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VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2020 Inside -- ChallengingChallenging thethe tenetstenets ofof mainstreammainstream scientificscientific aagg e e n n d d a a s s - - P A G E 2 Bipolar multitools T H Jan Willem van der Drift - 1 1 ANNIVERSARY ISSUE- P A G E 5 Early man in Welcome to the PC! northern Yukon 300,000 years ago The Pleistocene Coalition Relevant Reprint was created in 2009 by Virginia Steen-McIntyre researchers challeng- ing suppression in Dr. Virginia Steen- P A G E 6 anthropology, rock Religion and art in McIntyre PhD , co-founder Raghubir S. Thakur , MA History, former Consult. art journals, and mankind of the Pleistocene Coalition. for Sec. and Land Mgmt (India), provides startling organizations allow- Tom Baldwin rock art evidence of mathematics in ‘repeated’ ing dogma to over- P A G E 8 cup-mark patterns he dis- ride evidence. We covered and documented in Blind spots in earth challenge sciences Delhi region, India. See science research Thakur p.10. that keep Guy Leduc the public P A G E 1 0 Canadian in the dark In Religion and art in mankind Tom Baldwin offers yet another Mathematical rock geological regarding compelling demonstration accu- art in old world India engineer, Guy Leduc , details the lab pivotal where he conducts hyperbaric at- evidence mulated modern artistic skills Raghubir S. Thakur mospheric testing of ancient plants Paleolithic and religious expression show no more intelligence than does P A G E 1 3 such as horsetails little-changed in humans Member news and 360 million years. See Leduc p.8 . Paleolithic ingenuity. He brings were equal unique perspective to the Paleo- other info Archaeologist to us in every lithic art/religion interface not- Virginia Steen-McIntyre, Dr. Michael Gramly , way and in the Americas ing it was not all that different Glenwood Boatman, PhD, plays a key role at dates comparable to from those of modern historic Michael Gramly, in Archaeology of the Old World. We hope societies. See John Feliks North Central Ohio, you enjoy PCN and invite Baldwin p.6 . Vol. 3 produced by P A G E 1 4 you to join our the Ohio Archaeological In Part 4 of the “How our PCN passes 1300 Society’s Sandusky Bay Chapter and edited by community pages this issue and our quest ancestors lived” series, Glenwood Boatman and Timothy Edwards . The Dutch stone tool expert, for truth in List with volume num- excellent volume on Paleo Period reproduces two Jan Willem van der Drift bers for all 67 issues of Dr. Gramly’s PCN articles. See Gramly p.15 . science. (colleague of Pleistocene P A G E 1 5 Coalition Archaeology of founding North Central Ohio member and archaeologist, the late Chris Hardaker) continues to Michael Gramly challenge the whole notion of P A G E 1 6 ‘primitive tools’ and ‘primitive Accelerated extinc- man.’ See Van der Drift p.2 . tion of the probos- Engineer and rock art researcher, This issue: cideans due to hunt- Ray Urbaniak , provides evidence another of ing young animals supporting the idea that extinction of mammoths and their kin was has- Virginia’s Ray Urbaniak tened by ancient Americans killing reprints P A G E 1 8 off the young first. In a second arti- and an More observations cle Urbaniak provides additional update on her health. on the controversial perspective on the ‘Solutrean Hypothesis’ involving the Solutrean people of See p.5 subject of the peo- ancient France, Spain, and Portugal proposing a continental back-and-forth and sameness with the American Clovis people. See Urbaniak p.16 and p.18 . and p.13 . pling of the Americas Ray Urbaniak In PCN #s 61–66, a brief background, followed by Parts 1–5, were provided for a published P A G E 2 0 thesis called The Impact of Fossils , about how early humans may have been influenced in The Impact of Fos- the development of rock art. The Intro included passionate defenses from eminent science sils , Installment 6 authorities decrying the paper’s censorship by Current Anthropology and competitive editors and reviewers stuck in the idea early people were not as intelligent as us. Part 6 challenges the aggressively-promoted neuroscience John Feliks fad that Paleolithic/Neolithic creators of ‘abstract’ signs had no idea what they were doing. See Feliks p.20 .

