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Cave & Rock Art

New findings at a previously explored site.

New Stone Age paintings have been found on a rock face by a sprawling lake system in eastern Finland.

The red-painted stripes and hand markings were partially hidden under lichen on Tikaskaarteenvuori hill near the village of Anttola, which lies on the shore of Lake Luonteri, the Yle public broadcaster reports.

Luonteri is part of the Saimaa lake system, where Stone Age paintings were discovered in the 1990s, but the newly-found images are about five metres (16ft) lower down the rock face. Archaeologist Timo Sepänmaa of the Museum of Central Finland has been studying the new art works, and told Yle that their position shows that "they are a couple of thousand years younger than the earlier finds".

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-46363629
 
An international team, led by an archaeologist from the University of Southampton and the University of Bordeaux, has revealed the first example of Palaeolithic figurative cave art found in the Balkan Peninsula.

Dr. Aitor Ruiz-Redondo worked with researchers from the universities of Cantabria (Spain), Newfoundland (Canada), Zagreb (Croatia) and the Archaeological Museum of Istria (Croatia) to study the paintings, which could be up to 34,000 years old. The cave art was first discovered in 2010 in Romualdova Pe?ina ('Romuald's cave') at Istria in Croatia, when Darko Komšo, Director of the Archaeological Museum of Istria, noticed the existence of the remains of a red colour in a deep part of the cave.

https://phys.org/news/2019-04-archaeologists-prehistoric-figurative-cave-art.html
 
Early use of the Cherokee syllabary

There are places where the world of the living brushes up against the world of the spirits.

For the Cherokee of the southeastern United States, those places are caves, where the heat of day gives way to the coolness of damp earth, and the light of the sun is exchanged for the darkness of deep, timeless spaces.

Now, researchers exploring several caves near the Alabama-Georgia border have discovered, for the first time, inscriptions describing sacred rituals and reaching out to ancestors, all in the Cherokee script invented by prominent Native American polymath Sequoyah before his people were forcibly moved to western reservations in the 1830s.

The Cherokee syllabary, which consists of 85 characters—one for each syllable in the Cherokee language—spread rapidly after its invention around 1821. It was used to communicate among tribes, commemorate events, and create the first newspaper published by Native Americans in the United States.

Now, it appears tribal members were also using this new script to record sacred events in the region’s caves, researchers report today in Antiquity. In 2006, archaeologists found a set of charcoal inscriptions in a chamber at the end of the 1.67-kilometer-deep Manitou Cave near Fort Payne, Alabama, at the head of an underground stream.

But it wasn’t until several years later that it was translated with the help of Cherokee scholars: It commemorated a sacred game of stickball—similar to modern-day lacrosse—played on 30 April 1828. The game involved extensive preparations, including prayer, meditation, and a ritual cleansing known as “going to water.” ...

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/201...ly_2019-04-10&et_rid=394299689&et_cid=2761160
 
Some lesser known (internationally) cave paintings.

Drawn across the rock in bold strokes of ochre, the paintings have blurred with time but can still steal the breath. Alive with movement, their forms are instantly recognisable: a mammoth rolling forward, a trotting horse, a stocky bison.

These works, deep in a limestone cave in Russia’s southern republic of Bashkortostan, are thought to be mostly between 17,000 and 19,000 years old. Beyond the specialists who come to inspect them, they are barely known to the outside world, in contrast to Palaeolithic paintings in the Altamira and Lascaux caves in Spain and France. Both of those caves are staples of National Geographic and other glossy magazines. Werner Herzog made famous the panthers and bears on the walls of the Chauvet Cave in the Ardeche, with his film Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

Tens of thousands of mostly Russian visitors come every year to visit the Kapova cave where the Bashkortostan paintings are situated, in the Shulgan-Tash nature reserve. To reach it requires a lengthy drive down a stone-strewn track and a walk to the 100ft arc of limestone that forms the entrance to the cave.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...home-to-remarkable-pre-historic-art-67sq0vdh6
 
Earliest known cave art by modern humans found in Indonesia

Source: The Guardian online
Date: 11 December, 2019

Cave art depicting human-animal hybrid figures hunting warty pigs and dwarf buffaloes has been dated to nearly 44,000 years old, making it the earliest known cave art by our species.

The artwork in Indonesia is nearly twice as old as any previous hunting scene and provides unprecedented insights into the earliest storytelling and the emergence of modern human cognition.

