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.?

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Pongo Symbolism in the Geometric Rock Art of Uganda
Abstract:
In this paper the author places the rock art of Uganda in context. It probably belongs to the Late Stone Age period to the Holocene and its symbolism may be interpreted in the light of later belief systems recorded amongst the historical Pygmy people. Pongo is the bark cloth used to make the distinctive loin cloths of men and aprons of women. Pongo are probably depicted in the rock art to evoke the fecundity of ndura, linking the real and supernatural within the Pygmy cosmos.​

Source: Namono, C. (2011). Pongo symbolism in the geometric rock art of Uganda. Antiquity, 85(330), 1209–1224.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Soaring Spirits: Rock Art, Initiation and the Sor Secret Society of Spirit Mediums of Karamoja, Uganda
Abstract:
This paper challenges two ideas in understanding the naturalistic rock art of Karamoja, Uganda, namely: 1) that its authors were probably the Iworopom or Later Stone Age (LSA) huntergatherers;
and 2) that it depicts warriors holding bows and shields. In the absence of any knowledge of the meaning and authors of the rock art amongst present communities some suggestions are drawn from an analysis of the images depicted. A new rock art site at Kanamuget provides the opportunity to draw on an ethnographically contextualised approach to propose a probable Sor (Tepeth) authorship for it and to suggest that its symbolism was associated with secret society spirit mediums.

Source: Namono, C. (2017). Soaring spirits: rock art, initiation and the Sor secret society of spirit mediums of Karamoja, Uganda. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 52(3), 283–304.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Resolving the Authorship of the Geometric Rock Art of Uganda
Abstract:
The rock art of Uganda has not been extensively explored and its authorship has remained uncertain due to its obscure geometric iconography and unknown date. This paper, developed out of my PhD thesis , provides an analysis of the geometric rock art of Uganda and describes its relationship with similar rock art in the east and central African region. This association provides a strong basis for a new ascription of Pygmy hunter-gatherer authors

Source: Namono, Catherine. “Resolving the Authorship of the Geometric Rock Art of Uganda.” Journal of African Archaeology, vol. 8, no. 2, 2010, pp. 239–57.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Dumbbells and Circles: Symbolism of Pygmy Rock Art of Uganda
Abstract:
This article offers an interpretation of dumbbell and circular shapes in the rock art repertoire of Uganda using a contextual interpretive approach based on Pygmy ethnographies. It provides a key to unlocking how Pygmy groups experienced their cosmos and demonstrates the associations of rock art images in Pygmy thought in an attempt to explain their symbolism. In so doing, the rock art in Uganda is placed into a new conceptual framework stressing Pygmy affiliations. This approach unlocks aspects of geometric rock art hitherto not understood.

Source: Namono, C. (2012). Dumbbells and circles: Symbolism of Pygmy rock art of Uganda. Journal of Social Archaeology, 12(3), 404–425.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Rock Art, Myth and Sacred Landscapes : the Case of a Rock Art Site in Tororo District, Uganda
Abstract:

A rock art site located in Tororo District, eastern Uganda has become a shrine. The shrine derives from beliefs Bantu-speaking ethnic groups have, but belongs to a Western Nilotic-speaking people. A myth about the emergence of the shrine attempts to rationalize its occupation by the present Nilotic-speaking people. This paper considers how myth asserts a sense of identity in a place marked in ancient times as a site for ritual and has now taken on an extended life.

Namono, Catherine. Rock Art, Myth and Sacred Landscapes, the Case of a Rock Art Site in Tororo District, Uganda, Southern African HumanitiesVol. 20, No. 2, pp.317–331​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Anthropology and History of Rock Art in the Lower Congo in Perspective.
Abstract:
The rock art of the Lovo Massif region in the Lower Congo offers a fascinating and understudied example of artistic traditions, some of which predate the period of European contact. The first extensive, systematic survey of the region has identified key aspects of these rock art traditions, and has obtained radiocarbon dates that facilitate new interpretations of the relationship between the rock art and the historical kingdom of Kongo. Multiple perspectives are used to integrate anthropological, historical and archaeological data with stories from local mythology to show how the significance of this art has evolved over time. As a result of this study, the unique cultural heritage of the Lovo Massif rock art has been put forward for protection under the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Source: Heimlich G. The anthropology and history of rock art in the Lower Congo in perspective. Antiquity. 2016;90(353),1270-1285.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Kongo Cross Across Centuries
Abstract:
Unlike rock art in the Sahara and southern Africa, both extensively documented, rock art in central Africa is still widely unknown. Even though already reported in the sixteenth century by the missionary Diego Santissimo Sacramento (1583) and in the nineteenth century by James Tuckey (Tuckey and Smith 1818) during his exploration of the Congo River, it has never been the focus of a comprehensive research project. As a result, its age still remains uncertain. Preliminary research revealed one coherent entity: the Lovo Massif, which is the topic of my doctoral dissertation (Heimlich 2010, 2014). Presently inhabited by the Ndibu, one of the Kongo subgroups, the Lovo Massif is situated north of the ancient Kongo kingdom (Fig. 1). Kongo has been, since the end of the fifteenth century, one of the best-documented kingdoms of Africa for recent periods in terms of historical records

