SIGN AND GESTURE IN ROCK ART - PART 2: THE CREATIVE PROCESS:

A horse raid,

Comanche rock art, La Vista

Verde site, New Mexico. Photo

used with permission of

Severin Fowles.

One final aspect of the subject of motion in rock art involves the motions that created the imagery in the first place. Severin Fowles, the chair of the American Studies Department and an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department of Barnard College, Columbia University has investigated exactly that in Comanche petroglyphs in the Rio Grande river canyon in northern New Mexico.

Drawing of the panel, 

Comanche rock art, La Vista

Verde site, New Mexico. Photo

used with permission of

Severin Fowles.

In an area with a large quantity of pecked rock art the imagery identified as Comanche is composed of faint scratches. "The Comanches scratched rather than pecked their images, however, presumably because the performed gesture was as, or even more, important than the icon produced. The pecked horse may look like a horse in the end, but the process of pecking - of repeated staccato impacts - does not have any quality of the horse about it. The Comanche horse icon, on the other hand, was composed of arcing lines that move in a very horse-like way across the rock surface. This is nicely depicted in Figure 3a, which documents a horse raid in progress. One could call the horses scratched on this panel stylized, or even abstract, but only when referring to the icon left behind. During the process of creation - during the image's performance - the artist would have been representing the horse and its characteristic galloping motions quite faithfully, very much as a Chinese calligrapher might seek to mimic the flight of geese in the movement of his wrist as he painted lines on parchment. Figure 3b offers another example of a horse raid in progress. The original, like so many others, is barely visible in the field. However, in the sea of arcing lines, one senses again that it was the repetitive hand motions that would have most palpably signified the movement of the horses and the impressive size of the herd. A successful Comanche raid in which many horses had been captured was being recollected and reenacted through iconographic performance. From a Comanche perspective, these performances need to be understood as an extension of the Plains Sign Language (PSL) tradition, in which the Comanches were renowned participants." (Fowles 2013: 74-5)

Lines of motion from the panel,

Comanche rock art, La Vista

Verde site, New Mexico. Photo

used with permission of

Severin Fowles.

In other words, the viewer, recognizing the imagery, mentally associates with it the motions that go along with its creation. We can picture a Comanche warrior telling the story of the horse raid described by Fowles (above) making a wavy motion with his hand and arm to illustrate how the herd of horses ran, and that the curved lines of the backs of the horses illustrated in the rock art panel also convey this motion.

In the vernacular of modern art this would be called "performance art", the image is only a remaining vestigial record of the gestures/performance that were the point in the first place. The modern beginnings of performance art were influenced by Jackson Pollock whose "drip" paintings could be seen as a record of all of the motions he made to produce them. "Bolstered by photographs of Jackson Pollock in his studio, moving dance-like around a canvas on the floor, artists began to see the artist's creative act as equally important, if not more so, to the artwork produced. In this light, Pollock's distinctive drips, spills, and splatters appeared as a mere remnant, a visible trace left over from the moment of creation." (Spivey 2019)

Eventually, of course, "performance art" evolved to the stage where it was only action or situation or action with no physical remaining vestige, but that development goes beyond the scope of my discussion here. What I believe Fowles is saying, and certainly what my point is here, would relate to the early stages where there is a physical remnant of the performance, in this case the Comanche rock art panel of a horse raid. Had the imagery been the only important goal, then why would they not have made the lines deeper, more permanent and visible. Of course, such light scratching is more visible when freshly produced, but soon weathers to the state we now find it in. It does not appear to have been consciously produced primarily to be a perpetual record. In Fowles words: "the rock art's illegibility becomes, paradoxically, its greatest virtue. Simply put, it would be very difficult to argue that these images were created in order to be viewed, after the fact, by and audience (archaeological or otherwise)." (Fowles 2013:72)

Comanche rock art, La Vista

Verde site, New Mexico. Photo

used with permission of

Severin Fowles.

So, here we seem to have a probable case of gesture recorded in rock art. Does this apply everywhere, to all rock art? Most certainly not, indeed, most petroglyphs were created with lines of varying depth to be a long-lasting record or image. But Fowles has illustrated that, at least in this case, it may just be, as he put it "indeed the primary 'image', we propose, was not the scratched icon left behind, but instead the gestural hand and body movements of the rock art as a performative event." (Fowles 2013:67)

NOTE: I wish to thank Severin Fowles, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College, Columbia University, for providing me with the illustrations, his paper, and the permission to use them. 