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How our ancestors lived , Part 4

Bipolar multitools By Jan Willem van der Drift , Stone tool production expert, early man theorist

Historical theories of the handaxe! The handaxe to migrate south. All hominids reached India 1.5 million depended on these herds so At the turn of the 20th century years ago and Western- they also went south; small “Mainstream in 1900, scholars searched for archeologists Europe and China 900,000 to groups managed to survive this industries without handaxes, 700,000 years ago. Because cold phase near Tautavel; see because they thought these would be older than the Acheulean. A flake-industry from Clacton-on-Sea (the Clactonian, presented in 1911) and small choppers made by H. erectus (on pebbles in Choukoutien-Beijing, in the 1920s) seemed to fit the picture. In the 1960s it became clear that the choppers from the Vallonet cave (France) were 1 million years old concluded (a.k.a. 1 Ma) and in Olduvai choppers were even twice these that old. So everything industries seemed to add up; Dr. were made Louis Leakey and Professor by Mode-2 Francois Bordes told the world that freehand flakes groups that and choppers were the used simpler earliest tools. Then our or even ancestors made the cutting degenerate edges longer. This turned the choppers into crude thick techniques. ‘Abbevillian’ handaxes. Finally But nothing man mastered the skill of Fig. 1 . Direction of the pioneer migration at the beginning of a warm phase. could be making the thick forms further from thinner, resulting in the the Clactonian, Choukoutien Part 3. When the temperature the truth.” classic ‘Acheulean’ handaxes. and Terrace 45 at Abbeville rose again (430,000 years ago Everyone believed this in are merely 400,000 years old, Holstein-phase) the herbivores 1975, but today we know our mainstream archeologists began to return to the north. ancestors 3.3 million years ago concluded these industries Man also reclaimed the north; made oblique bipolar flake were made by Mode-2 the pioneers followed river- tools (OBFs) on the ground, groups that used simpler or valleys because these offer Mode 1 (or Mode-I); see Part 2, even degenerate techniques. both water and food. The The invention of stone tools But nothing could be further Garonne brought them to the (PCN #65, May-June 2020). from the truth. lowlands around Bordeaux (Fig. 1 ). But here they no The dry climate 1.75 million Innovative techniques years ago forced groups to longer found any stones large carry large OBFs, and In the classic flint-Acheulean enough to make handaxes, resharpening these tools area (Southern-England and because the river only carried inevitably led to large and North/Central-France) the small rounded pebbles into the thin LFB-handaxes, Mode-2; plants were decimated during lowlands. This forced these see Part 3, How the handaxe the cold Anglian phase 450,000 pioneers to make pebbletools . was invented ( PCN #66, years ago (this corresponds Small rounded pebbles can- July-August 2020). to the pre-Illinoian-B stage, not be flaked with freehand see page 10 in my book, methods so they had to use So, what Leakey and Bordes The Paleolithic; How and why , told us was wrong: neither hammer and anvil. But this is available as a free pdf online). not a step backward: Poverty choppers nor Abbevillian forms So all large herbivore herds had took part in the development > Cont. on page 3

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Bipolar multitools (cont.)

