ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PERSPECTIVE ANAMORPHOSIS IN ROCK ART – THE LASCAUX RED BULL:

Three Kings panel, McConkey Ranch, Vernal, Utah. Photograph Peter Faris, September 1990.

I have discussed the subject of anamorphosis previously on RockArtBlog. According to Wikipedia “Anamorphosis is a distorted projection requiring the view(er) to occupy a specific vantage point - to view a recognizable image. - The word is derived from the Greek prefix ana-, meaning ‘back’ or ‘again’, and the word morphe, meaning ‘shape’ or ‘form’.” (Wikipedia)

Proportions of central figure of Three Kings panel showing that it is eight heads in height (normal proportion should be six-and-a-half to seven). Peter Faris.

On 23 April 2009, in “Portraiture in Rock Art”, I wrote about the central figure in the Three-Kings panel, McConkey Ranch, north of Vernal, Utah, “This figure also displays another interesting detail. When seen from the ground below the figure appears in normal proportion. When observed from a vantage point near its height the figure is seen to be vertically elongated out of proportion (as seen in the photo above). I enjoy imagining a Fremont Indian artist and his young apprentice creating the portrait of an important man of the band or tribe. The young apprentice forced to climb the rocky crag with his tools and materials where he took direction from the master who stayed down on the ground below shouting to him to "make that line higher, no, a little down from there." The result appears in realistic proportion from below on the ground, but is elongated vertically when viewed from a raised viewpoint.” (Faris 2009)

I revisited this subject in “Perspective Anamorphosis – An Example In Rock Art,” on 22 June 2013, where I again included the above quote.

The red aurochs in the Megaloceros Room, Lascaux cave, France. Photograph by Norbert Aujoulat, from donsmaps.com.

Apparently the artists of the painted caves in Europe had discovered the optical distortions of angle and distance on an image and also used anamaphosis to counter them. “When our ancestors painted beautiful works of art, were they intending them to be viewed by others, or did they just paint for their own pleasure? The Lascaux caves in the Dordogne region of France, may have the answer. There you can see a painting of a red cow with a black head high on one of the walls. Up close the cow appears to be stretched from head to toe, but when viewed from the ground the cow regains normal proportions. This technique, known as anamorphosis, is highly advanced and suggests the painter was considering his audience as he painted the cow.” (Ravilious 2010)

Closeup of the red aurochs in the Megaloceros Room, Lascaux cave, France. Internet photo, public domain.

This could, in fact, be true, the painter may have been aware of the distortion effects of angle and adjusted the image to appear correct from the floor of the cave. But, it is also possible that the anamorphosis appeared accidentally as I described above for the McConkey Ranch Three-Kings panel. An elderly master painter may have been directing a young apprentice high up on a scaffold painting the cow. With the master giving directions from ground level when he told the apprentice where to place the lines of the back and belly of the cow because they looked correct to the master on the ground, the anamorphosis would be automatically built in to the image. Either way, images high on cave walls (with the Lascaux red cow as our particular example) can be found which display perspective anamaphorsis, which makes the cave artists either technically highly sophisticated or the lucky recipients of a happy accident – either way with interesting results.

Lascaux replica, France, another red Aurochs. Internet photograph, public domain.

Lascaux replica, France, brown Aurochs. Photograph, Ministere de la culture, Norvert Aujoulat.

There is, however, another possibility that we have to visit. This thick bodied bovine image may be merely a stylistic choice. Indeed, other painted aurochs from Lascaux show the same features of a small head and an abnormally thick torso. But, as I said above, whatever the truth, the question is fascinating.

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:

Ravilious, Kate, 2010, The Writing on the Cave Wall, New Scientist, 17 February 2010, https://www.sott.net/article/203166-The-writing-on-the-cave-wall

Wikipedia, Anamorphosis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis, accessed on 27 February 2022

THE HERO TWINS IN ROCK ART:

War or Hero twins with sky themes and other

petroglyphs. Galisteo Dike, New Mexico.

Among the Ancestral Puebloan peoples two mythical beings that were of importance in their creation cycle, and early mythology were the Hero Twins. These beings were involved in ridding the earth of the monsters and giants that threatened humans after the emergence. They were not, however, kachinas (katcinas) but instead are semi-divine cultural heroes.

Possible War or Hero Twins portrayal.

Galisteo Dike, New Mexico.

“In Zuni narratives that describe the time of the beginning, the Twin War Gods are culture heroes who bring the ancestors of the contemporary Zuni out of the fourth underworld to the surface of this earth; they contribute to making these people into “finished beings”; they shape the features of the earth’s surface (the Fifth World); they destroy or petrify the monsters that populate this world’ and they create constellations, stars, and other astronomical objects by throwing the body parts of various monsters into the sky.” (Williamson and Farrer 1992:76)

“In addition to depicting them as culture heroes or War Gods, some Zuni narratives also describe these twins as sons of the Sun Father – the Morning and Evening Stars, who serve as heralds for various ceremonial and agricultural activities.” (Williamson and Farrer 1992:76)

Homes of the Hopi Hero or Warrior Twins.

Chimney Rock National Monument, Colorado.

Photograph Peter Faris, 15 September 2002.

On September 23, 2009, I posted the column Chimney Rock and the Twin War Gods  in which I related the story of a delegation of Hopi elders who visited Chimney Rock National Monument after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to awake the heroes - which live in the two rock spires at Chimney Rock - to assist the United States during World War Two.

Possible Hero or War Twins from

McConkey Ranch, Vernal, Utah. Fremont

culture. Photograph Peter Faris.

Many instances of paired figures in rock art as well as other forms of Native American art and craft show are assumed to be representations of the Hero Twins. Examples I present here include a pair of panels from Galisteo Dike in New Mexico and a Fremont panel from McConkey Ranch near Vernal, Utah. The Fremont example appears to me to be an unfinished pair of shield figures from their resemblance to so many other shield figures at that locale. Also both figures were obviously created by the same artist on stylistic and technical reasons so they can be assumed to have been intended to represent warrior twins.

 “Drinking Vessel Depicting Hero Twins,

Mexico, Maya, Central Campeche,

c. A.D. 593-830 (Cat. No. 39)”

(Fields and Zamudio-Taylor, 2001:43)

From farther south I illustrate a depiction of the Mayan version of the Hero Twins on a drinking vessel. (Fields and Zamudio-Taylor 2001:43)

The Hero Twins can thus be seen as a very real (and continuing) influence on Native American culture in the Southwest and Mesoamerica. These, and many other portrayals, provide a fascinating insight into the beliefs and influences of the peoples and cultures and are a very interesting theme in the rock art and other arts of the native peoples of the region.

REFERENCES:

Fields, Virginia M., and Victor Zamudio-Taylor,

2001    Aztlan: Destination and Point of Departure, pages 38 – 77, Fig. 15, p. 43, The Road To Aztlan: Art From A Mythic Homeland, edited by Fields, Virginia M., and Victor Zamudio-Taylor,  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.

Williamson, Ray A. and Claire R. Farrer

1992    Earth and Sky, Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.