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Canvas in the caves
1) The document discusses geometric signs and symbols that have been found accompanying cave paintings from the Paleolithic period in Europe dating back 25,000-40,000 years. 2) It notes that 32 distinct geometric symbols have been identified that appear repeatedly across Europe and over long time periods, indicating they may have represented a system of symbolic communication for early humans. 3) The discovery of these symbols challenges existing views of early human art and intelligence, and suggests that Paleolithic peoples had more advanced language and abstract thinking abilities than previously believed.
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Canvas in the caves
- 1. CANVAS IN THECAVES: A New Understanding of the Geometric Signs & Symbols in Rock Images John D. Hipsley jhipsley@igc.org Ikonographics Ikon Graphic Canvas
- 2. Imagine yourself asa cave dweller Where: Europe When: 25,000 years ago, Millennia before the last ice age
- 3. You live inan open-air tent or a transient hut. Life is short, brutal and then you die…
- 4. But you alsobelong to a rich culture that creates images. From one third to half a mile underground are subterranean cave paintings of animals…
- 5. But not onlyanimals but handprints and dots, x’s and triangles, parallel lines and spirals.
- 6. Your people knowwhat they mean. You use them on tools and jewelry.
- 7. And then youvanish— and with you, their meanings.
- 8. Let us explorethese caves to rediscover what we can of these signs…
- 10. Genevieve von Petzingerreveals that, beyond the figurative art, the iconic images of horses and bison so transcendent in their beauty, are 32 signs that may represent a vocabulary written on stone, symbols that offer an opening into the Paleolithic mind.
- 11. Asterisk Avi- form Circle Clavi- form Cordi- form Cross- hatch Cruci- form Cupule Finger Fluting Flabelli- form Half circle LineNegative Hand Open angle Oval Positive Hand Quad- rangle Reni- form Scalari- form Seg- mented Spanish tectiform Spiral Tecti- form Tri- angle Unci- form W- Sign Y- Sign Zig- Zag Dot Pecti- form Penni- form Serpenti- form An exploration of the little-known geometric images that accompany most cave images around the world—the first indications of symbolic meaning, intelligence, and language.
- 12. Asterisk Avi- form Circle Clavi- form Cordi- form Cross- hatch Cruci- form Cupule Finger Fluting Flabelli- form Half circle LineNegative Hand Open angle Oval Positive Hand Quad- rangle Reni- form Scalari- form Seg- mented Spanish tectiform Spiral Tecti- form Tri- angle Unci- form W- Sign Y- Sign Zig- Zag Dot Pecti- form Penni- form Serpenti- form
- 13. • Along withthe animal and human imagery, 32 symbols appear repeatedly. • These symbols appear in other parts of the world. • leads to the possibility that symbolic communication through geometric signs arose with early humans.
- 14. • 32 recognizableSigns
- 15. • 32 recognizableSigns • Cover entire continent of Europe
- 16. • 32 recognizableSigns • Cover entire continent of Europe • Consistent over 30,000 to 40,000 years
- 17. • 32 recognizableSigns • Cover entire continent of Europe • Consistent over 30,000 to 40,000 years • 65% persist over this entire timespan
- 18. “This may representone of the most extraordinary scientific insights of our time." Wade Davis, author of The Serpent and the Rainbow Professor of Anthropology Faculty Associate, University of British Columbia
- 19. What is essentialis invisible to the eye
- 20. What has beenignored, overlooked and simply invisible until recently are the geometric signs surrounding the images.
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- 23. CUPULE: Hemispherical petroglyph, created by percussion, existingon a horizontal or vertical surface.
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- 25. The execution ofthese and similar designs show no evidence of an evolved art form. It is a command of perfection. Grace from the start
- 26. Horse Rock CavePainting Lascaux France 13,000 BCE
- 27. The symbols areexecuted in a deceptively casual manner which ensures that signs do not detract from the image.
- 28. These images arenot art as we understand it The signs and symbols point to some experience beyond mundane reality Perhaps an attempt to explain a transcendent world accessible to some but not all but imperative to preserve over 30 or 40 millennia
- 29. Acknowledgement THE FIRST SIGNS:Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols by Genevieve von Petzinger One of the most significant works on our evolutionary ancestry since Richard Leakey’s paradigm-shattering Origins, The First Signs is the first-ever exploration of the little-known geometric images that accompany most cave art around the world—the first indications of symbolic meaning, intelligence, and language.
- 30. The Mind inthe Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art David Lewis-Williams (Thames & Hudson, 2004) Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth Chris Stringer (St. Martin's Griffin, 2013) Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins Ian Tattersall (St. Martin's Griffin, 2013) The Bradshaw Foundation This is one of the largest rock art foundations in the world, and their website is an excellent resource on ancient rock art and other symbolic artifacts from around the world. Further Reading
- 31. John D. Hipsley jhipsley@igc.org Ikonographics IkonGraphic Canvas