does not degenerate man, it ‘stage’ between the chopper concluded that the finds from “Small makes him ingenious! and the handaxe (see Part 3). Calico were also bipolar tools. rounded The lowland groups used an The Channel-river pebbles can- innovative hammer-and-anvil itself led the not be flaked technique called contre-coupe pioneers onto the with freehand (Fig. 2 and page 82 in my North-Sea Plains book). This clever (today submerged method enables its by the North-Sea), users to make perfectly where they made controlled retouches at the pebbletools angles varying from in Fig. 4 . Groups very steep to very flat, that spread from and also to make far these plains into deeper notches than the Thames valley with freehand methods. found huge flint- This resulted in a toolkit nodules. So these consisting of multitools , pioneers had perfect with a variety of raw materials for (sometimes bifacial) handaxes, but their knives and points, ancestors had for notches, denticulates, many generations Fig. 2 . Contre-coupe retouches beaked tools, burins used bipolar start in the anvil-contact and run and cutters (resembling techniques. They, towards the hammer-contact. Jan Willem van der Drift. linoleum-knives). In therefore, had Mode-2 more than 50% neither the technical methods so of the modified/curated tools knowledge nor the Fig. 4 . These pebbletools were made on the they had to are freehand large cutting desire to make tools (classic handaxes, handaxes. They North-Sea plains. Note the fine retouches, use hammer bifacial flaking and notches, often combined into cleavers, pics and choppers), simply used the multitools. Inset : Detail of artifact at right. so the bipolar toolkit is both large flints to make technically and functionally larger OBFs: this is the Second wave completely different! Clactonian flake-industry. Fig. 5 shows medium sized The fast migrating pioneers North-Sea Plains OBFs, contre-coupe retouching followed river-valleys (Fig. 1). But when the population of In the lowlands near Bordeaux, of OBFs led to tool-types called Southwestern France, parents flaked-flakes lacked the raw materials to and bill-hooks. teach their children how to The mechanism make classic handaxes. So the by which next generations only learned various groups how to make bipolar multitools when they and when they followed the crossed herds further north along the lowlands Atlantic coastline (i.e. to Saint- switched from Colomban near Carnac) they handaxes to Fig. 3 . OBF and kept making multitools. Some bipolar multitool bipolar tools groups followed the Channel- can be seen all (with notches, river valley (now submerged scrapers and a over the world. below the English Channel) point) from For example at Fig. 5 . OBFs (Clacton-flakes) from near Clacton-on-Sea, Abbeville. and its tributary the Somme Beijing, China, eastern U.K., two show retouches and notches. The upstream to Abbeville. Here or at the background diagram (by W. Dürre) shows that in 1975 scholars still believed the Clactonian predated the Acheulean. and anvil. they made the bipolar tools in Hungarian site But this is Fig. 3 (from the collection of of Vértesszöllös. Fig. 6 on the groups that stayed behind my teacher Ad Wouters, who the following page shows Dr. grew, a secondary spreading not a step perhaps received them from backward: Markó András of the Hungarian mechanism appeared. his teacher Abbé Henri Breuil National Museum comparing Population growth forced Poverty does aka ‘le maitre’). The multitool pebble tools I brought from the handaxe-makers in the not degener- in Fig. 3 resembles a crude the Netherlands with tools middle-Garonne valley to thick handaxe; such forms from Vértesszöllös (the site is search their food further and ate man, it from Abbeville together with makes him famous for a Middle Pleistocene further away from the main crude bifaces from Acheulean human fossil dated c. 400,000 river. This brought them into ingenious!” sites were, until 1990, believed years old). Archaeologist Chris to represent a developmental Hardaker (PC founding member) > Cont. on page 4

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Bipolar multitools (cont.)

