The writing on the cave wall

[Adsos Letter]

Source: NewScientist
by Kate Ravilious

THE first intrepid explorers to brave the 7-metre crawl through a perilously narrow tunnel leading to the Chauvet caves in southern France were rewarded with magnificent artwork to rival any modern composition. Stretching a full 3 metres in height, the paintings depict a troupe of majestic horses in deep colours, above a pair of boisterous rhinos in the midst of a fight. To the left, they found the beautiful rendering of a herd of prehistoric cows. "The horse heads just seem to leap out of the wall towards you," says Jean Clottes, former director of scientific research at the caves and one of the few people to see the paintings with his own eyes.

When faced with such spectacular beauty, who could blame the visiting anthropologists for largely ignoring the modest semicircles, lines and zigzags also marked on the walls? Yet dismissing them has proved to be something of a mistake. The latest research has shown that, far from being doodles, the marks are in fact highly symbolic, forming a written "code" that was familiar to all of the prehistoric tribes around France and possibly beyond. Indeed, these unprepossessing shapes may be just as remarkable as the paintings of trotting horses and tussling rhinos, providing a snapshot into humankind's first steps towards symbolism and writing.

Until now, the accepted view has been that our ancestors underwent a "creative explosion" around 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, when they suddenly began to think abstractly and create rock art. This idea is supported by the plethora of stunning cave paintings, like those at Chauvet, which started to proliferate across Europe around this time. Writing, on the other hand, appeared to come much later, with the earliest records of a pictographic writing system dating back to just 5000 years ago.

Few researchers, though, had given any serious thought to the relatively small and inconspicuous marks around the cave paintings. The evidence of humanity's early creativity, they thought, was clearly in the elaborate drawings.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527481.200-the-writing-on-the-cave-wall.html
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A lengthy article, with some cool photos. Just click through the pop-up page that asks you to register; you don't need to unless you visit the site more than 3 times per month.

[aquart]

1. Holy moley.

But the guy who wants to believe that a "cognitive change" arose separately and spontaneously all over the globe making people think about art............that guy is nuts. That guy is not facing the amazing ability of humans to travel without planes, trains, or automobiles.

[Adsos Letter]

2. Indeed. It ties in with an earlier article I posted about ancient mastery of the seas

not to mention land travel. For crying out loud, look at where they found Oetzi!

Hope you enjoyed your hearts. :D

[Ex Lurker]

4. do you have a link to that?

I'd like to read it. Thanks.

[Adsos Letter]

5. Here ya go

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7737866

[Ex Lurker]

6. Thanks, much appreciated n/t

[roguevalley]

17. I LOVE!!!! this art. And frankly, a bunch of it is probably under water in caves

that have filled up. We only have a glimpse of the genius of our ancestors. Bless their hearts. I adore their art. We would not see such naturalistic and beautiful art again until the rennaissance. Get the art of Egypt and others, that is not natural in poses and composition and compare. No comparison at all.

[MadBadger]

3. And I thought this was a thread about L O S T.

[intheflow]

7. Seriously cool article and photos!

I'm also surprised the spiral didn't turn up more often given its pervasive use as form and symbol in subsequent cultures--cultures we used to think showed the emergence of abstract human thought.

One symbol I found interesting was the "negative hand." I wonder what that could have meant to ancient humans. A sacrifice of fingers to the gods? A history of crippling plague that swept through the world? Early mob development: "You touch-a my herd stock, I break-a you fingers!"

But the symbol that struck me most was the rectangle. Everything else, all the other symbols used, are mirrored in nature. While some areas may have had rock outcrops that were cubist (if that is a geologic term; as in parts of the American Southwest), naturally cubed outcrops were not the norm in France, were at least one well-defined rectangle was found. How did humans in France conceptualize a square? I think it's the jump from cave-dwelling to building structures.

You back from Philly, Friend? :hi:

[Adsos Letter]

12. Yup; back from Philly, and back to my final semester of grad school

Had a fantastic time in Philly, Boston, etc! 3 weeks, and the weather was clear, cold, and quite nice most of the time.

How you doing? I see you on the FB on occasion. :hi:

[intheflow]

15. Final semester!!

The end is in sight!! :woohoo:

Glad to hear your travels went well. Clear weather in the Northeast is rare this time of year soyour travels were blessed indeed! I keep thinking of the photos you took of the old building in PA. How'd you get in there? There's an old factory about 2 miles from my new place I'm dying to sneak into to find find photos like yours!

I'm doing ok. Moved into my new place, am settling in just fine. Considering getting another dog to keep Bear company when I'm working but I'm not sure the finances allow for that at present.

As for fb... I posted this article to my page last night, giving kudos to you for finding it. :hi:

[Hissyspit]

8. Thank you so much for this. Here's a great website:

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en

Click on the 'Visit The Cave' link.

[Lochloosa]

9. Morning WOW K/R

[Swamp Rat]

10. k&r

[MineralMan]

11. First translations are beginning to come in of this wall writing:

"Here I sit, broken-hearted..."

More later.

[riderinthestorm]

13. Bookmarked for later reading. Very cool. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. The artists were probably condemned as "effete intellectuals" and told to get a "real job".

[Uncle Joe]

16. Well this is a coincidence.

<snip>

"What emerged was startling: 26 signs, all drawn in the same style, appeared again and again at numerous sites (see illustration). Admittedly, some of the symbols are pretty basic, like straight lines, circles and triangles, but the fact that many of the more complex designs also appeared in several places hinted to von Petzinger and Nowell that they were meaningful - perhaps even the seeds of written communication."

<snip>

Thanks for the thread, Adsos Letter.:thumbsup: