LIFE-SIZED SAUDI CAMEL CARVINGS REPRESENT AN EXTINCT SPECIES:

A team member above a carved camel on the cliff. Online image, Public domain.

On 10 March 2018, I published a column in RockArtBlog titled “Ancient Saudi Guest Artists-In-Residence” about life sized carvings of camels found in northern Arabia. At the time I explained my reference to guest artists-in-residence as follows: “In university art departments there is a common practice known as the artist-in-residence. This is usually a working artist brought in from outside the university for a term to provide the students a good example of a working artist as well as broaden their range of experience. At first glance, these relief carvings, apparently done by someone who came from somewhere else, reminded me of artists-in-residence.” (Faris 2018) I likened this to the carvings which were assumed to have been done by members of a camel caravan en-route to somewhere which had stopped to rest or conduct business, someone from elsewhere who appeared, stayed for a period of time while he carved the camel images, and then passed on to somewhere else.

Camel carving on rock outcrop. Online image, Public domain.

"Camel carvings have also been found at other sites in Saudi Arabia; one discovered five years ago in Al-Jalouf province has been described as a 'parade of live-sized camels.' In this new effort, the team was studying a rocky outcrop near the southern edge of the Nefud desert. The outcrop was known to researchers, but it took a closer look to discover artwork etched onto its surface by people living in the area thousands of years ago. The new team found several dozen images of a species of camel that has been extinct for thousands of years. Prior research has suggested that such camels once lived all across the Arabian Peninsula. The outcropping has been named Sahout - images were found on three of its formations." (Yirka 2023) All of the panels appear to demonstrate considerable wind erosion from blowing sand. They must have been quite difficult to record.

Camel carving on rock outcrop. Online image, Public domain.

“The life-sized, naturalistic reliefs at the Camel Site in northern Arabia have been severely damaged by erosion. This, coupled with substantial destruction of the surrounding archaeological landscape, has made a chronological assessment of the site difficult. To overcome these problems, we combined results from a wide range of methods, including analysis of surviving tool marks, assessment of weathering and erosion patterns, portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, and luminescence dating of fallen fragments. In addition, test excavations identified a homogenous lithic assemblage and faunal remains that were sampled for radiocarbon dating. Our results show that the reliefs were carved with stone tools and that the creation of the reliefs, as well as the main period of activity at the site, date to the Neolithic. Neolithic arrowheads and radiocarbon dates attest occupation between 5200 and 5600 BCE. This is consistent with measurements of the areal density of manganese and iron in the rock varnish. The site was likely in use over a longer period and reliefs were re-worked when erosion began to obscure detailed features. By 1000 BCE, erosion was advanced enough to cause first panels to fall, in a process that continues until today. The Camel Site is likely home to the oldest surviving large-scale (naturalistic) animal reliefs in the world.” (Gaugnin 2021) The re-working of the camels is interesting, somewhat like aboriginal Australian traditional owners of rock art sites re-painting or re-carving them to preserve them.

A carved block fallen from the cliff. Online image, Public domain.

“The data indicates that the sculptures were made with stone tools during the 6^th millennium BCE. At this time, the regional landscape was a savanna-like grassland scattered with lakes and trees where pastoralist groups herded cattle, sheep and goats. Wild camels and equids also roamed the area and were hunted for millennia.” (Max Planck 2021)

Taken altogether these camels tell us a lot about the climate at the time they were created. Also, the fact that they were done in life-size, as well as the fact that the panels were anciently re-worked suggests the high esteem that this culture held the camels in, and the importance of their images to that culture. And the re-working also tells us that esteem lasted for a long enough period that the erosion of the panels was seen as a problem.

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, 2018, Ancient Saudi Guest Artists-in-Residence, 20 March 2018, RockArtBlog, https://www.blogger.com.

Gaugnin, Maria et al., 2021, Life-sized Neolithic camel sculptures in Arabia: A scientific assessment of the craftsmanship and age of the Camel Site reliefs, Sciencedirect.com, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103165. Accessed online 17 October 2023.

Max Planck Society, 2021, Life-sized camel carvings in Northern Arabia date to the Neolithic period, 15 September 2021, https://phys.org/news/2021-09-life-sized-camel-northern-arbia-date.html. Accessed online 17 October 2023.

Yirka, Bob, 2023, Life-size images of extinct camel species found carved into stones in Saudi Arabia, 4 October 2023, https://phys.org/news. Accessed online 4 October 2023.

 

TWO-HEADED SERPENTS IN MESOAMERICA:

Nlaka’pamux pictograph of Klu’biist (Sisiutl). Illustration from York et al, 1993, p. 115.

Nlaka’pamux pictograph panel showing two Klu’biists (Sisiutls), upper left and lower center. Illustration from York et al, 1993, p. 156.

