USING THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRADITIONAL HUNTERS/ANIMAL TRACKERS TO IDENTIFY ANCIENT ECOLOGIES BY ANALYSIS OF ROCK ART TRACKS:

 Section of panel RAS 8-O, showing the individual sequential numbers for all engravings, digitally enhanced; height of section: c. 1.8 m; photograph by P. Breunig.

“In recent years, archaeological research has increasingly begun to involve bearers of indigenous knowledge, particularly in ichnology, the science of tracks. Some of this research has analyzed, in much greater detail than had been accessible via the archaeological methods implemented hitherto, Pleistocene footprints preserved in caves in France that were in use during the Upper Paleolithic. We consider the undisputed skills and knowledge of indigenous hunters in tracking animals and humans equally successfully as a methodological toolkit with promising potential for other, related archaeological sources.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023)

Hidden panel of the RAS-8 rock art site. Photograph by P. Breunig.

An indigenous or traditional hunter/gatherer possesses enough detailed knowledge of all the elements of his/her environment to be able to not only identify animals by their tracks, but to make judgements about their size, condition, gender and health by analyzing their tracks. It stands to reason then, that these same experts should be able to analyze representations of animal tracks in a rock art panel, identify the animals they represent, and thus provide data about the prehistoric ecology of that area. This is exactly what was done in a recent study in Namibia.

“Namibia is rich in hunter-gatherer rock art from the Later Stone Age (LSA); this is a tradition of which well-executed engravings of animal tracks in large numbers are characteristic. Research into rock art usually groups these motifs together with geometric signs; at best, therefore, it may provide summary lists of them. To date, the field has completely disregarded the fact that tracks and trackways are a rich medium of information for hunter-gatherers, alongside their deeper, culture-specific connotations. A recent research project, from which this article has emerged, has attempted to fill this research gap; it entailed indigenous tracking experts from the Kalahari analyzing engraved animal tracks and human footprints in a rock art region in central Western Namibia, the Doro! nawas Mountains, which is the site of recently discovered rock art. The experts were able to define the species, sex, age group and exact leg of the specific animal or human depicted in more than 90% of the engravings they analyzed (N = 513). Their work further demonstrates that the variety of fauna is much richer in engraved tracks than in depictions of animals in the same engraving tradition. The analyses reveal patterns that evidently arise from culturally determined preferences. The study represents further confirmation that indigenous knowledge, with its profound insights into a range of particular fields, has the capacity to considerably advance archaeological research.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023)

Rock art panels with animal and human tracks were chosen for analysis by the expert trackers. “The sites examined in this study are situated in the Doro! nawas mountains of Namibia. We chose them primarily for their abundance of track engravings on single panels. In an isolated, crater-like basin 11 km west of /Ui//aes-Twyfelfontein, two out of six rock art sites feature such panels. Sites RAS 6 and RAS 8 as numbered by Frankfurt Goethe University’s research project] are accumulations of sandstone boulders some 250 m from each other, both located on terraces of the basin’s steep south-eastern slope at roughly 800 m asl, while the bottom of the basin sits at 620 m asl.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023)

“For this study, we engaged three indigenous tracking experts, Tsamgao Ciqae, /Ui Kxunta and Thui Thao; they had previously worked on the Tracking in Caves project, but also as professional trackers for commercial hunting. The research at the sites selected for this study, RAS 6 and RAS 8, took place from 18 to 20 September 2018.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023) These indigenous consultant/analysts from the Kalahari not only had extensive experience tracking animals professionally, they had previous experience analyzing animal tracks in rock art in the aforementioned Tracking in Caves project.

Frequently depicted animal tracks. 

Less frequently depicted animal tracks.

Rarely depicted animal tracks.

The sequence in columns represents the order of number of occurrences. The scale of reproduction differs from picture to picture; all tracks are shown in upward direction (irrespective of their actual direction on the rock face); all tracks are digitally enhanced, photographs by P. Breunig.

The results of this consultation are surprisingly positive. “Among the 513 tracks analysed in total, the experts identified 345 quadrupeds and 62 bird tracks (407 in total from 40 different species; Rhinoceros sp. is listed as a taxon, but not counted as a separate species). We divide these into a group of ’frequently’ depicted species (10 depictions or more), a second group of ‘less frequently’ depicted species (between 3 and 9 depictions), and a group of ’rarely’ depicted species (one or two specimens only). The animal track engravings encompass 39 species, including herbivores, felines, other predators, birds and primates.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023)

“Among the animals and birds that feature in these rock art sites in the Doro! nawas mountains, we note a number of species that do not occur in the region today because they require a more humid climate and environment than that currently prevailing; these are blue wildebeest, buffalo, bushbuck, bushpig, vervet monkey, roan antelope, red-billed teal, and, to an extent, eland, marabou, red-crested korhaan and open-billed stork. All other animals and birds that appear in the engravings continue to live in the region today.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023) This difference in extant species can provide valuable clues to changes in the environment there over time.