Source: Heimlich, G. (2016). The Kongo Cross Across Centuries. African Arts, 49(3), 22–31.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Desecration of Mwela Rock Art Site in Kasama District of Zambia
Abstract:
This paper examines desecration at Mwela rock art site in Kasama District of Zambia. The study was aggravated by extraordinary levels of desecration at Mwela rock art site. To have an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under study, the researchers employed a qualitative approach particularly, case study and narrative designs. Data were collected through observations, semi structured interviews and focus group discussion from a sample of sixteen (16) respondents out of which five (5) were subjects of the Bemba Royal Establishment (BRE) that included four (4) Village Headmen and 1 Village Headwoman, 3 focus group discussions representing three responses from National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) members, four (4) elderly men and four (4) elderly women respectively. Purposive sampling distinctively typical case study was used to purposively select 4 BRE subjects, 3 FGDs with NHCC members and the 5 elders. The respondents were purposively selected because they were deemed reliable for the study as they possessed relevant knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon under study. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study revealed that Mwela rock art site has experienced desecration due to a number of factors that include the construction of the railway line, coming of NHCC at the site, demographic changes, coming of Christianity and social economic hardships. In order to minimize desecration of cultural sites, the research recommends for the incorporation of the traditional authorities and their indigenous belief system into formal cultural heritage management as propounded in cosmopolitanism type of analytical framework in heritage preservation. This study contributes towards the enhancement of cultural heritage preservation.


Source: Kenny Changwe & Tomaida C Milingo & Inonge Milupi, 2022. "Desecration of Mwela Rock Art Site in Kasama District of Zambia," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, vol. 6(7), pages 539-548, July​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Forbidden Images: Rock Paintings and the Nyau Secret Society of Central Malaŵi and Eastern Zambia.
Abstract:
This paper examines the rock art of the nyau secret society of eastern Zambia and central Malaŵi. The art dates principally from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It has been known to researchers since the 1970s but has given up few of its secrets. I examine the questions of why the art was made and why the tradition ceased. Key to answering these is the realization that the art belonged to a specific historical and geographic context: the era and area where nyau was forced to become an underground movement because of its suppression by Ngoni invaders, missions, and the later colonial government. The art provides us with detailed insights into the way nyau has served in the process of overcoming and manipulating the traumatic social changes faced by Cheŵa society in the last few centuries.

Source: Smith, B.W. Forbidden Images: Rock Paintings and the Nyau Secret Society of Central Malaŵi and Eastern Zambia. African Archaeological Review 18, 187–212 (2001).​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Expressions of Fertility in the Rock art of Bantu-speaking Agriculturists
Abstract:
This paper presents an overview of the 'Late White' rock paintings of south-central and southern Africa. It is argued that the most recent paintings were produced by matrilineal or bilateral Bantu-speaking agriculturists, although links with earlier hunter-gatherer
groups are also implied. It is noted that certain motifs reoccur over great geographical distances. Ethnographic data are used in order to suggest a possible meaning for these motifs and for the paintings in general. It is argued that many of these paintings embody conceptual associations linking them to fertility. A general outline of the most obvious associations is presented, and a plea is made for detailed regional surveys in order to explain temporal and spatial differences.​

Source: Prins, F.E., Hall, S. Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists. Afr Archaeol Rev 12, 171–203 (1994).​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Cultured Representation: Understanding ‘Formlings’, an Enigmatic Motif in the Rock-Art of Zimbabwe
Abstract:
A rock-painting panel in the Matopo Hills, Zimbabwe, illustrates the distinctive features of the formling motif, a striking peculiarity of Zimbabwean San (Bushman) rock-art. The debate regarding the derivation and meaning of this motif has proceeded unabated until very recently. The motif has been interpreted variously as depicting natural and cultural material phenomena. In contrast to previous interpretations, this paper advocates an approach that considers San art imagery as cultured representations, which is a notion that foregrounds the understanding of San image-making principles, the San world-view and the concomitant knowledge system of beliefs. Finally, the paper provides a precise definition of the features of formlings that can be tied in with a particular subject.