It is commonly assumed that there were cultural and artistic influences passing both ways from North America to Mesoamerica. Two of these shared themes commonly pointed to are Quetzalcoatl/Kulkulkan and Sotuknango/Tlaloc. This column is to point out another theme that is shared between North America and Mesoamerica – the Two-headed Serpent, known to tribes along the northwest coast as Sisiutl. On May 1, 2010, I wrote about meeting Sisiutl as a young boy at Summer Camp. “As a boy at summer camp one year in the Pacific Northwest I found an India Rubber Boa in the woods. Far from being a harbinger of death and disaster, this peaceful creature was content to be wrapped around my arm and hung on for a considerable time, probably enjoying the body warmth. Surprisingly it made no attempt to bite, or even to uncoil and drop off until I later unwrapped it from my arm and released it back in the woods.”(Faris 2010)

Northern rubber boa (Charina bottae). Photograph by Brian Hinds, 2010, from www.herpwiki.com.

In British Columbia, north of Vancouver, the ‘Nlaka’pamux people have named this mythological being Klu’biist and describe it as follows. “The ‘Nlaka’pamux people of the Stein River Valley north of Vancouver in British Columbia call it klu’biist and have recorded it in numerous pictographs at sites in their territory. In the first of the two illustrations this pictograph panel includes two images of klu'biist, one in the upper left, and a smaller one at bottom center. Many of the portrayals show klu’biist as a four-legged creature and native sources stated that it was a snake with a head at each end, but it could grow legs if it wanted to and then looked something like a lizard with a head at each end. Many of them believe that a sighting of klu’biist foretells a death. The ‘Nlaka’pamux people identify klu’biist as an actual creature that lives in their forests – the India Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) found throughout northwestern North America, and the northernmost member of the boa family. These 18“ brown snakes appear to have a head at both ends with a blunt rounded tail that is hard to distinguish from their real head end and looks amazingly like a length of rubber surgical tubing (York 1993).” (Faris 2010) Interestingly, the mythical version can sometimes have short legs as shown in the pictograph representations. The Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) is resident in the Western United States and Canada from British Columbia in the north to California in the south. A subspecies (Charina umbratica) is found in a small area of southern California. The personal encounter I described above occurred in western Oregon.

Berezkin (2022) argued that the peopling of the New World generally emerged from eastern Asia and flowed southward from the north, taking themes and cultural motifs with them as they went. “The same motifs in ancient and ethnographic visual art in the Pacific basin testify to the common origin of these traditions. The greatest similarity can be traced between ancient China, the northwestern coast of North America and ancient Peru, but analogies They are also abundant in India, Southeast Asia, the Lower Amur, the American Arctic and throughout nuclear America.” (Berezkin 2022:170) In this way the idea of a two-headed snake could have followed the human penetration of MesoAmerica from the north. This motif, which became the two-headed Sisiutl in the northwest coastal cultures of North America may well have led to the two-headed Maquizcoatl of the later Aztecs.

Aztec man confronted by maquixcoatl (bracelet snake). Florentine codex, Bernardino de Sahagun, 16th century, book 11, folio 82.

Detail showing maquixcoatl above a bracelet. Florentine codex, Bernardino de Sahagun, 16th century, book 11, folio 82.

Book 11 of the Florentine Codex by 16^th-century ethnographic researcher by the Spanish Francisan friar Bernardino de Sahagun  shows the double-headed serpent known to the Aztecs as Maquizcoatl (or bracelet snake).

“Sahagun provides a wealth of information on the metaphorical significance of the double-headed serpent. In the illustration accompanying the text (figure 7.8A) a man encounters a maquixcoatl (‘literally bracelet snake’) A beaded bracelet in the foreground translates the first part of the name (‘bracelet’), and Sahagun describes the serpent as small and colored with black, yellow and red stripes as well as having two heads. He explains that if the serpent wrapped itself around a person's arm like a bracelet and stayed there, it was an omen of death.” (Umberger and Aguilera 2023:191)

“Book 11’s Nahua artist depicts the maquizcoatl as a double-headed, double-clawed serpent-like creature. It rests on the ground before a standing male figure. This double-headed creature, save the two set of claws, mirrors the depictions of the pectorals on the Rain God (above). The tlacuilo also labelled the animal pictographically by placing a three-piece jade bracelet on a tied red cord in the grass beside the “bracelet” snake. In the scene, the man reaches out with his right hand to indicate the maquizcoatl, and the blue speech glyph emanating from his mouth indicates that the man is speaking about (or with) the animal.” (Fitzgerald 2022) In both the ‘Nlaka’pamux version from British Columbia and the Nahuatl version from the Aztecs the two-headed serpent can have small clawed feet, although the living serpents that they are believed to have been based on do not. I find it to be significant that this detail is found at both north and south extremes of this belief.

Aztec Maquizcoatl, turquoise and coral on wood. Illustration from Pinterest.

Note that the translation of the name of the two-headed serpent of the Aztecs, Maquizcoatl, literally translates as ‘bracelet snake.’ Having worn a Sisiutl around my wrist like a bracelet for much of an afternoon as a young boy, as I related above, that passage jumped out at me. Not much of an omen of death as I write this approximately 70 years after the event.

So, here we have another likely example of a mythological figure that migrated from the north to the south. Could this belief be old enough to have arrived with the original populating of the Americas from north to south, or did the idea later cross from Asian belief in two-headed dragons and get passed southward. At this time it would be hard to say.