the Tarn and Lot valleys, and But the sites in the Thames- So technically these tools from there it was just a small beds at Swanscombe show are like pebbletools, the only step to the that it took Mode-2 far longer difference is that the raw Dordogne. These to reclaim England. The English materials in Bilzingsleben second-wave- Clactonian lasted all through the were not smoothly rounded. migrants ‘jumped’ first halve of the Holstein-phase, from one river- until the climate changed. A There are freehand handaxes system to the next short cool and dry climate in Germany and the as shown in Fig. 7 phase killed many trees; the Netherlands, but all of these without crossing deforestation led to flash-floods belong to Mode-3. The reason the lowlands, so that washed the silt away from why Mode-3 handaxe-makers they were never the riverbeds and carried large did not loose their ability to short of raw stones further downstream. make handaxes when they materials for So handaxes could then be crossed the lowlands will be handaxes. This made further downstream, explained in Part 5. If you can’t mechanism this allowed Mode-2 to cross wait to find out, see my book, brought the the Channel-valley lowlands The Paleolithic; how and why . handaxe makers back into England. It is available for free as a into areas that pdf download. were already Germany and the Fig. 6. Dr. Markó András (left), at the Netherlands Hungarian National Museum compares settled by bipolar- JAN W ILLEM VAN DER D RIFT , a veteri- pebbletools from the Netherlands with toolkit-makers. Fossils and tools of H. narian in the Netherlands by trade, is a colleague of the late Chris similar tools from the Hungarian site Efficiency always heidelbergensis have also been of Vérteszöllös. Vérteszöllös is famous outcompetes Hardaker, archaeologist and found- found in the Netherlands and ing member of the Pleistocene for a Middle Pleistocene human fossil finesse, so their Germany, but none of the informally called ‘Samu’ or ‘Vérteszöllös Coalition. He is a Dutch lithics fast-cutting industries are dominated by expert in stone tool production with man’ discovered in 1965 and presently handaxes dated c. 275,000 years old. classic handaxes. The fact over 40 years field experience. Van outcompeted the that the characteristic Mode- der Drift is a prolific author in both bipolar-multitools: the second 2 toolkit has never been English and Dutch publishing in wave brought Mode-2 back such as Notae Praehistoricae , Ar- found in the Netherlands and cheologie , APAN/Extern Germany proves (publication of Aktieve Praktijk that the lack of Archeologie Nederland), etc. He is raw materials for also a producer of educational films handaxes on the demonstrating bipolar techniques North-Sea plains of stone tool production and its blocked the association with various human cultures of all periods beginning migration of with the Paleolithic. Van der Drift’s Mode-2 from work is also referenced in Paul England to the Douglas Campbell’s book, The Meuse and Rhine Universal Tool Kit (2013), a highly- deltas. All rated overview of stone tool pro- migrants switched duction techniques. Van der Drift is to the bipolar presently Chairman of APAN or Active Practitioners of Archaeology technology, so on in the Netherlands (Aktieve Praktijk the northern part Archeologie Nederland). The or- of the continent ganization was started due to the we see industries cumulative knowledge and field like in Lehringen experience of its members consis- (famous for its tently observing inaccurate inter- well-preserved pretations of physical evidence regarding the nature of early hu- spears). This is a mans by the mainstream archae- flake-industry ology community. The group was with only a few given extra motivation along these non-classic lines by Chris Hardaker who, in bifaces, so correspondence with van der Drift Lehringen is related the treatment of Calico similar to the Early Man Site in California (excavated by famed anthropolo- Clactonian. In the gist Dr. Louis Leakey) by the main- Fig. 7 . Reintroducing Mode-2 through population growth. The shortage of famous German stream archaeological establish- raw material for handaxes blocked Mode-2 on the North-Sea Plains and at site Bilzingsleben ment. Van der Drift lives in the the northeastern border of France. the toolkit small town of Cadier en Keer in the consists of province of Lumborg, Netherlands. into the French flint-area as multitools made on anvils and Website: http://apanarcheo.nl if it had never left. retouched with contre-coupe.

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Revisiting PCN #20 (Nov-Dec 2012) From the files... Early man in Northern Yukon 300,000 years ago*

By Virginia Steen-McIntyre, PhD

(Volcanic ash specialist)

Here is the abstract from changing Coalition; “Artifacts a very interesting report lake level, and copy on ancient sites in the localized editor, au- made by thor, and Northern Yukon. The re- soft- humans scientific port is another sediment consultant occur in which is not well- flowage, for Pleisto- deposits known indicating pingo for- Fig. 1. Old Crow on the Old Crow cene Coali- of Gla- that humans have mation and River, Northern Yukon, Canada. tion News . been in the West- dissolution, Photo: Wikimedia Commons. She began cial ern Hemisphere and by the her lifelong association Lake colluvial for quite a while with the Old longer than is transport of Hueyatlaco Crow taught in tradi- vertebrate early man tional mainstream fossils and site in Mex- laid archaeology. artifacts. ico in 1966. down Following Her story of The figures deepwater suppres- before sion—now (Figs. 1-3) were added to stages of Sangamo- well-known give a sense of location. the Lake, nian time… in the sci- an environ- Fig. 2. Study area on the Old Crow ence com- they show ment not River (rectangular box) just under 6 From the journal, munity—was that humans greatly km wide. Mount Schaeffer is seen in first brought Arctic , March 1981 the lower right of the map. Crop of to public persisted in different from that topographic map courtesy of Natural attention in Jopling, AV, WN Irving, and Resources Canada. Michael the area for of the pre- BF Beebe. 1981. Strati- Cremo’s and some time.” graphic, Sedimentological sent is sug- Richard and Faunal Evidence for the gested by Thompson’s Occurrence of Pre- the exca- classic tome, *Note: This is Sangamonian Artifacts in vated ver- Forbidden a branch-off Northern Yukon. Arctic 34 tebrate Archeology , from our reprint (1): 3-33. fauna and which was followed by a series from by perma- central ap- PCN #47 , May- frost fea- Abstract. The stratigraphic pearance in June 2017, due tures, al- the NBC to continuing position of artifacts of un- though special, Mys- interest in the doubted Pleistocene age warming terious Ori- Cerutti Masto- found in the Old Crow Basin during the gins of Man don suppression has long been in question. succeeding in 1996, hosted by case and false- We report on geological, Sangamon Fig. 3. General vicinity of Old Crow region, Northern Yukon just east of Charleton hoods regarding palaeontological and ar- can be con- chaeological excavations the Alaska/Canada border. Ecoregions Heston. The older sites re- sidered map, Wikimedia Commons. program was cently perpetu- and studies there which likely. San- aired twice ated through show that artifacts made by gamonian and later phe- on NBC with mainstream scien- omission and humans occur in deposits of nomena in the Old Crow tists attempting to block it. false state- Glacial Lake Old Crow laid Basin are referred to briefly; down before Sangamonian All of Virginia’s articles in PCN ments in the they show that humans can be accessed directly at the journal Nature . time, probably during a persisted in the area for following link: phase of the Illinoian some time. (=Riss) glaciation. The geo- http:// www.pleistocenecoalition.com/ logical events surrounding #virginia_steen_mcintyre and following the deposition VIRGINIA S TEEN -MCINTYRE , PhD, is of Glacial Lake Old Crow a volcanic ash specialist; found- were complicated by a ing member of the Pleistocene > Cont. on page 12