“An attempt to attribute any definite meaning to the track engravings of the Doro! nawas mountains must remain guesswork and speculation in view of the rich polysemy of tracks that occur worldwide. For the time being we can maintain that the track engravings from the prehistoric hunter-gatherer culture(s) that existed in Namibia appear to have had an epistemic purpose that rested on thorough positivist, empirical knowledge of the life world from which they emerged. Whatever the deeper and symbolic meanings of these engravings, it could only emerge in its entirety through a direct conversation with the artists. It may be that further statistical analysis centering on other, as yet uninvestigated features of the engraved tracks could enable researchers in this field to identify some cognitive groupings of the animals depicted which are neither self-evident nor self-explanatory–both of which are general characteristics of cognitive categorizations from a global point of view. The difficulty we note here is one that arises in the interpretation of all prehistoric art. Consulting present-day indigenous experts can partly mitigate this issue, enabling Western researchers access to greater depth of insight through the outstanding precision and plausibility of indigenous knowledge; yet often, as in this case, the precise meaning and context of the art will remain elusive.” (Lenssen-Erz et al. 2023)

To the extent that the life experiences of the trackers involved resembles the life experiences of the prehistoric peoples who left the rock art being studied, there can be considerable insight into the record that was left on the rocks. There is, however, no way to judge cultural similarities and mythologies so in that regard I would not expect any complete insight as a result. This is certainly a very interesting project and did result in a great deal of exciting data. Congratulations to all involved.

NOTE: Images in this posting came from PLoS ONE and copyrights belong to PLoS ONE and the authors. For further information on this report you should read the original report at the site listed below.

REFERENCE:

Lenssen-Erz T, Pastoors A, Uthmeier T, Ciqae T, Kxunta /, Thao T., 2023, Animal tracks and human footprints in prehistoric hunter-gatherer rock art of the Doro! nawas mountains (Namibia), analysed by present-day indigenous tracking experts. PLoS ONE 18(9): e0289560. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289560. Accessed online 15 September 2023.

 

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN OLMEC STUDIES: OLMEC SCULPTURE RETURNED TO CHALCATZINGO, AND NEWLY TRANSLATED OLMEC SCRIPT:

 

Chalcatzingo pyramid, Olmec, Morelo, Mexico. Online image public domain.

How do you steal something which weighs approximately one ton? Although neither of the subjects covered below involve our traditional definitions of petroglyphs, they are both carved stone.

 Olmec carving at Chalcatzingo, Morelo, Mexico. Online image public domain.

“MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A massive stone sculpture carved by Olmec artists more than 2,000 years ago that evokes ancient religious beliefs has returned to Mexico after decades in the United States in a homecoming cheered by officials and scholars. Known today as the ‘Earth Monster,’ the sculpture was likely taken from central Mexico during the 1960s, spending time in the hands of private collectors as well as on public display before being seized by antiquities trafficking agents working with New York prosecutors.” (Garcia 2023)

Olmec Earth Monster, Photo by Kent Reilly III. Courtesy Mario Córdova via INAH.

“It’s a story straight out of an Indiana Jones movie: A one-ton stone carving made by the Olmecs – one of the first civilizations to appear in Latin America – will be returned to Mexico from its current location in Denver after being recovered by an ‘Antiquities Trafficking Unit’ based in Manhattan, New York. Much like the people who built it, the date for when the ‘Monstruo de la Tierra,’ aka Earth Monster, will be sent home remains a mystery, with Mexican officials promising to provide details on May 19. Marcelo Ebrard, the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs, ‘will discuss that on Friday,’ says Mary Lopez, spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate here in Denver. Information surrounding the stone carving’s location is being kept under wraps to ensure that it’s kept safe and sound before the move. Ebrard and other consulate members will visit Denver to oversee the repatriation of the relic, which landed in the Mile High City after it was stolen from its home in Chalcatzingo, in the Mexican State of Morelos south of Mexico City.” (Kelty 2023)

Sketch of Olmec Earth Monster. Photo by Kent Reilly III. Courtesy Mario Córdova via INAH.

“It was carved from volcanic rock sometime between 800-400 BC during the heyday of the Olmec civilization, one of Mexico’s earliest complex societies with sites mostly clustered around the country’s Gulf Coast. The Olmecs are well-known for their advanced artistic tradition, including colossal head sculptures. The artifact depicts a mythological mountain and its stylized cave entrance in the form of a cross according to Mario Cordova, and Olmec archeologist who traveled to the United States as part of the recovery mission. The mountain was also made to resemble the head of a jaguar, ancient Mexico’s most fearsome predator, with the cave doubling as its open jaws and the entrance to the underworld.” (Garcia 2023) This is really a highly sophisticated example of imagery, combining the cave opening in a mountain side with the open mouth of a jaguar. Another example of the highly sophisticated Mesoamerican cultures.

“’The mountain-cave-mouth symbolic complex acquired a high iconographic value throughout Mesoamerica from very early times, giving rise over the millennia to increasingly complex sets of images’ according to a book written by the father-son scholarly duo Alfredo Lopez Austin and Leonardo Lopez Lujan, Lopez Lujan currently leads the excavations at the Aztec’s holiest shrine in downtown Mexico City.” (Garcia 2023)

“Caves were believed to be important portals to the underworld, and were often associated with water and fertility. Additionally, the images of branches of a bromeliad plant in the corner of the figure’s mouth are iconographic in the Chalcatzingo area.” (Pandey 2023)

But this part of the story ends well, with the mega-artifact returned to its rightful owners.

Harvestermountainlord, Left side, La Mojarra Stele 1.  Image from Wikipedia.

In another area of Olmec studies, however, there is a little more hubbub and emotion. The Olmec possessed a writing system consisting of glyphs, known as Epi-Olmec or Isthmian that look somewhat like Mayan writing, but it has been barely deciphered. In 1997 researchers Justeson and Kaufman claimed that they had successfully translated an Epi-Olmec inscription on Stele 1, in La Moharra in southern Veracruz, Mexico (see references below).

La Mojarra, Stela1 script. Online image public domain.

Closeup of La Mojarra Inscription with a Long Count date. Online image public domain.

“A badly weathered column of hieroglyphs was discovered in November 1995 on the side of Stela 1 from La Mojarra in southern Veracruz, Mexico. Most of the signs in this column have now been identified by nighttime examination under artificial lighting, making possible a nearly complete transcription and translation of this column. This data expands the modest corpus of epi-Olmec hieroglyphic texts and confirms various aspects of the decipherment of the epi-Olmec script.” (Justeson and Kaufman 1997) Except apparently the rest of the field do not agree.

Interior of a Teotihuacan-style mask from an unknown location in southern Mexico adds 101 glyphs to the total known for ancient Isthmian script. Image Michael Coe.

This paper from BYU takes exception to the conclusions of Justeson and Kaufman, casting doubt on their claims and seemingly turns back the process to before their claims of translation of Epi-Olmec. “Translating the Isthmian script, the written form of one of the languages used in Mesoamerica from about 500 B.C. to A.D. 500, would be a tantalizing key to unlocking the mysteries of ancient American societies before the Maya. In 1993, two other scholars reported in the journal Science that they had deciphered the writing system, an assertion disputed in the new study, published in the new issue of the journal Mexicon. ‘This study subjects a claimed decipherment of an ancient New World script to rigid standards of proof, and shows that this script remains undeciphered,’ said Coe, author of the bestselling book ‘Breaking the Maya Code,’ in which he documented how he and others deciphered Maya hieroglyphs. ‘The inscriptions found on the mask amount to a 'test case' for the validity of the claimed decipherment,’ allowing researchers to apply purported meanings of symbols to a new inscription and see if the results make sense.” (BYU 2004)

“Overall, then, the case for the Justeson/Kaufman ‘decipherment’ of Isthmian is decidedly unproven and currently rests on shaky foundations … What it needs, more urgently than some other ‘decipherments’ given its evident linguistic sophistication, is the discovery of a new text or texts as substantial as the one found at La Mojarra in 1986.” (Wikipedia)

So, we still have a lot to learn about Olmec civilization, art, science, and writing, but we certainly have enough to appreciate the height and sophistication of their art, and by implication the richness of their culture.

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:

BYU, 2004, Mesoamerican relic provides new clues to mysterious ancient writing system, 8 January 2004, https://news.byu.edu. Accessed online 3 July 2923.

Garcia, David Alire, 2023, Back in Mexico, ‘Earth Monster’ Sculpture Points to Ancient Beliefs, 26 May 2023, https://www.usnews.com. Accessed online 18 July 2023.

Justeson, John S. and Terrence Kaufman, 1997, A Newly Discovered Column in the Heiroglyphic Text on La Mojarra Stela 1: A Test of the Epi-Olmec Decipherment, Science, Vol. 277, No. 5323, 11 July 1997, pp. 207-210. Accessed online 3 July 2023.

Kelty, Bennitol, 2023, Long-Lost ‘Earth Monster’ Olmec Head Found in Denver, Now Destined for Mexico, 17 May 2023, https://www.westword.com. Accessed 20 May 2023.

News.byu.edu, 2004, Mesoamerican relic provides new clues to mysterious ancient writing system, 8 January 2004, https://news.byu.edu/. Accessed online 3 July 2023.

Pandey, Sahir, 2023, Mexican Government Recovers One Ton Olmec Statue of Earth Monster, 4 April 2023, https://www.ancient-origins.net. Accessed online 18 July 2023.

Wikipedia, Isthmian script, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmian_script. Accessed online 3 July 2023.

VISUAL PUNS REVISITED - ABRI DE LAUSSEL PLAYING CARD VENUS:

Aubri de Laussel, France. Internet image, public domain.

Another example of what I call a visual pun, or a visual Mondegreen (see below) in rock art, and image which can be two things in one. It is a bas-relief sculpture on a slab of limestone created at the Abri de Laussel during the Gravettian period 27k - 22k BCE, and discovered there in 1911 along with six others including the famous "Venus with a horn."

“A mondegreen is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it new meaning. Mondegreens are most often created by a person listening to a poem or a song; the listener, being unable to hear a lyric clearly, substitutes words that sound similar and make some kind of sense.” (Wikipedia) In my current usage this image is the visual equivalent of a mondegreen because of the many different interpretations it has been given.

Abri de Laussel undergoing excavation, 1911-1912. Internet image, public domain.

The Abri de Laussel is a rock shelter, not a cave as such, which explains the dearth of cave paintings. They could not be expected to last that long exposed to the elements. It was, however, found to contain a large deposit of artifacts including seven bas-relief sculptures. "Bas-relief sculptures, restricted to small protable objects during the Aurignacian, are executed on a larger scale during the Gravettian. A prime example is at the site of Laussel in southwest France, where a series of limestone blocks clustered in the midst of a living site were sculpted in bas-relief with a series of human figures. In these cases, not only the overall figure is raised in relief against the stone support, but details such as arms are placed in relief against the body of the person represented." (White 2003:82)

'Venus of Laussel, Museum of Aquataine, France.'

The best known of these sculptures is the Venus of Laussel (Femme a la Corne), the figure of a corpulent woman holding up a bovine horn in her right hand. Other so-called ‘Venus’ figures were also retrieved there as well.

"Engraving known as 'les deux personnages' (the two people), Laussel (Dordogne), France - Gravettian. Combined height of figures: 20cm. Musee d'Aquitaine." White 2003:84.

Also known as 'the Playing Card Venus,' Rotated 180 degrees. Randall White, 2003:64.

“This engraving from Laussel, dated from 32,000 BP to 20,000 BP has been identified as a male-female copulation scene, a birthing scene, or most recently as a Double Goddess in mirror reflection. Perhaps as a 'Playing Card' image of two women, it represents the changing of the seasons from winter to summer, and the resulting dark and light cycle that occurs.” (Hitchcock 2022) This is somewhat akin to asking people what they see in Rorschach tests. The same image but so many different interpretations.

“It was discovered in 1911 at almost the same time as the Femme à la Corne, and was created by pecking the stone. It is engraved on a sandstone block, probably originally attached to the wall. It was discovered 'in the rubble', and may have been completed on the stone after it had detached from the wall. The photo on the left is the traditional way to look at the sculpture, but if we rotate it through 180° a second Venus appears, shown at right, with the head at the top, a neck, and breasts.” (Hitchcock 2022) In my opinion it was, of course, completed on a rock that had fallen from the wall of the shelter. To create this effectively the creator probably had to be able to rotate it and manipulate it, and view it from both directions. Hitchcock referred to this as sandstone. Other sources refer to it as limestone and I suspect this is correct as this is the region of limestone caves and their art.

There is not much information available on this piece, it is outstripped by its more famous sister, the above-mentioned ‘Venus.’

So what is it really meant to represent. I really don’t know, but as I stated above I like to think of it as a visual pun created by someone with a sense of humor – a very long time ago. And that makes them a whole lot more like us than we used to give them credit them for.

NOTE 1: Discrepancies in dates may indicate different estimates by different studies, or improved dating technologies.

NOTE 2: 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:

Don Hitchcock, 2022, The Venus of Laussel – La Femme a la Corne, 4 May 2022, https://www.donsmaps.com/lacornevenus.html. Accessed online 16 July 2023.

White, Randall, 2003, Prehistoric Art, the symbolic journey of humankind, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York.

Wikipedia, Mondegreen - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org-wiki-mondegreen. Accessed 16 July 2023.

ANAMORPHISM IN CHAUVET CAVE ART:

 

The modern entrance to Chauvet Cave, France. Image from donsmaps.com.