 

NOTE 1: The double-headed serpent of the Aztecs is spelled variously as Maquizcoatl and Maquixcoatl in the quotations above. The spelling using the "z" is more phonetic, approximating the pronunciation of the name more closely.

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:

Berezkin Yuri Evgenievich, 2022, Sisiutl, in Cabinet of curiosities 3(17), pp. 170-188., doi 10.31250/2618-8619-2022-3(17)-170-188. Accessed online 17 April 2024, Translated from Russian to English by Yandex.com.

Faris, Peter, 2010, Sisiutl – The Two-Headed Serpent, 1 May 2010, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Sisiutl

Fitzgerald, Joshua Dr., 2022, Rethinking the Double-Headed Serpent at the British Museum, 12 July 2022, mexicolore.co.uk. Accessed online 25 April 2024.

Sahagun, Bernardo Fray, 1545-1590, General History of the Things of New Spain by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún: The Florentine Codex. Book XI: Natural Things, Library of Congress, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667856/. Accessed online 25 April 2024.

Umberger, Emily, and Elizabeth Aguilera, 2023, Coyolxauhqui’s Serpents, in Birds and Beasts of Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Susan Milbrath and Elizabeth Baquedano, pp. 180-199, University Press of Colorado, Denver.

York, Annie, R. Daly, and C. Arnett, 1993, They Write Their Dream on the Rock Forever: Rock Writings of the Stein River Valley of British Columbia, Talonbooks, Vancouver.

BRAZILIAN PETROGLYPHS RECORDED NEAR DINOSAUR TRACKS:

 

Caatinga landscape. Illustration from Wikipedia.

Two of my favorite things in the natural world are rock art (which readers of RockArtBlog will have recognized by now), and fossilized dinosaur tracks. Any report of finding them in conjunction in the same site is positively exciting, and now we have a report of just such an occurrence in Brazil.

Aerial view of Outcrop 1. Illustration Troiana et al., 2024.

Leonardo Troiano wrote in the 2024 paper describing this discovery: “The Serrote do Letreiro Site, found on the northwest periphery of the Sousa Basin, Brazil, presents a remarkable convergence of paleontological and archaeological elements. It is constituted of subhorizontal "lajeiros", or rock outcrops, intermingled with endemic Caatinga vegetation. The three prominent outcrops feature fossilized footprints of theropod, sauropod, and iguanodontian dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Period. Adjacent to these dinosaur tracks, indigenous petroglyphs adorn the surface. The petroglyphs, mainly characterized by circular motifs, maintain a striking resemblance to other petroglyphs found in the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte.” (Troiano et al. 2024) Caatinga is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil (Wikipedia). Rock outcroppings in this forest have been found to contain not only three different types of dinosaur footprints, but petroglyphs as well, and it is herein postulated that the dinosaur tracks themselves were one reason for the subsequent placement of petroglyphs on those rock faces. 

Outcrop 1, dinosaur tracks (enhanced) and petroglyphs (dotted circles). Illustration from Scientific Reports, 2024.

"The lithological support on which petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks are located are sub-horizontal sandstone and comglomerate sandstone strata situated on a small hill, known as 'Serrote'. There is evident displacement of sizable surface portions due to rainwater runoff on the inclined support. The makers' preference for such type of sandstone is commonly observed in the Northeast region of Brazil, where many of these rock formations were used as support for petroglyphs. Additionally, the site in question is positioned near a water source, specifically a small lake and a temporary stream, which is likewise a recurring factor is similar sites in the region. The process of creating the petroglyphs involved the use of mixed techniques. The petroglyphs were first carved by scraping with light contact between an abrasive instrument and the rock surface. Irregularities are observed on the inner endes of the rock grooves, a result of fast movement, causing friction between the instrument and the surface. Many of the petroglyphs underwest subsequent pecking so that the ingraving line was refined by a series of continuous impacts using a sharp instrument. This complementary process resulted in small and repeated concavities of greater depth than those observed in petroglyphs made only through scraping. The preference in some instances for the scraping technique often produces shallow petroglyphs, with renders them more vulnerable to erosion, resulting in the current low visibility and legibility of many petroglyphs." (Troiano et al. 2024) Note, they report that some of the petroglyphs had been renewed or repecked. When I carefully read the authors' description of how these petroglyphs were produced I found myself in disagreement. Carving stone with "scraping with light contact" and then "fast movement, causing friction" is not a practical way to remove stone. One either grinds or pecks the surface with a harder stone. The comment about "subsequent pecking", however appears to be right on. No real blame though, kunless a person has actually worked stone they can be forgiven for not totally understanding the process.

Outcrop 1, Dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs. Illustration Troiana et al., Figure 4, 2024.