REFERENCES:

Fowles, Severin, and Jimmy Arterberry

2013 Gesture and performance in Comanche Rock Art, pages 67-82, in World Art 2013, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, UK.

Spivey, Virginia B., Dr.

2019 When Art Intersects With Life, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/conceptual-performance/a/performance-art-an-introduction.

SIGN AND GESTURE IN ROCK ART - PART 1: IMPLIED.

There are many rock art enthusiasts who try to read written messages in the shapes and relationships of the elements of a pictograph or petroglyph. I have generally been a skeptic on this, I see no element of writing in North American rock art.

Australian Aboriginal rock art.

Internet, Public Domain.

Hawaiian rock art,

Photo. Paul and Joy Foster.

There is, however, one facet of this question that I have to confess might in some few cases have some validity. I am referring to portrayals of gestures that might have meaning in a sign-based system of communication. Carol Patterson has done some work with Australian Aboriginal and Hawaiian rock art where she found meanings in arm and leg positions which strike me as plausible.

We are accustomed to finding petroglyphs of Kachinas in the American southwest. Some of them can be identified by their markings and shapes. Severin Fowles (2013) points out that the identity of a kachina is also carried in his gestures and motions. "The Kachina dance, to be sure, involves masks and costumes that can be hung on walls and treated like art in a conventional sense, just as the overall choreography can be diagrammed and analyzed as a kind of finished product. It is quite clear, however, that the fluid series of gestural movements are themselves the source of the dance's potency. It is the dancer-in-motion - indeed, the community-in-motion that both makes and is made by the 'art'." (Fowles 2013:71) Perhaps this gesture and motion could also be portrayed by the position of parts of the image in a panel of rock art.

"Each is distinguished not only by the painting and decoration of his mask and body, but also by his songs, his dance step, his call, and his bearing. One moves across the plaza with long swaggering steps, another dances lightly from place to place, while a third moves with stately dignity." (Kennard 2002:4) In other words the identification of a Kachina would involve recognition of motion (gesture) as well as visual appearance. "These differences in dance steps serve to distinguish one Kachina from another; they become as essential characteristics as the painting and decoration of a mask." (Kennard 2002:12)

The viewer, recognizing the imagery of the mask and costume, associates the motions that go along with it mentally. In the vernacular of modern art this would be called "performance art", the image is only a remaining vestigial record of the gestures/performance that were the point in the first place.

Shalako, stars, shield, and dragonfly,

Galisteo Dike, Comanche Gap,

New Mexico, Photo. Peter Faris.

Close-up of the Shalako,

Galisteo Dike, Comanche Gap,

New Mexico, Photo. Peter Faris.

On November 11, 2009, I posted a column in RockArtBlog titled Kachinas In Rock Art - The Shalako. In it I wrote the following about these fascinating beings. "One very distinctive example is the Shalako. Although they are not technically Kachinas, the Shalako dance in pueblo ceremonials like the Kachinas. Resembling giant birds, the Zuni Shalakos are up to ten feet tall. While dancing rhythmically, they clack their beaks. They dance till near sunrise. The tall, conical and long-necked form of the Shalako with their long beaks was probably derived from the Sandhill crane."

Shalako, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Photo. Peter Faris, 1988.

Rock art depictions of the Shalako can be dated back to the 14^th century but its recent history is more complex. In her book Kachinas in the Pueblo World, Polly Schaafsma described the loss of much of the Kachina cult at Hopi. First through the efforts of the Spanish after their conquest of the southwest to eradicate native religions and supplant them with Christianity. This was conducted by the destruction of religious items and shrines, even religious leaders on occasion. Among Pueblo peoples this was manifested by burning Kachina masks, costumes and dolls, and outlawing the dances and ceremonies. Then in the nineteenth century Hopi was swept by smallpox epidemics which killed many of the elders who possessed the ceremonial knowledge necessary for the rites.