As readers will be able to see from my recent columns on foreshortening in rock art, I am fascinated by these incredibly early manifestations of portraying aspects of perspective that we thought had only been discovered (or invented) during the Renaissance. Along with foreshortening, ancient cave artists are known to have used the technique known as Anamorphism or Anamorphosis in which an image that is meant to be seen at an extreme angle will have its proportions altered to look more normal from that angle.

Red auroch, Lascaux Cave, France. Megaloceros room, photo Norbert Aujoulat, fr. donsmaps.com.

In March of last year I wrote a column in RockArtBlog about an example of reported Anamorphosis (Anamorphism) in Lascaux Cave - a red auroch (Faris 2022). "The Stone Age cave paintings at Lascaux may make use of anamorphic technique, because the oblique angles of the cave would otherwise result in distorted figures from a viewer's perspective." (Wikipedia) The Lascaux art dates to the Magdalenian period of ca. 17,000 years BP. It would appear that 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)

The anamorphosis of the red auroch in the Megaloceros room is angled so that it would look correct to a viewer coming from the passage visible in the photograph forward toward it. The head is small and the body is outsized and elongated so viewing it from that position would make it seem to be more correctly proportioned. This suggests that the animal may have been painted by an apprentice reacting to instructions from a master positioned at the far end of the room. “Put the line there, no, a little farther back.” From that viewpoint anamorphosis would work to make it look correct to him, but out of proportion when seen from any other angle.

Rhinoceros, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

I was recently reading a small book titled “The Oldest Enigma of Humanity” (David, and Jacques-Lefrere 2013) when I ran across a single line description under an illustration that said “Anamorphic rhinoceros in the Chauvet Cave.” And in a single glance I confirmed that the rhinoceros illustrated appears to display anamorphosis. This led me to search online for “Chauvet cave art public domain” to check for this and any other examples that might be found.

Chubby horse, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

Bison, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

Further searching has turned up examples of painted animals in the Chauvet Cave, which, based upon recent dating studies, makes its art 10 to 15 thousand years older. “Based on radiocarbon dating, the cave appears to have been used by humans during two distinct periods: the Aurignacian and the Gravettian. Most of the artwork dates to the earlier, Aurignacian, era (32,000 to 30,000 years ago). The later Gravettian occupation, which occurred 27,000 to 25,000 years ago, left little but a child's footprints, the charred remains of ancient hearths, and carbon smoke stains from torches that lit the caves. The footprints may be the oldest human footprints that can be dated accurately. After the child's visit to the cave, evidence suggests that due to a landslide which covered its historical entrance, the cave remained untouched until it was discovered in 1994.^” (Wikipedia)

Wounded rhinoceros, Chauvet Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

A detailed study published in 2016 pushed the dates for the paintings in Chauvet back about 10,000 years. “From their analysis, the researchers discovered a totally new timeline for the cave. According to their results, humans left their first marks inside the Chauvet Pont d'Arc Cave from 37,000 to 33,500 years ago, and then occupied the cave again from 31,000 to 28,000 years ago. Analysis of the animal bones, meanwhile, show that cave bears also liked to prowl the cave up until about 33,000 years ago—although the researchers don’t think humans and bears tried to live in the cave at the same time.” (Pilny 2016)

In the other examples here we must keep in mind that the abnormally thickened bodies of many of them may just be a stylistic feature and possibly not anamorphosis. Now, I have not personally had the opportunity to visit Chauvet so I do not know the locations of these examples I have selected. If they are anywhere near eye level for easy viewing their proportions are merely stylistically exaggerated. If, however, they are somewhere up higher on the cave wall then the exaggerated proportions may indicate anamorphosis from 37,000 to 33,500 BCE.  

The art of Chauvet is undeniably spectacular, and now we know it is considerably older than previously thought. This means that the development of anamorphism was much earlier than we thought.

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:

David, Bertrand, and Jean Jacques-Lefrere, 2013, The Oldest Enigma of Humanity, Arcade Publishing, New York.

Faris, Peter, 2022, Another Example of Perspective Anamorphosis in Rock Art – The Lascaux Red Bull, 19 March 2022, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/anamorphosis

Pilny, Susanna, 2016, French cave paintings are 10,0 00 years older than we thought, oldest in the world, 12 April 2016, https://www.redorbit.com/news/. Accessed online 17 June 2023.

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, Chauvet Cave, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave. Accessed 29 June 2022.

Wikipedia, Anamorphosis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamorphosis#. Accessed 30 June 2023.

NEW RADIOCARBON DATING STUDY GIVES DATES FOR CHAUVET CAVE AS 10,000 YEARS OLDER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT:

Cave Lion panel, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

A remarkable and comprehensive study published on 2016 pushed the dates of the art of Chauvet Cave in France back to about 10,000 years earlier than we previously thought.