 “Concerning the morphology of the identified petroglyphs, the presence of tetrapartite or pentapartite circumferences stands out. Nevertheless, there are notable exceptions to this trend, including engravings comprised of rectangular grid structures and others resembling stars. Despite the profusion of identified petroglyphs, no overlap was observed between these inscriptions and the fossilized footprints. In none of the cases was it found that the creation of a petroglyph resulted in damage to the existing footprints, suggesting thoughtfulness by the makers. In some cases, there is an extreme proximity between petroglyphs and footprints, with some occurring immediately adjacent to the fossilized tracks. This only highlights and establishes a more profound relationship between the archaeological and paleontological records. Concerning the graphic identity, or the "set of characteristics that allow attributing a set of graphisms to a particular social authorship, it was determined that the Serrote do Letreiro site belongs to a broad set of archaeological rock art sites in the Brazilian Northeast region that present an identical repertoire of motifs, either pure or abstract, and of similar or identical execution techniques. In the first rock outcrop, located further north, it is possible to identify a higher concentration of dinosaur tracks. Reports from previous visitors to the site from the past twenty years, as well as statements from residents, indicate that until not long ago, there were a minimum of thirty such petroglyphs that were discernible on outcrop 1. The legible petroglyphs found on this outcrop consist predominantly of circles internally divided by lines and are positioned close to the footprints, in some cases as close as a distance of 10 cm.” (Troiano et al. 2024) It would appear to be important that “no overlap was observed between these inscriptions and the fossilized footprints.” This implies to me that the makers of these images carefully avoided overlapping any of the dinosaur footprints, suggesting that they were recognized as being of import.

        

Outcrop 1, Dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs. Illustration Troiana et al., Figure 5, 2024.

No culture leaves basic questions unanswered. I have written elsewhere that one thing that the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas knew well was animal tracks. So many of the tribes depended upon hunting for sustenance would have made reading tracks a priority. Finding these tracks in stone would have presented a conundrum to them – animal tracks in stone that they did not recognize. Something made those tracks, and they did not fit any of the contemporary animals that they knew. I have speculated that this would be one of the factors that led to beliefs in supernatural creatures that could have made the tracks, and once the idea of supernatural is involved such a site probably acquires ritual and spiritual importance. In the past I have referred to this as Native American Paleontology. They had their answers, just not the same ones that we had come up with. This spiritual importance led to the production of the petroglyphs, carefully avoiding the tracks.

Outcrop 3, Dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs. Illustration Troiana et al., Figure 7, 2024.

Here, the authors refer to the eloquent writings of Adrienne Mayor. “Overall, the systematic examination of interactions between humans and the fossil record, such as fossil discoveries in the pre-Columbian era, is a relatively recent scholarly endeavor. Adrienne Mayor played an important role in highlighting the evolution of this research in two significant publications: "The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times" (2000) and "Fossil Legends of the First Americans" (2013). As early as 1935, there was recognition that the discipline of paleontology is indebted to Native Americans, considering their relevant discoveries, as described by Edward M. Kindle in his notes in the Journal of Paleontology. Despite this, some prominent paleontologists, such as G. Gaylord Simpson, held the opposite view, exemplifying the paradigm that prevailed for most of that time. According to him, pre-Columbian fossil findings were occasional events and are not to be considered in the history of paleontology. Furthermore, he claimed that Native American reports were untrustworthy, being of little ethnological and no paleontological value. This hegemonic conception disregarded native contributions, arguing that fossil discoveries made by indigenous people were the mere result of chance finds, devoid of any scientific continuity (see page 26 in Mayor). Nonetheless, today, it is indisputable that Native American thought represents a distinct and valuable form of scientific reflection and inquiry. This knowledge, developed over generations, is often referred to as “Native Science”. It is important to highlight that, despite the differences between the Western Scientific Method and Native Science or Traditional Knowledge, both represent equally valid efforts to grasp, describe, and understand the reality that surrounds humans. The integration of Native science knowledge provides a valuable opportunity for academic exchange while at the same time contributing to the empowerment and inclusion of Native American voices in this sphere.” (Troiano et al. 2024)

Therapod track. Illustration Troiana et al., Figure 13A, 2024.

Petroglyph resembling a therapod track. Illustration Troiana et al., Figure 13C, 2024.

These last few lines once again provide a well presented view of what I have called Native American Paleontology. Our science might not have agreed with their conclusions, but their conclusions were valid for their world view and belief systems, and worked for them.

NOTE: Previous RockArtBlog columns on the concurrence of rock art and dinosaur tracks can be accessed through “dinosaur tracks” in the cloud index at the bottom of this column. For much more thorough descriptions of the three sites read the original paper by Troiano et al. (2024).

PRIMARY REFERENCE:

Troiano, Leonardo P., Heloísa B. dos Santos, Tito Aureliano, Aline M. Ghilardi, 2024, A remarkable assemblage of petroglyphs and Dinosaur footprints in Northeast Brazil, Nature/Scientific Reports 14:6528, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-56479-3. Accessed 22 March 2024.

SECONDARY REFERENCES:

Mayor, Adrienne, 2000, The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times, Princeton University Press.

Mayor, Adrienne, 2013, Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press.

A NEW AMMOGLYPH (PLEISTOCENE SAND SCULPTURE) DISCOVERED IN SOUTH AFRICA:

The site of the discovery of the new ammoglyph. The arrow points to a human figure for scale. Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 2.

On May 22, 2021, I wrote about what we might call a completely new kind of rock art discovered in South Africa. I wrote “It is not often I get to pass along news about a whole new kind of rock art, but it was with some excitement that I found this report of a team of South African researchers who have discovered ammoglyphs. These originated as human created designs in beach sand which was later turned to sandstone, preserving the markings in the process, voila - rock art.” (Faris 2021) Now we have a remarkable newly discovered ammoglyph from the Cape south coast of South Africa thought to be a figurative sculpture.

