CANVAS IN THE CAVES: A New Understanding of the Geometric Signs & Symbols in Rock Images John D. Hipsley [email protected] Ikonographics Ikon Graphic Canvas
CANVAS IN THE CAVES: A New Understanding of the
Geometric Signs & Symbols in Rock Images
John D. Hipsley [email protected]
Ikonographics Ikon Graphic Canvas
Imagine yourself as a cave dweller Where: Europe When: 25,000 years ago, Millennia before the last ice age
You live in an open-air tent or a transient hut. Life is short, brutal and then you die…
But you also belong to a rich culture that creates images. From one third to half a mile underground are subterranean cave paintings of animals…
But not only animals but handprints and dots, x’s and triangles, parallel lines and spirals.
Your people know what they mean. You use them on tools and jewelry.
And then you vanish— and with you, their meanings.
Let us explore these caves to rediscover what we can of these signs…
Genevieve von Petzinger reveals 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.
Asterisk Avi- form
Circle Clavi- form
Cordi- form
Cross- hatch
Cruci- form
Cupule
Finger Fluting
Flabelli- form
Half circle
Line Negative 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.
Asterisk Avi- form
Circle Clavi- form
Cordi- form
Cross- hatch
Cruci- form
Cupule
Finger Fluting
Flabelli- form
Half circle
Line Negative 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
• Along with the 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.
• 32 recognizable Signs
• 32 recognizable Signs
• Cover entire continent of Europe
• 32 recognizable Signs
• Cover entire continent of Europe
• Consistent over 30,000 to 40,000 years
• 32 recognizable Signs
• Cover entire continent of Europe
• Consistent over 30,000 to 40,000 years
• 65% persist over this entire timespan
“This may represent one 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
What is essential is invisible to the eye
What has been ignored, overlooked and simply invisible until recently are the geometric signs surrounding the images.
Angle & Lines
Serpentine form above Line below
CUPULE: Hemispherical petroglyph, created by percussion, existing on a horizontal or vertical surface.
OBSERVATIONS
The execution of these and similar designs show
no evidence of an evolved art form. It is a command of perfection.
Grace from the start
Horse Rock Cave Painting Lascaux France 13,000 BCE
The symbols are executed in a deceptively casual manner which ensures
that signs do not detract from the image.
These images are not 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
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.
The Mind in the 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
John D. Hipsley [email protected]
Ikonographics Ikon Graphic Canvas