Source: Mguni, S. (2004). Cultured Representation. Journal of Social Archaeology, 4(2), 181–199.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Notes on Rock Art, and Cord-Rouletted Pottery at the Seronera Stone Bowl Site, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Overview:
In the course of rescue excavations of a stone bowl site at the new Seronera Game Lodge (Bower, 1973), tracings were made of rock art in the small cave designated site SE-3 (fig. I). Although the art was briefly mentioned in the original report on the site (p. 83), the images themselves were not represented, largely because they were believed to be quite recent and to bear little, if any, relationship to any excavated assemblage of artefacts. However, recent work at Lukenya Hill (Gr d y , 1 9 7 s ~an d b) near Nairobi,
Kenya, suggests the possibility (to be discussed later) that there may be some connection between one of the pottery traditions recognized at the site and the rock art. For this reason, and also for the sake of completeness in reporting the cultural record at Seronera, I have decided to publish the accompanying rock paintings.​

Source: Bower, J. R. F. (1976). Notes on Rock Art, and Cord-Rouletted Pottery at the Seronera Stone Bowl Site, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 11(1), 176–179.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Rock Art of Kondoa District, Tanzania
Abstract:
We review the history of rock art research in Kondoa District, Tanzania, specifically the area covered by the ‘Kondoa Rock Art Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site’. We examine why, after nearly a century of research, there is neither a broadly agreed upon stylistic sequence for the rock art of the area nor a clear ascription of authorship. We seek to provide a solution to this impasse by introducing a rigorous and systematised analytical approach that considers both the content of the art and the location in which it was situated. The findings of our analysis, as presented here, demonstrate three clearly identifiable traditions of art, each with elements of overlap and borrowing. We provide an evidencebased ascription of authorship to each tradition that confirms the ethnic complexity of the settlement of this area and lays the foundation for future studies of rock art interpretation and cultural interaction.​

Source: Bwasiri, E. J., & Smith, B. W. (2015). The Rock Art of Kondoa District, Tanzania. Azania Archaeological Research in Africa, 50(4), 437–459.​

 

[ramonmercado]

A lost civilization?

4,000-year-old rock art in Venezuela may be from a 'previously unknown' culture​

Archaeologists in Venezuela have discovered 20 previously unknown rock art sites that are thousands of years old.

An enhanced view showing some of the rock art found in Venezuela. (Image credit: José Miguel Pérez-Gómez)

An archeological team in Venezuela has discovered 20 rock art sites that date back thousands of years in Canaima National Park, in the southeastern part of the country.

While archaeologists have found similar rock art designs elsewhere in South America, the newfound art "represents a new culture previously unknown," José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, an archaeologist and researcher at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas who is leading the team, told Live Science in an email.

Some of these designs, which researchers call "pictograms," were drawn in red and depict geometric motifs such as lines of dots, rows of X's, star-shaped patterns and straight lines that connect together to form a variety of designs. There are also simple depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people. Additionally, some of the images, called petroglyphs, were incised into the rock and also show a variety of geometric motifs.


It's unclear why people created this art. "It is almost impossible to get into the minds of people living so many [thousands of] years ago" Pérez-Gómez said, but "definitely these signs had a ritual meaning." For instance, the different depictions may be related to birth, diseases, the renewal of nature or good hunting. The places where the rock art was created "most probably had a meaning and an importance within the landscape, just as the churches have a meaning for people today," Pérez-Gómez added.

While it's unknown exactly how old the rock art is, similar rock art in Brazil has been dated to around 4,000 years ago. However Pérez-Gómez thinks that the examples in Venezuela may be older. ...

https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...uela-may-be-from-a-previously-unknown-culture

 

[Piloton.it]

It's difficult to find something in the immensity of the forum, but it seems to me that nowhere is there talk of the "astronauts" of Valcamonica.

I think the first to talk about it was Peter Kolosimo.
However, these are rock carvings dating back to the Neolithic, even if most of the depictions refer to the Iron Age. They are found throughout the valley but especially in Capo di Ponte, where there is the Naquane Rock Engravings National Park (sorry, the last link is in italian, click on roght button to translate).

 

[Frideswide]

the "astronauts" of Valcamonica.

