts called the ‘Vedas’ speak of incredible flying ships that visited our planet over 6000 years ago. Throughout history, many common myths and legends mention incredible flying machines and how ancient people traveled great distances through the air: the flying carpets of ancient Arabia, Ezekiel’s wheel, Solomons’ ability to travel from one place to another and the magical chariots or ‘vimana’ mentioned in ancient Indian and Chinese texts.”

An Indian temple. Internet image, public domain.

According to another writer “The propulsion of vimanas is perhaps the most mysterious aspect, with some texts hinting at mercury vortex engines and other forms of advanced technology. For instance, references to a mercury-driven energy source can be found in the Sanskrit texts, which some interpret as evidence of sophisticated engineering concepts. The descriptions suggest a combination of mechanical and potentially non-mechanical propulsion methods that go beyond the simple combustion processes familiar to modern aircraft engineering.” This so-called mercury vortex engine is related to a plasma or ion drive sometimes used on modern satellites and spacecraft.

 “The Vaimānika Śāstra, an early 20th-century Sanskrit text on aerospace technology, makes a claim that the vimānas mentioned in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles, similar to a rocket capable of interplanetary flight as backed up by the ancient alien theory. Revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josye, the texts contain 3000 shlokas in 8 chapters which Shastry claimed were psychically delivered to him by the ancient Hindu sage Bharadvaja. The propulsion of the Vimanas According to Kanjilal (1985) is by a “Mercury Vortex Engines”, a concept similar to electric propulsion. However, many people argue that a far greater, more accessible and ‘free’ power source was available to the ancient Vimana craft. It is noteworthy to mention that a couple of years ago, Chinese researchers discovered ancient Sanskrit documents in Lhasa, Tibet, dating back thousands of years. The ancient texts were sent to the University of Chandigarh for translation. The results were shocking. According to Dr. Ruth Reyna the translated texts, allegedly are ‘blueprints’ for the construction of interstellar spaceships.”

“According to the translated documents, the propulsion system designed for the spaceships was based on antigravitational technology, and based on a system analogous to that of ‘laghima,’ the unknown power of the ego that exists in man’s physiological makeup, ‘a centrifugal force strong enough to counteract all gravitational pull.Interestingly, according to Hindu Yogis, the mysterious ‘laghima’ force is what enables people to levitate. Dr. Reyna explained that ‘on board, these machines which were called ‘Astras,’ the builders of the crafts could have sent a detachment of men to any planet. The manuscripts, however, do not mention how interplanetary communication was achieved, but they do mention a trip from the Earth to the Moon, though it is unclear whether the trip was just planned or actually carried out.’”

Petroglyph of an Indian temple or shrine misidentified as a vimana. Internet image, public domain.

Wikipedia’s analysis gives some insight to the subject. “The Vaimānika Śāstra was first committed to writing between 1918 and 1923, and nobody is claiming that it came from some mysterious antique manuscript. The fact is, there are no manuscripts of this text before 1918, and nobody is claiming that there are. So on one level, this is not a hoax. You just have to buy into the assumption that 'channeling' works. ... there is no exposition of the theory of aviation (let alone antigravity). In plain terms, the VS. never directly explains how Vimanas get up in the air. The text is top-heavy with long lists of often bizarre ingredients used to construct various subsystems. ... There is nothing here which Jules Verne couldn't have dreamed up, no mention of exotic elements or advanced construction techniques. The 1923 technical illustration based on the text ... are absurdly un-aerodynamic. They look like brutalist wedding cakes, with minarets, huge ornithopter wings and dinky propellers”

Petroglyph of an Indian temples or shrines misidentified as vimanas. Internet image, public domain.

So, what we actually have, is real petroglyphs of temples or stupas of India and southeastern Asia being purposely misidentified as phony ancient steampunk antigravity flying machines, and for this reason RockArtBlog awards the 2025 C.R.A.P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award to the unnamed purveyors of this garbage.

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.