This was apparently the case with the Hopi Shalako. Its first recorded appearance at Hopi was in 1870 and its second was in 1893. At the 1893 reappearance a Hopi informant stated that their Shalako ceremony had not occurred for over 30 years. This Hopi Shalako was based on the Zuni Sio Shalako, but the ceremony was Hopi based upon reconstructions from memories. Schaafsma relates this story on pages 142 and 143 of her book Kachinas in the Pueblo World, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1994. She also related how the lost Hopi Shalako returned to Second Mesa through the efforts of the great Hopi painter Fred Kobotie who painted a reproduction based upon two tablitas he found in the basement of the New Mexico Museum of fine arts, and recognized them as belonging to the Hopi Shalako based on his memories of descriptions by his grandfather.

Zuni Shalako dance, 

Internet, Public Domain.

Shalako mask pictograph, Zuni,

Village of the Great Kivas,

New Mexico. Photo. Teresa Weedin.

Shalako depictions are found in rock art in the area of the Western Pueblos near both Hopi and Zuni, and are also found in the Rio Grande area. The examples shown here are petroglyphs of Shalakos from west of Albuquerque and from Galisteo dike east of the Rio Grande and south of Santa Fe, and a beautifully painted contemporary pictograph of Shalako from the panel of Kachina masks at the Village of the Great Kivas near Zuni." (Faris 2009)

Zuni Shalako, early 1900s,

p.138,Classic Hopi and Zuni

Kachina Figures, photo Andrea Portago,

Mus. of NM Press, Santa Fe.

Sia Salako, Zuni Shalako, p.102,

Hopi Indian Kachina Dolls,

by Oscar T. Branson, 1992.

The Shalako certainly have impressively distinctive shapes. "In the personization of these giants, the mask is fastened to a stick, which is carried aloft by a man concealed by blankets which are extended by hoops to form the body." (Fewkes 1985:66)

              

Shalako, Comanche Gap,

Galisteo Dike, New Mexico.

Photo. Peter Faris, 1988.

Seeing the motions of this giant, birdlike being, with its head gracefully bobbing and dipping high in the air, would be an unforgettable experience. And seeing the image (the petroglyph or pictograph) of this being inevitably recalls the accompanying sounds and motions. For me it always happened when my grandchildren watched big bird on Sesame Street.

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

2009 Kachinas In Rock Art - The Shalako, November 11, 2009, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Fewkes, Jesse Walter

1985 Hopi Katcinas, Dover Publications, Inc., New York

Fowles, Severin, and Jimmy Arterberry

2013 Gesture and performance in Comanche Rock Art, pages 67-82, in World Art 2013, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, UK.

Kennard, Edward A.,

2002 Hopi Kachinas, Kiva Publishing, Walnut, CA.

Schaafsma, Polly

1994 Kachinas in the Pueblo World, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

ON ENDLESS MOTION - DEPICTION OF MOVEMENT IN UPPER COA VALLEY ROCK ART, PORTUGAL:

Symmetrical animation, 

implied motion - running

horses. Lascaux cave, France.

Image from the Internet,

Public domain.

Back in April of this year, I wrote two columns about animation effects in rock art, on April 20, 2019, Prehistoric Animation – Paleolithic Thaumatropes?, and on April 12, 2019, Animation in Paleolithic Cave Painting – The Flicker Effect. These both speculated about Paleolithic artists’ attempts to produce the illusion of motion in works of art. There is, however, another interpretation of animation in art. That is creating images of animals (or other objects) that are in implied motion. A 2009 paper by Luis and Fernandez reminded me of this (see References below).

Symmetrical animation, 

Côa Valley, Portugal. Ibex with

multiple legs, implied running

or leaping. Luis and Fernandez,

Fig.17, p. 1311.

Many, if not most, of the images of animals on the rocks of the Côa Valley in Portugal (and elsewhere as well) are shown as if they are in the process of moving. Legs may be shown in a walking position, heads might be raised or lowered, the animals might be looking around, any pose that implies a motion can be referred to as animated. Indeed, in Art History, one of the attributes that we look for in art is whether it is animated or static. Whether figures in the picture seem to have been captured in motion or are standing still.

Segmentary animation,

Côa valley, Portugal, Horse with

vertical head motion, Luis and

Fernandez, Fig. 15, p. 1311.

Luis and Fernandez (2009) compared this to the image on a single frame in a strip of motion picture film. “We should also note that the “static” depiction of movement (in a single frame) is the essential component of any motion picture creation process. More than being just one in the long succession of images that synchronized together create a “movie”, each single frame alone suggests movement of the (afterwards “moving”) pictured object, as static as it might appear in just one frame. A simple pose or privileged instant can already convey movement.” (Luís and Fernandes 2009:1304)
In other words, they are saying that a single picture in a pose can still be thought of as one split-second in a sequence of movement.