“Chauvet-Pont d’Arc is a cave located in the Ardèche département, a region that is found in south-central France. Discovered in 1994, it features human hand prints as well as drawings of 14 different animal species, ranging from cave bears to big cats. It was long believed to be the oldest known human-decorated cave in the world, with its artwork estimated to be from between 22,000-18,000 BCE.” (Pilny 2016) Chauvet is certainly one of the most admired painted caves in Europe for the striking quality and sophistication of its imagery.

Horses and rhinoceros panel, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

“From their analysis, the researchers discovered a totally new timeline for the cave. According to their results humans left their furst marks inside the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave from 37,000 to 33,500 years ago, and then occupied the cave again from 31,000 to 28,000 years ago - although the researchers don’t think humans and bears tried to live in the cave at the same time.” (Pilny 2016) These dates are within the Upper Paleolithic period known as the Aurignacian.

Coexisting with cave bears might have periodically been a slippery situation. Humans did hunt cave bears on occasion and, when we consider the number of people killed by bears in the modern world, I would suspect the opposite may have also happened once in a while as well.

Cave bears panel, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

"Before these cave painters could move into their respective studios, some of them had to evict existing tenants. In two French caves containing paintings dating back around 32,000 years ago, ancient humans displaced cave bears in order to claim the sites for themselves, according to a study published in April in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Cave bears even appear on some of the art on the wall. Researchers came to this determination after they 'performed radiocarbon dating, mitochondrial DNA analysis and isotope investigations of cave bear remains from Chauvet-Pont d'Arc and Deux-Ouvertures caves located along the Ardeche River in France,' according to Discovery News' Jennifer Viegas. Whether humans are responsible for the broader cave-bear extinction in the region is still unclear. Environmental and/or climatic changes may have also played a role." (DNews 2016)

"We compiled a set of more than 250 radiocarbon dates related to the rock art, human activities, and bone remains in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave (Ardeche, France) and derived a modeled absolute chronology of the human and cave bear occupations of this site, presented here in calendar years. It provides an insightful framework for the successive events that occurred in the cave during the Paleolithic period.” (Quiles 2016)

Rhinoceros, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

"Radiocarbon dates for the ancient drawings in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave revealed ages much older than expected. These early ages and nature of this Paleolithic art make this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) site indisputably unique. A large, multidisciplinary dating program has recently mepped the anthropological evolution associated with the cave. More than 350 dates (by ¹⁴C, U-Th, TL and ³⁶Cl) were obtained over the last 15 y. They include 259 radiocarbon dates, bainly related to the rock art and human activity in the cave. We present here more than 80 previously unpublished dates. All fo the dates were integrated into a high-precision Bayesian model based on archaeological evidence to securely reconstruct the complete history of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave on an absolute timescale. It shows that there were two distinct periods of human activity in the cave, one from 37 to 33,599 y ago, and the other from 31 to 28,000 y ago. Cave bears also took refuge in the cave until 33,000 y ago." (Qiles 2016)

Rhinoceroses, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

“Other dating methods were applied to different materials. Heated wall fragments were dated by thermoluminescence to determine the age of hearth structures. Uranium-series dating was applied to carbonate concretions superimposed on some ¹⁴C-dated charcoal, yielding a “terminus ante quem” for the deposit of this charcoal. The latter was recently confirmed by ³⁶Cl exposure dating of rock, indicating collapses that occurred in the past and that sealed off the (paleo) entrance of the cave, thereby confirming the early age of the art contained inside.” (Quiles 2016) Notice the detailed dating using different methods as cross-checks. C¹⁴ dating with Uranium series dating, Chlorine 36 dating and thermoluminescence dating. As a layman I find this very impressive and am inclined to give their results considerable weight.

"Using a robust interdisciplinary approach, our modeled results clearly support previous hypotheses postulating two different occupations of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave. They definitively show that humans frequented the site during two distinct time periods, between 37,000 - 33,500 and 31,000 - 28,000 y ago. These clear results, based on a large number of dates obtained from diverse materials introduced into the cave through various biological or anthropogenic processed, provide a decisive argument in favor of the realization of the parietal art works before 28,000 y ago. They now enable further extensive exploration of the remarkable rock art created in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave during these two occupation phases." (Quiles 2016)

Full panel of multiple animals, Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.