We have long been aware of prehistoric tracks preserved by later consolidation of the sandy or muddy surface they were left on. Preserved dinosaur track sites along with those of ancient animals are fairly common. More recently have come discoveries of ancient hominin and human track sites. “Aeolianites (cemented dune sands, sometimes also referred to as calcarenites) and cemented foreshore deposits on the Cape south coast of South Africa preserve not only the tracks that our hominin ancestors made on Pleistocene dunes and beaches but also other evidence of their activities. Consequently, the term ‘ammoglyph’ was coined to represent an anthropogenic pattern registeredin unconsolidated sand, which is now evident on a palaeosurface of rock. These reports complement the identification of several Pleistocene hominin tracksites on this coastline. To date, ammoglyphs have not been reported from any other region.” (Helm et al. 2024:58) My previous report (2021) concerned marks and geometric symbols that had been made in the sand which were later preserved by such cementing. These had been made on the flat two-dimensional sandy surface.

Upper surface of the new ammoglyph. Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 3A.

The report herein cited (Helm et al. 2024) is for a three-dimensional object believed to have been created in the same way. “A purported cemented sand sculpture found in Pleistocene aeolianite deposits on the Cape south coast of South Africa resembles a stingray  (minus a tail) in outline. Symmetryis evident in the rock’s shape and the pattern of grooves on its surface. It is postulated that it may be a three-dimensional example of representational art of another species. Optically stimulated luminescence studies of rocks in the vicinity indicate that it dates to the MiddleStone Age, most probably during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (when high sea levels imply a nearby coastline). The correspondence in shape between the purported sand sculpture and the blue stingray (Dasyatis chrysonota) suggests that it may have been traced from a fresh specimen. Tracings on sand are postulated as a possible ‘stepping stone’ between abstract early palaeoart and representational rock art. Features of the rock suggest that the creation of a stingray sand sculpture may conceivably have been followed by symbolically wounding it and amputating its lethal end. Identification of further ammoglyphs will be important in refining the analysis of this newly identified form of early palaeoart.” (Helm et al. 2024:58) To clarify, they mean that marks on the back of the purported ammoglyph are thought to represent ritual wounds (or maybe just for fun, a game) of the sand sculpture, and the missing tail may have been cut off in the same way. It is also possible that the tail was originally there but as the thinnest part of the shape may have eroded away.

Lower surface (underside) of the new ammoglyph. Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 3B.

“It was identified in 2018, close to the high-tide mark, at the base of coastal cliffs from which it had presumably been dislodged. It exhibited multiple examples of symmetry. It was noted that its shape resembled that of a stingray, and it was suggested that it might represent the preservation of a sand sculpture. Sensu strictu, the symmetrical grooves on its upper surface would be classified as an ‘ammoglyph’, and the whole feature would more accurately be described as an ‘ammo-sculpture’, but for convenience, we retain the term ‘ammoglyph’ throughout.” (Helm et al. 2024:59) Entirely reasonable as far as I am concerned. Ammo-sculpture would be a really awkward designation.

“The shape of the rock resembles that of a stingray. The arms of the cross feature intersect very close to the position of the eyes. The row of grooves may be associated with patterns evident on the dorsal surface of a species such as the blue stingray Dasyatis chrysonota. The lateral corners correspond to the position of the pectoral fins, and the protuberances on either side of the ‘posterior’ corner of the rock correspond to the position of the pelvic fins. Slight concavities on either side of the vestigial tail accentuate it. The symmetrical groove pattern also serves to orientate the sculpture on an ‘anteroposterior’ axis.” (Helm et al. 2024:64)

Blue Sting Ray, Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 7 (illustration by Elaine Heemstra, reproduced from NISC – SAIAB).

The authors explain their reasoning in designating the shape as a sculpture. “The concept that the initial stage in creating the purported sand sculpture involved tracing the outline of a fresh stingray is unprovable. However, it is suggested by the near-perfect outline and proportions. The close correspondence in shape suggests that the artist was phenomenally gifted in recording such detail, or the image was traced. If it was traced, the disc width of ~30 cm implies it was a male or small immature female. Given the fact that large females enter shallow southern Cape waters to pup in summer and then mate with smaller males, the inference is that the purported sand sculpture was probably based on a small male rather than an immature female.” (Helm et al. 2024:67) This would seem to add plausibility to their argument, however, can we know that stingrays behaved the same way in the same locality back then as they do now?

Tail stub end of ammoglyph seen from top side and bottom side. Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 5.