Previously, images of this level of sophistication dated to about 20,000 years ago, with the oldest cave paintings believed to be more basic creations such as handprints.

Previously, images of this level of sophistication dated to about 20,000 years ago, with the oldest cave paintings believed to be more basic creations such as handprints.

https://amp.theguardian.com/science...-cave-art-by-modern-humans-found-in-indonesia


Perhaps we would expect a relatively primitive depiction of animals?

Is this artwork absolutely incredible in its precision?
 
A compellation of some images online...

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'Humans were not centre stage’: how ancient cave art puts us in our place

In our self-obsessed age, the anonymous, mysterious cave art of our ancient ancestors is exhilarating. By Barbara Ehrenreich

Source: theguardian.com
Date: 12 December, 2019

https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...nt-cave-art-painting-lascaux-chauvet-altamira


This is a lengthy and fascinating article, which has literally just appeared online.

Thought others might enjoy same.
 
Outstanding!!
This is important. It means the long-lived eurocentrist bias in history and the archaeological arts hasn't a leg to stand on. We are all creative, nuanced and sophisticated societies in our own way. Except for, perhaps, the Cromergnions.
 
The recently discovered Egyptian cave art bore quite a resemblance to ancient art from around the world and got me thinking about how our ancient ancestors chose to depict their subjects.

Animals are invariably depicted in profile, whereas humans are usually shown face-on:

PSX_20200130_100102.jpg
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
The recently discovered Egyptian cave art bore quite a resemblance to ancient art from around the world and got me thinking about how our ancient ancestors chose to depict their subjects.
Click to expand...
I find this equally fascinating and have just come across a fabulously detailed resource:

Cave Art
Characteristics, Types, Chronology, Meaning.
MAIN A-Z INDEX - A-Z of PREHISTORIC ART

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/cave-art.htm

Might be spending some time there - I'll get the coffees in... :btime: :)
 
ramonmercado said:
This is turning into a rather interesting Thread.
Click to expand...
Right on Fortean cue, this has literally just appeared as a newsfeed suggestion I might like.

It's a related article and maybe worth a mention, despite the web site's annoying pop-ups.

3 Stumping Examples of Cave Art That Predate Civilization by at Least 40,000 Years

Source: curiosmos.com

Tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors roamed the planet in search of shelter and food. From time to time, they would discover cave systems that they would eventually turn into their home and end up decorating with some of the most fascinating examples of ancient art.

Around the globe, we have countless examples of ancient cave systems that were occupied by mankind with traces of habitation dating back more than 60,000 years in some cases.

Precisely in these ancient caves is where our ancestors made their first steps to document their surroundings.

They painted, carved and sculpted what are considered some of the most ancient examples of art the world has ever seen. These ancient pieces of art are an invaluable part of human history, recognized even by some of the greatest artists of the modern world.

After seeing the cave paintings at Lascaux France, Pablo Picasso said: “We have invented nothing new… after Altamira, all is decadence…”

https://curiosmos.com/3-stumping-ex...predate-civilization-by-at-least-40000-years/
 
This 14,000-Year-Old Bison Cave Sculpture Is a Striking Example of Ancient Art

The Sculpture is believed to be more than 14,000 years old and is regarded as the largest and finest surviving prehistoric sculptures in the world. Parts of the ancient sculpture were carved with a tool.

A cave located in present-day France is home to one of the most amazing ancient sculptures in history: two bison carved by ancient humans around 14,000 years ago.

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors explored the surface of the planet in search of food and shelter. Beginning their journey in Africa, our ancestors are thought to have made their way across the entire planet, eventually population all corners of the world.

As they did, from time to time, they’d stop and remain settled in certain locations for different periods of time. Whether it was because they found shelter or food, or simply had to because of the climate, they would enter cave systems and inhabit them eventually.

Some of the most interesting caves our ancestors inhabited are located in the European Continent.

In previous articles, we wrote about some of the most impressive works of cave art created by our ancient ancestors tens of thousands of years ago. Through illustrations inside various caves, we have come to understand that our ancestors were capable of depicting various events, some of which have even been interpreted to be astronomical in nature.

https://curiosmos.com/this-14000-year-old-bison-cave-sculpture-is-a-striking-example-of-ancient-art/
 
New findings at Cloghcor.


Rare prehistoric rock art, believed to be at least 4,000 years old, has been discovered on a portal tomb in north Co Sligo.