Symmetrical animation, 

implied motion - running

horses. Lascaux cave, France.

Image from the Internet,

Public domain.

The authors classify their “animation” into a number of categories. Among these are: Symmetrical animation – “the flying gallop”; Asymmetrical animation – limbs having different lengths with the forelegs shorter and the hind legs frequently depicted moving backwards, as if the animal is jumping; Segmentary animation – one part shown moving, i.e. the head, tail, etc.; Coordinated animation – complex coordinated movements involving primarily the positions of the legs and legs and head, or tail; Multiple contours; Movement decomposition – a distortion in voluntary movement in which motion occurs in a distinct sequence of isolated steps rather than in a smooth, flowing pattern; and Animation by Pose – snapshot moments (from Leroi-Gourhan). These fit nicely into the traditional definition of animation in art history.

Symmetrical animation, 

implied motion - running

reindeer. Lascaux cave, France.

Image from the Internet,

Public domain.

“Right from the first publications on the Côa Valley Upper Palaeolithic motifs, animation through representation of figures with multiple heads was considered as one of the originalities of this rock art complex. Albeit this form of representation of movement by means of decomposition was regarded as meaningful, the Côa rock art possesses great variety of techniques in movement depiction. If fact, the vast majority of movement portrayal in the Côa belongs to the category that Leroi-Gourhan defines in this typology as the representation of significant attitudes: poses, privileged moments or “snapshots.”” (Luís and Fernandes 2009:1307)

Now, I wish they had not gone there because I have never been comfortable with Leroi-Gourhan. While obviously a pioneer in the field of rock art, his interpretations have a whole lot more to do with his own feelings, his prejudices, and philosophies, than they ever had with the lives and motives of Paleolithic artists. Be that as it may, they look back on him for part of their inspiration.

Symmetrical animation, 

implied motion - Aurochs.

Lascaux cave, France.

Image from the Internet,

Public domain.

“We consider (as others have pointed out) that rock art, as any other product (of) human activity, anywhere and at any given moment, has manifold overlapping meanings. In today’s world of “Homo globalis”, it is common sense, perhaps a truism, to state that explanations are complex before they become simple and vice-versa. Nevertheless, many times in science, new (or “recycled”) theories are presented as the “new-all-explaining mantra” since they were produced (also) with the intent of disproving older ones. Rock art studies are no exception and often competing interpretation proposals may be used together (depending on the specific circumstances of each case, evidently) to try to build and enhance our contemporary understanding of prehistoric rock art, since precise original meaning is forever lost in the depths of time.” (Luís and Fernandes 2009:1313)

The idea that the Art Historian’s concept of “animated” can be applied to the rock art of the Côa valley seems to be wholly sound. Moreover, it need not stop there. These concepts can be applied to rock and cave art from around the world as can be seen in the examples from Lascaux I have included..

Luís and Fernandes also go farther, at the end of their paper they propose a new motivation for the creation of rock art – entertainment.

“At this point, we will draw on the depiction of movement phenomena to suggest another interpretation model for rock art that might complement and combine existing ones: that rock art can also be just a pure form of entertainment.  Entertainment in a similar manner as today we understand the concept, but also beyond, as an ontological, cultural, socio-economic tool to indoctrinate society or individuals within a society: an appealing way of conveying meaning is the most effective fashion to assure its deliverance and comprehension. Our argument is that human beings, regardless of precise circumstances, always had need for ways of alleviating the harsh truth about existence (in an escapist fashion, if you will), the finite nature of life. Thus religious or spiritual beliefs, with all the attached paraphernalia of all explaining myths, coded signs or magical rites, can also be seen as a form of entertainment. The use of entertainment devices will assure that the intended, but not always transparent or entirely conscious, social cohesion message or “command” is delivered and complied with in a more successful way.” (Luís & Fernandes 2009:1313-14)

I want to congratulate, and thank, Luis and Fernandes for their original and creative thinking, as well as for giving us more to think about ourselves.