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Religion and art in mankind By Tom Baldwin

Religion and art in man- and have kind are almost universal. their roots They may be less universal in our today than in the distant distant past but nevertheless past. the vast majority of us believe in some higher Let’s look Fig. 1 . Apart from showing a few ‘culturally-accumulated’ power. A smaller num- at just a artistic skills, the 3400-year old Egyptian lion/human deity ber, but still a significant few Paleo- lithic prac- (Sekhmet) sculpture has nothing over the intellectual origi- plurality of humanity nality of the 40,000-year old Lion-Man sculpture, Germany. worships God or ‘gods’ tices that in one form or another. seem to and half man. What purpose indicate religion and art in might it serve other than such The fact that religion is context is not at all a modern as worship or to placate lions so widespread among us invention suggests its roots are but part deep in our past. It is of what part of our humanity has made and certainly a factor in us human the equation that dic- for eons. tates our character and actions. It is also at the core Compare, “The more of our sense of morality. for instance we study an Egyp- Religion or spirituality is the tian lion/ animals the primary trait that separates human more we humans from the other crea- deity at find we are tures populating the earth only 3400 really not with us. Otherwise, the more years old we study animals the more with the so different. we find we are really not so Lion-Man ... However, different. Animals exhibit love of Hohlen- they do not and intelligence; they puzzle stein-Stadel appear to solve and even make and use Cave in tools. Yet, despite this remark- eastern display any able list and other similarities, Germany, awareness they do not appear to display Figs. 1–2. of a god or any awareness of a god or Here we gods.” gods. We do not see any reli- have a gious tendencies associated mammoth with them. This is one of the tusk sculp- few things that distinguishes ture with a us from/in the animal kingdom. man’s body and a lion’s Mankind’s most widespread head carved religion, Christianity, worships a startling a personage that is both divine 35–40,000 and human at the same time, years earlier. Jesus Christ. However, this is not a unique concept. 1,300 Now at that years before Christ, the Egyp- time in Fig. 2 . The ‘Lion-Man’ sculpture of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, tian king, Akhenaten, father of prehistory eastern Germany, carved from a mammoth tusk 35–40,000 years Tutankhamun, declared him- the apex ago. Obviously, the whole idea was already there dozens of millen- self one with the sun god Aten. predator— nia before similar Egyptian depictions. Wikimedia Commons. i.e., the Across the ages others have number one eater of men and so they will leave the early also declared themselves to other creatures—was the cave men and their families alone? be some physical manifesta- lion; and here we have a figu- In either case a spiritual under- tion of one god or another. rine that is half such a creature Such claims are not modern > Cont. on page 7

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Religion and art in mankind (cont.)