It is one of a number of similar finds made in the course of a community project, which encourages “citizen archaeologists” to look out for and report artefacts.

Another highlight of the Sligo Community Archeology Project was the discovery during lockdown in March of a rare Bronze Age stone pendant in Drumcliffe. It was found by 14-year-old Darragh McDaniel while he was helping to dig a drain on his family’s land.

The prehistoric rock art was noticed at Cloghcor portal tomb by archeologist Tamlyn McHugh, who is heading up the community project, when she was conducting a video interview with the farmer who owns the land, Leo Leyden. She later returned to the site after dark with her husband, Sligo-based landscape photographer Ciaran McHugh, and found that the rock art was more apparent in torch light.

The pair detected a series of cup marks incised into the surface of the stone, as well as a rosette design. Ms McHugh said that research was under way to determine if the rock art and the portal tomb are contemporaneous or if it was a later addition, “but it is prehistoric and at least 4,000 years old”. The find was reported to the National Monument Service (NMS). ...

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ire...ld-found-by-sligo-community-project-1.4385357
 
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Reactions: Jim
The Bison are very striking but OOP in the empty room.

Surley better effort should be made to recreate the context?
 
'Sistine Chapel of the ancients' rock art discovered in remote Amazon forest

Tens of thousands of ice age paintings across a cliff face shed light on people and animals from 12,500 years ago

One of the world’s largest collections of prehistoric rock art has been discovered in the Amazonian rainforest.
Hailed as “the Sistine Chapel of the ancients”, archaeologists have found tens of thousands of paintings of animals and humans created up to 12,500 years ago across cliff faces that stretch across nearly eight miles in Colombia.

Their date is based partly on their depictions of now-extinct ice age animals, such as the mastodon, a prehistoric relative of the elephant that hasn’t roamed South America for at least 12,000 years. There are also images of the palaeolama, an extinct camelid, as well as giant sloths and ice age horses.
These animals were all seen and painted by some of the very first humans ever to reach the Amazon. Their pictures give a glimpse into a lost, ancient civilisation. Such is the sheer scale of paintings that they will take generations to study.
The discovery was made last year, but has been kept secret until now as it was filmed for a major Channel 4 series to be screened in December: Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon.
Click to expand...
(c) The Guardian. '20
 
Recently published discoveries push the age of figural animal art back to at least 45,000 years ago.
Warty pig is oldest animal cave art on record

The oldest-known animal drawing in the world is a 45,500-year-old depiction of a hairy, warty pig on a cave wall in Indonesia, a new study finds.

The mulberry colored painting, drawn with the red mineral ochre, shows the profile of what is likely a Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis), a wild stubby-legged beast with facial warts that can weigh up to nearly 190 pounds (85 kilograms). These pigs "are still found there today, although in ever-dwindling numbers," said study co-lead researcher Adam Brumm ...

The finding provides more evidence that ancient Indonesia was a hot spot for rock art, and that "the first rock art traditions probably did not arise in ice age Europe as long supposed," Brumm told Live Science in an email. ...

Previously, the oldest-known rock art depicting an animal, a Sulawesi warty pig found in another cave on the island, dated to at least 43,900 years ago, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Nature, which was also discovered by Brumm and colleagues, including Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist at Griffith University. Meanwhile, the oldest known drawing (of any kind) made by a human is a 73,000-year-old hashtag painted on a rock flake from South Africa ...
Click to expand...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/pig-oldest-cave-animal-drawing.html
 
Here are the bibliographic particulars and abstract for the published report.

Oldest cave art found in Sulawesi
Adam Brumm1, Adhi Agus Oktaviana, Basran Burhan, Budianto Hakim, Rustan Lebe, Jian-xin Zhao, Priyatno Hadi Sulistyarto, Marlon Ririmasse, Shinatria Adhityatama, Iwan Sumantri and Maxime Aubert2
Science Advances 13 Jan 2021:
Vol. 7, no. 3, eabd4648
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd4648

Abstract
Indonesia harbors some of the oldest known surviving cave art. Previously, the earliest dated rock art from this region was a figurative painting of a Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). This image from Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 in the limestone karsts of Maros-Pangkep, South Sulawesi, was created at least 43,900 years ago (43.9 ka) based on Uranium-series dating. Here, we report the Uranium-series dating of two figurative cave paintings of Sulawesi warty pigs recently discovered in the same karst area. The oldest, with a minimum age of 45.5 ka, is from Leang Tedongnge. The second image, from Leang Balangajia 1, dates to at least 32 ka. To our knowledge, the animal painting from Leang Tedongnge is the earliest known representational work of art in the world. There is no reason to suppose, however, that this early rock art is a unique example in Island Southeast Asia or the wider region.