Nice pictures!

I can identify them as Warhammer 40K Psychic Hoods!

https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Psychic_Hood



PS The Emperor Protects.

 

[Steven]

Dots and lines...the same patterns repeated worldwide, time and again and age after age. For all his dubious reputation these days, Hancock's Supernatural is especially good on these aspects (and many more) of cave art.

 

[Fabio Picasso]

It's difficult to find something in the immensity of the forum, but it seems to me that nowhere is there talk of the "astronauts" of Valcamonica.

View attachment 79098

I think the first to talk about it was Peter Kolosimo.
However, these are rock carvings dating back to the Neolithic, even if most of the depictions refer to the Iron Age. They are found throughout the valley but especially in Capo di Ponte, where there is the Naquane Rock Engravings National Park (sorry, the last link is in italian, click on roght button to translate).

View attachment 79099

One of the first references to the rock art of Valcamonica

Source: Vegas, Mercedes. «Nota sobre las incisiones rupestres de Val Camonica». Empúries: revista de món clàssic i antiguitat tardana, 1957, Núm. 19, p. 263-266

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Rupestrian Archaeology, a Methodological Approach to the Rock Engravings of Valcamonica.
Abstract:
The term Rupestrian Archaeology was coined in Valcamonica in 1989 1 with the aim of treating rock art as an archaeological discipline. This means that a petroglyph, a pictogram or an etching
must be considered as an archaeological material and treated like other archaeological remains.To establish the chronology of a rock art tradition,it is important to take into account these postulates:
– untying the layers of rock art superimpositions is like building the archaeological stratigraphy of a dig and its relative chronology;
– the creation of a chronological system with different periods should be linked to the chronology of local or nearby cultures and performed by comparing engraved objects with archaeological
material found in settlements or graveyards; this may suggest an absolute chronology.​

Source: Arcà, Andrea & Fossati, Angelo . Rupestrian Archaeology, a Methodological Approach to the rock engravings of Valcamonica, 2006​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

Towards a new perspective on the rock art sites-landscape relations in the Upper Palaeolithic of Valcamonica
Abstract:
Valcamonica, an Alpine valley in northern Italy, boasts one of Europe’s largest concentrations of open-air rock art that had been produced over millennia, from the Upper Palaeolithic upto historical times. The richness and the long chronology of its rupestrian heritage pose crucial questions around the dynamic dimension of the rock art sites, according to the geomorphology of the territory and the selection of the rocks to be engraved, in the different chronological phases of the Valcamonica human occupation. Within the frame of the new research project PARC-Paesaggi dell’Arte Rupestre Camuna (Landscapes of Valcamonica Rock Art), we elaborate a DTM map providing a characterisation of the landscape surrounding those rock art and settlement sites attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic. This led to recognition of some features linked to the two site typologies. Crossrelating the viewshed projections from LUINE.034, LCR.006 and Cividate Camuno hut, we access the intervisibility patterns among the sites, highlighting how the Valcamonica territory was conceived as a structured space. Finally, this first step highlights how the implementation of the available data and the elaboration of PARC will provide a useful tool as well to understand the taphonomy of the rock art, favouring the elaboration of preservation plans in the future.

Source: Dario Sigari, Luca Forti. Towards a new perspective on the rock art sites-landscape relations in the Upper Palaeolithic of Valcamonica (N-Italy). Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary, 2022, pp.91-104.​

 

[Fabio Picasso]

The Abstract Mind, Valcamonica Complex Geometric Compositions in the Light of New Discoveries.
Abstract:
Beside the classical figurative themes (human beings, animals, artefacts, symbols, etc.) rock–art of Valcamonica and Valtellina offers a substantial – and perhaps unique – set of geometric-abstract representations, in some cases of very complex structure (e.g. Bedolina), which since the beginning of research has been interpreted in topographical terms, i.e. as representations realistic or merely symbolic according to different scholars – of the ancient landscape as transformed by human activity (crops, trails, etc.). However recent researches, especially from the western side of the Central Valcamonica, pose interesting questions against the traditional topographic interpretation of the subject and highlight some aspects: the marked increase of rocks with “maps” surveyed over the past years, their peculiar geographical distribution, the widening in variety of types and structures, the need to study the phenomenon in a systematic way considering micro– (rock surface) and macro-topography (spatial context of the rocks with “maps”). This paper discusses some important unpublished cases of engraved “maps”, with the aim of provoking a debate about the state of research.​

Source: A Marretta . The abstract mind, Valcamonica complex geometric compositions in the light of new discoveries, Valcamonica Symposium, 2013.​

 

[Mungoman]

A lost civilization?