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,

2019 Prehistoric Animation – Paleolithic Thaumatropes?, April 20, 2019.

2019 Animation in Paleolithic Cave Painting – The Flicker Effect, April 13, 2019, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Luís, L., & Fernandes, A. P. B.
2009 On endless motion: depiction of movement in the Upper Palaeolithic Côa Valley rock art (Portugal), In Congresso Internacional da IFRAO 2009, Piauí, Brasil. IFRAO, p. 1304-1318.

ANIMATION IN PALEOLITHIC CAVE PAINTING - THE FLICKER EFFECT:

8-legged bison, (see the black
and white diagram below),

Chauvet cave, France.

Photo electrummagazine.com,

Public Domain.

One aspect of cave art that has garnered considerable speculation is the existence of animal portrayals that are repeated, or that have elements that are repeated many times. Some researchers classify these as corrections, or purposeful changes to the animal image, others have speculated that these represent a number of other animals, behind and partially (or mostly) obscured by the animal in front. A proposition that is heard less often, but seems to be gaining more traction, is that they represent a form of animation, implying motion of the animal (or actually imparting the appearance of motion under the right lighting conditions).

Rhinoceros,

Chauvet cave, France.

Photo ctvnews.ca,

Public Domain.

Azema and Rivere (2012) addressed the question of imparting the illusion of motion. "In France, 53 figures in 12 caves represent movement using superimposition, shown by multiple images in the same place of the legs (31 cases), thus depicting rapid paces (trot or gallop), less often the tossing of the head (22 cases) and more rarely that of the tail (8 cases). Representation takes two forms: either by the addition of a second version, more or less complete, of the part of the body concerned, or by the multiplication of barely sketched contours (lines) around the head or legs, which generates a sort of dynamic flux. Lascaux is the cave with the greatest number of cases of split-action movement by superimposition of successive images. Some 20 animals, principally horses, have the head, legs or tail multiplied." (p. 318)

The lion panel.

Chauvet cave, France.

Photo cdn.history,

Public Domain.

This is an excellent description of the assumed intention of the Paleolithic artists, but I do not think that it goes nearly far enough. Picture, if you will, the animal images painted on the uneven surface of the cave wall, illuminated by the flickering light of a flame. Especially if the flame was moved side to side the different elements of the multiple view would be selectively illuminated (depending upon the position of the light and the angle of the portion of the wall), imparting the illusion of motion to the animal's image.

Horses, Chauvet cave, France.

Photo cdn.history,

Public Domain.

Examples from Chauvet Cave include the bison with multiple legs, the rhinoceros with multiple horns, the lion panel, and the multiple horse heads. The bison example and the rhinoceros example are pretty much self explanatory. With the lion panel you would have to see each of the lions across the lower part of the grouping in successive positions so the lion would appear to be lunging forward in four stages. Under the right lighting conditions the lion might open and close his mouth as well. The bison image's legs would be moving imparting the appearance of running, the rhinoceros moving his head, and lunging forward, and the horse raising his head, in other words - animation.

                    

The 8-legged bison in black and

white, Chauvet cave, France.

Photo wonderessive.com,

Public Domain

Azema and Rivere approach this proposition with the following statement: "An eight-legged bison drawn in the Alcove des Lions in Chauvet Cave proves that split action movement by superimposition was already used from the Aurignacian. This graphic illusion achieves its full impact when the light from a grease lamp or torch is moved along the length of the rock wall." (p. 319)

Now, I doubt that they were allowed to test this proposition with a grease lamp or torch in Chauvet Cave, so their statement, like mine, is only conjecture. But, at least, they did imagine some of the same effect I am describing.

If the motion of the light source were smooth, and the flickering of the torch at the right frequency, the effect could take advantage of the same neurological illusion that makes our motion pictures so effective - flicker fusion, sometimes called persistence of vision (Wikimedia). .

Of course, I cannot state with certainty that this happens, I do not have measurements of the various angles of the differing sections of wall that the multiple images are painted on (or even if there is more than one angle) so my conjecture above is just that - conjecture. It would be interesting to see this tested with some sort of strobe light under controlled conditions. Just imagine if . . . . . .

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 this you should read the original report listed below.

REFERENCES:

Azema, Marc, and Florent Rivere,

2012 Animation in Palaeolithic Art: A Pre-Echo of Cinema, Antiquity Publications Ltd., Antiquity 86 (2012):316-324, http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/086/ant0860316.htm