SOURCE (& FULL ARTICLE): https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/3/eabd4648
 
A life-sized rock painting of a kangaroo is believed to be Australia's oldest known work of rock art.
Australia's oldest rock painting is an anatomically accurate kangaroo

A nearly-life-size depiction of a kangaroo — realistic genitalia included — is the oldest known rock painting in Australia. Scientists recently pinpointed its age to 17,300 years ago with a technique that had never been used on Australian ancient art before: measuring radioactive carbon in wasp nests from rocks near the artwork.

The kangaroo painting extends across the ceiling of a rock shelter and spans nearly 7 feet (2 meters), which is roughly the height of a modern kangaroo. This and other paintings in northwestern Australia's Kimberley region share certain stylistic features with the earliest cave art from Europe and Asia, the researchers reported. Very old animal paintings such as these are typically life-size (or close to it); they represent anatomy in a similar way, and their outlines are only partly filled-in with sketched lines. Because of these features, the paintings were thought to be among Australia's oldest. ...

"Here, the pigment used is invariably an iron oxide that cannot be dated directly," Finch told Live Science in an email. "If charcoal was used as a rock art pigment in ancient Aboriginal rock art, then we have yet to find any surviving examples in Australia." ...

So the scientists turned to mud wasps nests built under, above and near the art. Over a period of five years, they collected and analyzed 27 nests associated with 16 different rock paintings in Drysdale River National Park, painted in the region's oldest style. "We then use the pattern of all the maximum and minimum dates that apply to paintings of the same style, to estimate the period when they were painted," he explained. "The accuracy of this estimate increases as more and more nests are dated."

They found that most of the paintings were likely made between 13,000 and 17,000 years ago. As for the kangaroo painting, six nearby nests provided both minimum and maximum dates, enabling the scientists to estimate its age. ...
Click to expand...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/kangaroo-art-australia-oldest.html
 
There are multiple cave art sites in Indonesia, and recent research indicates they are all deteriorating. The most obvious cause concerns climate / weather trends affecting the rock upon which the art was painted. However, there are other hypothetical causes which may better explain the trend at one or another specific site.
World’s Oldest Cave Paintings Are Fading—Climate Change May Be to Blame

Repeated shifts between wet and dry conditions boost the growth of salt crystals that destabilize the rock canvas.

Some of the oldest art in human history is disintegrating, scientists say. And climate change may be hastening its demise.

New research reports that ancient rock art in Indonesian caves is degrading over time, as bits of rock slowly flake away from the walls. It's a tremendous loss for human history — some of these paintings, which depict everything from animals to human figures to abstract symbols, date back about 40,000 years.

Salt crystals building up on the walls are a key part of the problem, the study suggests. These salt deposits seep into the cave walls, then proceed to expand and contract as temperatures rise and fall. This process causes the rock to slowly disintegrate. ...

Changes in the weather may be helping the process along, scientists say. ...

The new study, led by Jillian Huntley at Australia's Griffith University, examined 11 ancient cave art sites in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The researchers found evidence of salt formation at all 11 sites. At three of the sites, they found the types of crystals that most notoriously cause rocks to break apart. ...

It's a small sample; there are more than 300 known cave art sites scattered around the region. But the research suggests that salt crystals may indeed be part of the problem. ...

Scientists have proposed multiple theories about what might be causing it. Along with climate change, they've suggested that pollution and other disturbances from nearby limestone mining operations might be degrading the fragile paintings. ...
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.scientificamerican.com/...gs-are-fading-climate-change-may-be-to-blame/
 
Cave painting on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi are being destroyed by rising temperatures.

"Indonesian rock art is decaying at an alarming rate due to the effects of climate change, researchers said.

This includes a picture of a wild pig drawn 45,500 years ago on the island of Sulawesi - said to be the world's oldest animal cave painting.

Other cave motifs in the region depicting hunting scenes and supernatural beings have also crumbled faster as temperatures increase.

The findings signal that more needs to be done to preserve the priceless art."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57166995
 
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