“The possibility that the combination of multiple symmetrical features is due to chance alone is, in our view, remote. The findings most plausibly represent a sand sculpture from the MSA, dated to MIS 5e. The close correspondence in shape between the sand sculpture and the blue stingray suggests that it may have been traced from a fresh specimen. In such an interpretation, the symmetrical pattern of surface grooves may be related to the features on the dorsal surface of the blue stingray and serves to orientate it along an anteroposterior axis. Extending this interpretation, the posterior stub would represent what remains of the tail portion, which may have been removed prior to burial in an act of symbolic wounding. The asymmetrical features may be incidental, for which an anthropogenic origin cannot be asserted, although the ‘gouge’, directed towards the tail, may also represent symbolic wounding. If such postulates are valid, the sand sculpture would qualify as the oldest known representational art of another species.” (Helm et al 2024:59-60)

3-D photogrammetry model of the upper surface of the purported sand sculpture. Illustration from Helm et al., 2024, Fig. 6.

The reference (above) to MIS 5e refers to "Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, called the Eemian (Ipswichian in Britain) around 124,000 - 119,000 years ago - the last interglacial period before the present (Holocene)." (Wikipedia)

This type of sculpture reminds me first of all of the clay bison found in the cave of Tuc d’Audoubert or the clay bear sculpture in Montespan cave in France. Both of these examples were involved in some sort of rituals, so it is perhaps inevitable that Helm et al. also speculate a ritual purpose for the sand sculpture of a sting ray. Whatever the case if really is a fascinating discovery and may anticipate more such remarkable discoveries.

REFERENCE:

Faris, Peter 2021,  A Whole New Type of Rock Art – Ammoglyphs, 22 May 2021. https://rockartblog.blogspot.com.

Helm, Charles W., Andrew S. Carr, Hayley C. Cawthra, Paul D. Cowley, Jan C. De Vynck, Pieter-Jan Gräbe, Renée Rust, Willo Stear and Alan K. Whitfield, 2024, A Purported Pleistocene Sand Sculpture from South Africa, Rock Art Research 2024,  Volume 41, Number 1, pp. 58-73. Accessed online 9 April 2024.

Wikipedia, Marine Isotope Stage 5, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Isotope_Stage_5 . Accessed online 16 April 2024.

ARCHEOASTRONOMY – POSSIBLE STELLAR ASTERISMS CARVED ON A STONE DISK:

Presumed star chart carved into a stone disc. Molaro and Bernardini, 2023.

The whole field of archeoastronomy is interesting, but a little like analyzing Rorsach Blots. What people see is influenced by what they expect (or want) to find when they are looking at possible examples. One good example is outlined in the citation below: 

“Two couples of stone disks found at the entrances and cemeteries of protohistoric hill forts in the north-eastern Adriatic area were suggested to have a symbolic meaning representing the Sun and the Night Sky. In one pair the night sky is symbolically represented by a number of natural holes made by marine bivalves but in the other stone studied here the marks are made by a human hand and show a pattern. We performed a statistical comparison of the chisel marks with the most common asterisms to try to establish if they were randomly made or they had some intentionality.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:11) Notice that Molaro and Bernardini said “the night sky is symbolically represented by a number of natural holes made by marine bivalves.”  In other words, clams or barnacles have bored into the surface of a piece of stone in the pattern of asterisms in the night sky. The authors used statistical analysis to identify the patterns. Any time statistics enters the picture I get skeptical. A good mathematician can use statistics to make the answers come out any way they wish. I wonder if the marine bivalves also used statistics to plot where they should bore their holes.

Front face of the stone disk from an adaptation of Bernardini et al. (2022). Curvature map of the disk with the position of the chiselmarks indicated by black circles and numbered.

“The whole pattern is composed by 29 chisel marks, 24 in the front face of the stone and 5 on the back. 28 chisel marks are consistent with the asterisms of Scorpius, Orion, Pleiades and, perhaps, of Cassiopeia on the back side of the stone. The correlation between the chisel marks and the stellar position is very high with r(28) = 0.994. The p-value is formally 0.001 and provides a very low probability that the chisel marks were produced accidentally.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:11) The authors suggest the age of these stones as Bronze Age. They also state that there are no written records from the local cultures during that time period. I, then, need to ask how they can know what stellar asterisms the inhabitants of the hill fort would recognize and wish to record?

“One chisel mark remains without an obvious identification. This is the most problematic chisel mark to explain.The mark is close to the stellar system of 𝜇 Ori, formed by two physical binary systems with an integrated magnitude of V = 4.1. Alternatively, if it belongs to the portion of sky of Scorpius it  could be associated to 𝜖 Sgr. However, all these identifications are quite unsatisfactory. One intriguing possibility is that a bright star was present in that position that produced a supernova or more likely a failed supernova leaving a black hole as a remnant. Interestingly, this prediction could be tested through detailed observations and, therefore, specific studies are solicited.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:11) One mark does not fit their theory, therefore, it may have disappeared in the interim in a supernova? This strikes me as really stretching to make your point.

The stone next to the diagram of the chisel marks.

“The asterisms are quite complete showing all the bright stars. Notable missing are 𝛾 and 𝜅 Ori. However, the location is in the most exposed part of the stone and the mark could have been possibly deleted by stone erosion.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:11) Even more convenient, not only has a supernova since made one star disappear that was carved onto the stone, but erosion has removed a couple of important stars that should be there.