“However, dangerous rock slides drove both humans and bears away from the cave, with the mouth finally being sealed by rock around 23,500 to 21,500 years ago. Either way, though, the new timeline of the animal cave paintings puts them in the same range as the Sulawesi ones in Indonesia, meaning Chauvet-Pont d’Arc may just contain the oldest known animal drawings on Earth.” (Pilny 2016)

Based upon these results the team has stated that Chauvet cave art may be the oldest in the world and that seems a stretch when much of the cave art we know of has not yet been dated, to say nothing about cave art not yet discovered. And, since their study was published, a cave painting in Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been dated to 43,500 BCE which is considerably older (6.5k) than the new dates for Chauvet.  Still, this is a very impressive study for very impressive art, and a positive contribution for which we should all be grateful.

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 these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

DNews, 2016, Cave Art in France 10,000 Yrs Older Than Thought, 13 April 2016, https://seeker.com/. Accessed online 16 June 2023.

Pilny, Susanna, 2016, French cave paintings are 10,000 years older than we thought, oldest in the world, 12 April 2016, https://www.redorbit.com/news/. Accessed online 17 June 2023.

Quiles, Anita et al., 2016, A high-precision chronological model for the decorated Upper Paleolithic cave of Chauvet-Pont dArc, Ardeche, France, 11 April 2016, PNAS, 113 (17), 4670-4675, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523158113. Accessed online 16 June 2023.

 

 

A 5,355 YEAR-OLD ANCIENT IRISH RECORD OF AN ECLIPSE – OR NOT?

Cairn "L", Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland. Online image public domain.

Recently reports have surfaced about carvings on stone panels in a Neolithic passage tomb known as “Cairn L,” on Carbane West, at Loughcrew, outside Oldcastle, in County Meath, Ireland which supposedly record an eclipse that happened in 3340 BC. I think this is another huge over-reach in interpretation, but you can read below and make up your own minds.

In 2013, Dr. Frank Prendergast completed a detailed study of the monument and found no reason to assign any such significance to any of the carvings.

Chamber of cairn "L", Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland. Online image public domain.

“The chamber and passage are orientated east-south-east. There are no apparent distinctive topographical or monumental features on the horizon in this direction. This could suggest an alternative imperative for the orientation of the tomb. The summary astronomical investigation presented here was undertaken as part of a national survey of passage tombs undertaken by the writer. From that, the measured passage orientation (azimuth or direction relative to true north), the horizon altitude and the geographical location of Tomb L were used to calculate the indicative astronomical declination (δ). From δ, the likely dates of sunrise for the north and south azimuth limits of the tomb/passage and the central axis were determined. Although the azimuths were derived from compass bearings, above data are sufficiently accurate to allow for a determination of the dates and date ranges of solar illumination within the tomb to an accuracy of a few days. These should be consistent with what would be seen by an observer located in the chamber.” (Prendergast 2013)

 “In assessing the significance and meaning of tomb orientation, numerous criteria/factors (including astronomical) can explain any possible intentionality and, thus, deliberate axial alignment. There is also the possibility that tomb orientation can be random. In the case of Tomb L, and in the apparent absence of any indicative/distinctive natural or built horizon feature that might have acted as a focal target, the tomb may have been simply built to face the rising sun.” (Prendergast 2013) Notice Prendergast’s conclusion that the tomb was built to face the rising sun, but not aligned with any specific landscape features.

“These phenomena are interpreted by the writer as not having had any calendrical significance in the prehistoric past and popular ideas of Tomb L being aligned towards the mid-quarter dates of November 5/February 4 are thus challenged here for several reasons. Although sunlight will penetrate to the edge of cell 6 around these dates, any claim for the alignment of the passage axis being calendrically significant in an early prehistoric context has little basis in fact. Tomb L was built in the Neolithic and, as such, predates (by almost three millennia) any late Iron Age/early Medieval evidence for calendrical subdivision of the solar year.” (Prendergast 2013) Prendergast found no significant archeoastronomical orientations at Tomb L. He also made no mention of any of the stone carving supposedly portraying an eclipse. Prendergast’s conclusion is that this tomb, and thus its carvings, have no celendrical significance. Brennan (1983) conducted an extensive study of Irish Burial Mounds, including Tomb L, and found numerous carved images that he identified as lunar images.

'Eclipse' stone in the chamber of cairn "L", Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland. Online image public domain.