4,000-year-old rock art in Venezuela may be from a 'previously unknown' culture​

Archaeologists in Venezuela have discovered 20 previously unknown rock art sites that are thousands of years old.

An enhanced view showing some of the rock art found in Venezuela. (Image credit: José Miguel Pérez-Gómez)

An archeological team in Venezuela has discovered 20 rock art sites that date back thousands of years in Canaima National Park, in the southeastern part of the country.

While archaeologists have found similar rock art designs elsewhere in South America, the newfound art "represents a new culture previously unknown," José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, an archaeologist and researcher at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas who is leading the team, told Live Science in an email.

Some of these designs, which researchers call "pictograms," were drawn in red and depict geometric motifs such as lines of dots, rows of X's, star-shaped patterns and straight lines that connect together to form a variety of designs. There are also simple depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people. Additionally, some of the images, called petroglyphs, were incised into the rock and also show a variety of geometric motifs.


It's unclear why people created this art. "It is almost impossible to get into the minds of people living so many [thousands of] years ago" Pérez-Gómez said, but "definitely these signs had a ritual meaning." For instance, the different depictions may be related to birth, diseases, the renewal of nature or good hunting. The places where the rock art was created "most probably had a meaning and an importance within the landscape, just as the churches have a meaning for people today," Pérez-Gómez added.

While it's unknown exactly how old the rock art is, similar rock art in Brazil has been dated to around 4,000 years ago. However Pérez-Gómez thinks that the examples in Venezuela may be older. ...

https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...uela-may-be-from-a-previously-unknown-culture

I am going to make an utter fool of myself here...but...some of these drawings look like high rise buildings and others resemble your average European built houses - other parts resemble cartography of streets and intersections.
View attachment 1719969101667.webp

 

[Piloton.it]

I am going to make an utter fool of myself here...but...some of these drawings look like high rise buildings and others resemble your average European built houses - other parts resemble cartography of streets and intersections.
View attachment 79149

Inside yourself, you know the truth ...

The regular early morning yell of horror was the sound of Arthur Dent waking up and suddenly remembering where he was.
It wasn’t just that the cave was cold, it wasn’t just that it was damp and smelly. It was the fact that the cave was in the middle of Islington and there wasn’t a bus due for two million years.
Time is the worst place, so to speak, to get lost in, as Arthur Dent could testify, having been lost in both time and space a good deal. At least being lost in space kept you busy.

 

[maximus otter]

51,000-year-old Indonesian cave painting may be the world's oldest storytelling art​

A cave painting on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi may be the oldest evidence of narrative art ever discovered, researchers say. The artwork, which depicts a human-like figure interacting with a warty pig, suggests people may have been using art as a way of telling stories for much longer than we thought.

Archaeological evidence shows that Neanderthals began marking caves as early as 75,000 years ago, but these markings were typically non-figurative. Until a few years ago, the oldest known figurative cave painting was a 21,000-year-old rock art panel in Lascaux, France, showing a bird-headed human charging a bison. But in 2019, archaeologists unearthed hundreds of examples of rock art in caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst. The rock art included a 15-foot-wide (4.5 meters) panel depicting human-like figures engaging with warty pigs (Sus celebensis) and anoas (Bubalus) — dwarf buffalos native to Sulawesi.

Archaeologists found that the rock art is at least 4,000 years older than previously thought, making it around 48,000 years old. More strikingly, the archaeologists found a similar depiction of the human-like figure and warty pig at another cave in Leang Karampuang that was at least 51,200 years old, making it the oldest known narrative art. Their findings were published Wednesday (July 3) in the journal Nature.

To more accurately date the narrative art, the researchers used a technique called laser ablation uranium-series imaging.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeo...ing-may-be-the-worlds-oldest-storytelling-art

maximus otter

 

[Mungoman]

I'm reding your post Maximus, and had a look at the bird headed human charging a bison, and was struck by the artwork to the lower left that
has three pairs of red dots infront, and a similarity to the white horse of Uffington...Or is that just me?

 

[Mungoman]

I'm reding your post Maximus, and had a look at the bird headed human charging a bison, and was struck by the artwork to the lower left that
has three pairs of red dots infront, and a similarity to the white horse of Uffington...Or is that just me?

View attachment 79218

I've had a second look, and its a rhino with it's tail up...As you were - stand easy!