“The deviations from real positions are of about one degree which are comparable with the size of the marks in the stone. For comparison, in the catalogue of Ptolemaios the error distributions is of 27 and 23 arcmin in longitude and latitude respectively, which is only about a factor 2–3 better than those on the stone. This requires a careful preparation and patient persistence in the execution. As such, the reproduction is not symbolic but faithful, showing an effort in providing the true stellar positions in the sky.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:11-12)

 "The hill fort of Rupinpiccolo was in use from about 1800/1650 BCE. Several data suggest to link the stones to the early building phase of the hill fort during the Bronze Age, even if we cannot completely rule out a Roman origin based on the similarity of the disks with roughed-out blocks of tomb stones. Even for the latest photohistoric chronology (400BCE), the disk stone would represent one of the oldest cartography of the sky." (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:12) If it really was a chart of stellar positions in the  sky.

Now, all of this may, in fact, be true, but I am not convinced. These stone disks may be ancient star charts with all of this archeoastronomical data recorded on them. The authors pointed out a likeness of these stone disks to covers for Roman Era shaft tombs, and we know the Romans recognized many of the same asterism as we do. “However, after the work of Bernardini et al. (2022), round stone artefacts of similar shape and dimensions were identified in the collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Aquileia. Probably they are roughed-out blocks for lids for circular tombstones. Since the exact archaeological context of the stones from Rupinpiccolo cannot be determined with precision, the possibility of Roman origin cannot be ruled out.” (Molaro and Bernardini 2023:2) I truly do not know any of this with any real certainty, and I submit, the Molaro and Bernardini may be a little too eager in their interpretations. At least they admit to a certain amount of speculation. After their paper was released popular press stories popped up which address this whole question as the proven truth. Which takes me back to the Rorsach Blots – we see what we want to see.

NOTE 1: I have ommitted some of the secondary citations from the quotations. The one listed is cited in the caption of the second illustration, but I did not consult it directly.

NOTE 2: Images used are from the Primary Reference paper.  by Molaro and Bernardini.

PRIMARY REFERENCE:

Molaro, Paolo, and Frederico Bernardini, 2023, Possible stellar asterisms carved on a protohistoric stone, 6 November 2023, Astronomical Notes (Astron Nachr), DOI:10.1002/asna.20220108. Accessed online 25 December 2023.

SECONDARY REFERENCE:

Bernardini, F., Vinci, G., Macovaz, V., Baucon, A., De Min, A., Furlani, S., and Smolic, S., 2022, Doc Praehist, XLIX, 2.

NAWARLA GABARNMANG - A REMARKABLE ROCK ART SITE IN ARNHEM LAND:

The following account is about the discovery of a magnificent rock shelter in Arnhem Land, Australia, with an overwhelming amount of beautiful rock art. Of course, this ‘discovery’ only means that Western culture has finally seen it, the original inhabitants of the country always knew of it. Now that we have seen it, however, we can share its beauty with the world.

The northern Entrance of Nawarla Gabarnmang. Photograph by Bruno David, published in Antiquity, 2013.

“In June 2006, RLW and pilot Chris Morgan sighted an unusually large rockshelter during a routine aerial survey on the Arnhem Land plateau. They landed the helicopter and on walking into the open, double-ended shelter, found themselves in a stunning gallery with hundreds of rock paintings.

Nawarla Gabarnmang. Online image, public domain.

Anthropological work with senior Elders Wamud Namok and Jimmy Kalarriya enabled the Jawoyn to learn the name of the site – Nawarla Gabarnmang (nawarla=‘place of ’, gabarnmang=‘hole in the rock’). The two men had visited the shelter when they were children, and been told it was an important site where people camped en route to ceremonies on Jawoyn country. They also identified the Jawoyn clan Buyhmi as the relevant traditional owners of the site. When Buyhmi traditional owner and Elder Margaret Katherine was taken to the site, she cried out to her ancestors and wept for a place and family she had never known.” (David et al. 2011)

Jawoyn elder Margaret Katherine. Pinterest image.

This is doubtless the result of decades of Western culture’s attempts to eradicate indigenous practices and beliefs. Now that these policies have changed the aboriginal people are recovering portions of their cultural heritage that have lain dormant.

The roof, supported my many rock pillars provided a nicely sheltered place for people to stop at for a period of time. “Originally the rock pillars were not widely spaced. They were typically about one metre apart. We know this because this is how they are found in other parts of the site that people did not frequent. We can also see where missing pillars once stood, for their very tops remain adhered to the ceiling and their bases have survived on the floor in those parts of the site where the pillars are now more widely spaced. In some areas, pillars are now eight metres apart where once they stood side by side.” (David 2018)

View inside Nawarla Gabarnmang. Photograph Jean Jacques Delannoy.