But then, the theory popped up that the carved boulder at the end of the passage in Tomb L portrays the earliest known record lf a solar eclipse. “Our ancient Irish ancestors carved images of an ancient eclipse into giant stones over 5,000 years ago, on November 30, 3340 BC to be exact. This is the oldest known recorded solar eclipse in history.” (Hayes) I believe that this extraordinary claim can be first attributed to Dr. Philip J. Stooke, Philip J. (1994) who stated “The historian Diodorus Siculus (writing shortly before the time of Christ but quoting Hecataeus, some five centuries earlier, 'and certain others') wrote of the 'Island of the Hyperboreans' ... ‘there is also on the island both a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape... They say also that the moon, as viewed from this island, appears to be but a little distance from the Earth and to have upon it prominences, like those of the Earth, which are visible to the eye. The account is also given that the god visits the island every nineteen years....’ The nineteen year period is presumably that between almost identical eclipses.” (Stooke 1994)

Close up of 'eclipse' stone in the chamber of cairn "L", Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland. Online image public domain.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and I have been unable to find any explanation of this claim except Stooke’s reference to Diodorus Siculus who had never, of course, visited Ireland. Another citation sends us to “Irish archaeo-astronomer Paul Griffin has announced the confirmation of the world's oldest known solar eclipse recorded in stone, substantially older than the recordings made in 2800 BC by Chinese astronomers. This finding was made at the world's oldest lunar eclipse tracking multi cairn site at the Loughcrew Cairn L Megalithic Monument in Ireland, and corresponds to a solar eclipse which occurred on November 30, 3340 BC, calculated with The Digital Universe astronomy software.” (Colomba 2020) Now I do not doubt that there was an eclipse then if astronomers agree on it, I just doubt that these petroglyphs have anything to do with it.

I have written a few times on RockArtBlog about eclipses (check the cloud index at the bottom). The thing that is really unique and impressive about a solar eclipse is that most partial eclipses would have been missed, the sun is partially eclipsed but it is still too bright to look directly at so all the viewer would notice is the world around him is not as bright for a while. A total solar eclipse, on the other hand, is a tremendously impressive with its blackout and the ring of fire. It is my belief that the ring of fire, by far the most impressive part of a solar eclipse, is what would be shown by someone recording the event. To see a record of a total solar eclipse I would expect to find an empty circle with no internal details, but externally some rays or markings could represent the solar coronal glow and discharge. These markings at Cairn L just don’t look right to me to be a record of a total solar eclipse. And I have been unable to find any explanation of that claim. Now concentric circles just might represent a sun, but not one being eclipsed.

Transit of Venus panel in the chamber of cairn "L", Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland. Online image public domain.

But this is not the most extreme claim made for the astronomical symbolism at Cairn ‘L.’ ”Just on the left, as you enter the chamber, is a lovely little design of nested arcs, some 13 in all, radiating out and down from what seems to be a rising heavenly body. Close by is another smaller set of nested arcs. Martin Brennan has suggested that this image may represent an image of a transit of Venus.” (Fr. O’Flanagan History Center) Now we are supposed to accept that 5,355 years ago ancient Irish astronomers made naked eye observations of a transit of the planet Venus in front of the sun’s disk? To believe that they could see that is even more preposterous than the eclipse claims. The first transit of Venus recorded in history was on 4 December 1639 by English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks (Naeye 2012) so I have to be skeptical about the Cairn ‘L’ claim to that as well. All in all these claims appear to be a whole load of fantasy with apparently no proof to back them up.

NOTE 1: I contacted the Fr. O’Flanagan History Center asking for clarification and information but I have received no reply. I have also failed to find Irish Archaeo-astronomer Paul Griffin’s paper that apparently leads to the conclusion involving the portrayal of an eclipse. My search for that paper online leads to a dead end every time. My negative conclusions are based on a lack of confirming data.

NOTE 2: 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:

Ancient Pages, 2015, Ancient Irish Were First To Record An Eclipse – 5,355 Years Ago, 31 July 2015, https://www.ancientpages.com. Accessed online 12 May 2023.

Brennan, Martin, 1983, The Stars and the Stones, Ancient Art and Astronomy in Ireland, Thames and Hudson, Inc., New York.

Columba, Iona, 2020, Ireland in History Day by Day, 30 November 2020, https://irelandinhistory.blogspot.com. Accessed online 26 July 2023.

Fr. O’Flanagan History Center, The art within Cairn L at Loughcrew, Old RIC Barracks, Cliffoney, County Sligo, Ireland, http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/loughcret/cairnlart.html. Accessed online 11 June 2023.

Hayse, Cathy, Loughcrew (Irlande): Ancient Irish were first to record an eclipse – 5,355 years ago, http://www.archeolog-home.com. Accessed online 30 June 2023.

Naeye, Robert, 2012, Transits of Venus in History: 1631-1716, 1 June 2012, https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/transits-of-venus-in-history-1631-1716/. Accessed online 30 July  2023.

Prendergast, Frank, Dr., 2013, Tomb L, Carnbane West, Loughcrew Hills, County Meath – an archaeoastronomical assessment, 18 January 2013, Unpublished internal report available on www.academia.edu. Accessed online 12 May 2023.

Stooke, Philip J., Dr., 1994, Neolithic Lunar Maps at Knowth, https://knowth.com/lunar-maps.htm. Accessed online 13 November 2022.