Cave & Rock Art

[Fabio Picasso]

Patterns of Style, Diversity, and Similarity in Middle Orinoco Rock Art Assemblages, Venezuela
Abstract:

The area encompassed by the Orinoco river basin is home to some of the largest and most diverse rock art sites in lowland South America. In this paper, we aim to formally describe the spatial distribution and stylistic attributes of rock engravings and paintings on both banks of the Orinoco, centred on the Átures Rapids. Drawing on an exhaustive literature review and four years of field survey, we identify salient aspects of this corpus by investigating patterns of diversity and similarity. Based on a stylistic classification of Middle Orinoco rock art, this permits us to discuss potential links, as well as notable discontinuities, within the assemblage and possibly further afield. We consider the theoretical implications of our work for the study of pre-Columbian art and conclude with some suggestions for advances in methods for achieving the goal of deriving broader syntheses.

Source: Riris, P., & Oliver, J. (2019). Patterns of Style, Diversity, and Similarity in Middle Orinoco Rock Art Assemblages. Arts, 8(2), 48.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Ice Age Megafauna Rock Art in the Colombian Amazon?
Abstract:
Megafauna paintings have accompanied the earliest archaeological contexts across the continents, revealing a fundamental inter-relationship between early humans and megafauna during the global human expansion as unfamiliar landscapes were humanized and identities built into new territories. However, the identification of extinct megafauna from rock art is controversial. Here, we examine potential megafauna depictions in the rock art of Serranía de la Lindosa, Colombian Amazon, that includes a giant sloth, a gomphothere, a camelid, horses and three-toed ungulates with trunks. We argue that they are Ice Age rock art based on the (i) naturalistic appearance and diagnostic morphological features of the animal images, (ii) late Pleistocene archaeological dates from La Lindosa confirming the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, (iii) recovery of ochre pigments in late Pleistocene archaeological strata, (iv) the presence of most megafauna identified in the region during the late Pleistocene as attested by archaeological and palaeontological records, and (v) widespread depiction of extinct megafauna in rock art across the Americas. Our findings contribute to the emerging picture of considerable geographical and stylistic variation of geometric and figurative rock art from early human occupations across South America. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the early human history of tropical South America.

Source: Iriarte, José & Others - Ice Age Megafauna Rock Art in the Colombian Amazon?, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. April 25, 2022; 377(1849)​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Solar Eclipse Represented in the Petroglyphs of Vigirima, Venezuela
Abstract:

The Vigirima archaeological complex is characterised by the abundant presence of lithic sites whose age is unknown. The land registry of the petroglyphs, the revision of the techniques and styles used in its execution and the classification of the symbols in terms of the figurative characteristics has been done. Using archaeo-astronomic techniques some petroglyphs considered to contain astronomical content have been analysed and it was concluded that they corresponded to the total eclipse of the sun, which took place in 577 AC. Following that, the construction of a cultural model showing the possible significance of the petroglyphs as archetypal expressions of the socio-cultural structure of the ethnic groups who created them, was proposed.​

Source: Falcón, Nelson - Solar Eclipse Represented in the Petroglyphs of Vigirima (Venezuela), Virtual Archaeology Review Vol.IV. Nº8, May 2013, pp.155-158​

 

[Mungoman]

You are right, the art was made in all types of materials that are degradable or not. In any case, I consider that art was a form of communication prior to the appearance of writing.

True.

I live in Australia Fabio, and until recently (250 years) the traditional life was in existence for all.

Trade was a well established activity in Ochres, Xanthoracaea Gums, Chert and other items, and distances covered were, in some items, over a thousand Kilometres.

This meant the crossing of 'Nations', or countries, as it's known here.

Some of these countries had animosities with the original country of trade, so the traders carried Message sticks, which were recognised as a 'laissez-passer' to cross over the neighbouring country.

These were wooden batons, and they had markings on them that were instantly recognised for what they were.

Message Sticks were also used to communicate between people for such things as Marriages, and other rituals. The sigils used were instantly recognisable - another form of writing but this time from palaeolithic times.?