This site has been in use for a very long time. “Fifty thousand years ago, Aboriginal people started to camp at the site, first at the edge and then gradually further within. Living amid the pillars was not possible at first, for they were too closely spaced. But sometime between 35,000 and 23,000 years ago – the exact timing is uncertain as more research is required – individual pillars began to be toppled. This required planned, structured dismantling, for the weight of the roof would not allow the rock pillars to be simply pushed aside. First, the pillars’ top layer was flaked away or, in some cases, vertically sectioned and removed as a block, all with stone tools, creating a space between pillar and ceiling. That space then allowed the pillars to be pushed aside and dismantled piece by piece. The overlying ceiling now lacked local support, so individual layers of ceiling rock began to collapse. Where pillars had gone, the ceiling level was now higher than in surrounding areas. The individual toppled pillar fragments and ceiling slabs were flaked into typically forty-centimetre-long pieces and carried away to the shelter’s outer edges, so that today hundreds if not thousands of regularly shaped tabular blocks abound at the rock-shelter’s northern and southern entrances. A few of those tabular pieces were left on the shelter floor and moved around. They each show signs of use, sometimes from the grinding of ochre to make paints in shades of white, red, pink, yellow and black. Others were used as anvils to rest higher-quality stone for the flaking of stone tools. It is these tabular pieces remaining on the shelter floor that local Aboriginal Elders refer to as “pillows,” demarcating where in the past people rested. The extant pillar walls and ceiling rock surfaces are heavily decorated with paintings, so much so that in some places more than thirty layers of paint have been identified, motif over motif in a time sequence that represents centuries of changing styles. And how are we to think of the accumulated slabs at the shelter’s northern and southern entrances: rejected debris to clear the site or a cache of useable tools and furniture? In some cases, slabs were overlaid in multiple tiers to make stools for artists to stand on when painting the ceiling.” (David 2018) So this location was not only painted, but first it was physically modified to fit the populations preconceptions and then decorated. This did not, of course, happen in a frenzy of deconstruction and decoration, but it seems they did have what amounts to a plan over a long period of time.

Barramundi fish on the ceiling of Nawarla Gabarnmang. Online image, public domain.

“Nawarla Gabarnmang is a spectacular site, one of the world’s great archaeological rock-shelters. Yet it is more than this. The stone workings – the systematic dismantling of the pillars, the removal of blocks to create more open spaces, their strategic disposal at both site entrances and the decoration of the remaining pillar walls and ceiling – all speak not of a natural cave but of an engineered and furnished architectural space.” (David 2018) Having finally created the space that they were satisfied with, the people then proceeded to decorate it with magnificent paintings.

Barramundi fish on the ceiling of Nawarla Gabarnmang. Online image, public domain.

“The glorious murals of the Nawarla Gabarnmang cave are vivid testimony to the cultural heritage community, social cohesion, and spirituality of the early Aboriginal settlers of Australia, who managed to create enormous beauty in a hostile environment of blistering heat and parched land, some 23,000 years before the erection of the Egyptian Pyramids or the Stonehenge Stone Circle.” (Visual Arts Cork)

This space has been painted, and repainted for millennia, but one piece of fallen stone has given a date that is truly impressive. This one dated piece “consists of a charcoal drawing made on a piece of rock, some 3 centimetres by 3 centimetres that fell from the roof during prehistory. The drawing itself comprises 2 crossed lines: one is straight, while part of the other is slightly curved. The area formed by the curved part has been filled in with a heavier (thus darker) application of charcoal, but the rest of the drawing is faded beyond recognition. The stone fragment is aged between 28,000 and 45,600 years old, while the charcoal drawing is dated to 26,000 BCE. The drawing is broadly contemporaneous with the Fumane Cave paintings in Italy (c.35,000 BCE) and the Chauvet Cave paintings in France (c.30,000 BCE), both painted during the era of Aurignacian in Europe. Despite its advanced age, Gabarnmang's charcoal drawing is unlikely to be northern Australia')s most ancient art. This honour is likely to go to the cupule art or hand stencils of the Kimberley region, which are believed to date to at least 30,000 possibly 40,000 BCE.” (Visual Arts Cork)

Palimpsest at Nawarla Gabarnmang. Online image, public domain.

The studies indicated that people have occupied Nawarla Gabarnmang for a very long period of time indeed. “Initial results at Nawarla Gabarnmang have revealed secure evidence of people some 45,000 years ago. Ongoing excavations are aimed at tracking the >45,000 year old levels, dating the rock art and further investigating the site’s geomorphology (including anthropogenic  modifications to the ceiling and pillars).” (David 2011)

So, at roughly the same period of prehistory that humans were painting the natural caves of Europe, the people of Arnhem Land, Australia, were, in effect, creating their own cave before painting it extensively.

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, Bruno et al., 2011, Nawarla Gabarnmang, a 45,180±910 cal BP Site in Jawoyn Country, Southwest Arnhem Land Plateau, Australian Archaeology, No. 73 (December 2011), pp. 73-77. Accessed online 31 December 2023.

David, Bruno et al., 2018, Nawarla Gabarnmang, 25 September 2018, Landscape Australia, https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/nawarla-gabarnmang/. Accessed online 31 December 2023.

Gunn, Robert et al., 2017, The past 500 years of rock art at Nawarla Gabarnmang, central-western Arnhem Land, pp. 303-328, from The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia, edited by Bruno David, Paul Tacon, Jean-Jacques Delannoy, and Jean-Michel Geneste, Australian National University Press, Canberra, Australia.

Visual Arts Cork, Nawarla Gabarnmang Charcoal Drawing (26,000 BCE), http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/nawarla-gabarnmang.htm. Accessed online 31 December 2023.