taking. Around the same pe- over ‘13,000’ ivory beads esti- experience of a peasant leaving riod all over the world we find mated to have taken thousands a village of mud and dung shel- “While some early man doing cave paintings of hours to produce (see Fig. 4 ). ters and visiting one of these and petroglyphs (see Fig. 3 ), may believe Why put so much effort into magnificent edifices. They could again, with skills equal to those these are just something that is going to be not help but be awed. This was buried with how God lived. God deserved a dead worship. The same effect body unless seems likely with the splen- you believe didly painted Paleolithic caves. the dead The cave paintings of the Pleis- might have tocene were so realistic looking a use for that a hunter viewing them them in an might feel an animistic connec- afterlife, or tion to the game he was about possibly to go out and chase down. those doing the burying It might just be that you can’t are involved separate religion from art. in ancestor

worship? TOM B ALDWIN is an award-winning I’ve pre- author, educator, and amateur sented archaeologist living in Utah. He Fig. 3 . Famous 17,000-year old horse painting at Lascaux Cave, France, is as only a has also worked as a successful moving as any modern art and 35–45,000-year old paintings were just as developed; small sam- newspaper columnist. Baldwin Wikimedia Commons. Many believe cave paintings had spiritual significance. pling in has been actively involved with this article the Friends of Calico organization maintaining the controver- the artistic of modern painters. While some of much evidence that early sial Early Man Site in Barstow, expressions may believe these are just the humans were spiritual/artistic California) since the early days of early man artistic expressions of early beings just like modern peo- when famed anthropologist Louis man most accept them as Leakey was the site’s excavation most accept ple are. Their religions may having an animistic connection not correspond closely with Director (Calico is the only site in them as hav- with the creatures depicted. ours of today, but for Paleo- the Western Hemisphere which Possibly, there was a belief the lithic people they were just as was excavated by Leakey). Bald- ing an ani- win's recent book, The Evening mistic con- drawings and paintings would valid, maybe even more so. and the Morning , is an entertain- In earlier ing fictional story based on the true story of Calico. Apart from articles I being one of the core editors of have specu- Pleistocene Coalition News, Bald- lated man’s win has published over 40 prior artistic bent articles in PCN focusing on H. erectus may have and early man in the Americas. made him His articles on the Denisovan a better sophistication enigma include: Denisovan bracelet: Advanced hunter (e.g., technological skills in early The art of human groups is still resisted hunting , (PCN #35, May-June 2015), PCN #33, Those pesky Denisovans ( PCN #43, Jan-Feb Sept-Oct 2016, our 7th Anniver- 2015). That sary Issue), and Update and re- same artis- view of 'modern level' Denisovan Fig. 4 . C. 30,000-year old burial at Sunghir, Russia. Bodies were adorned with spears, cloth- culture c. 40-50,000 years ago ing, and over 13,000 ivory beads requiring thousands of hours work. Wikimedia Commons. tic tendency (PCN #50, Nov-Dec 2017), might also Denisova Cave, Siberia: Art, nection with bring good luck to the hunt, contribute to man’s religiosity. craftsmanship, and telling DNA make the spear or arrow fly In the Middle Ages most people (PCN #60, July-August 2019), the creatures and Denisovan news: Keeping farther and strike deeper. living in Europe called a wattle depicted.” and daub hut home. In the these remarkable yet enigmatic Perhaps the most obviously center of all this squalor the people up front ( PCN #62, Nov- Dec 2019). spiritual action by early humans church built beautiful basilicas. showed in their burial practices. The architects that designed Links to all of Baldwin’s articles A case in point, in Sunghir, Rus- these basilicas were artists. on Calico, H. erectus , and many sia, where three people are bur- (Michelangelo did not just sculpt other topics can be found at: ied close together. Adorning their and paint, he designed Saint http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ bodies are spears and clothing and Peters in Rome.) Imagine the index.htm#tom_baldwin

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Blind spots in earth

science research

By Guy Leduc , Geological engineer specializing in Qua- ternary geology, paleoseismology, se- quence stratigraphy, tectonic geomor- phology, and connections between geol- ogy and archaeology

In natural science, multi perspectives are essential to correct the ‘blind spots.’ Having two physical eyes working in ste- reo helps compen- sate for each eye’s Fig. 1. Portion of the author’s lab where he is presently growing the relic “To different blind spot. plant, Equisetum (horsetails; plants with a believed 360 million-year history) face To get an immediate in acrylic tubes under variations of pressure. Other relic plants include ginkgo, sense of the dramatic cycads, and ferns. The mage shows ‘hyperbaric’ experiments in process. any effect of a blind spot, paradox in and how it can be compen- earth geophysics, etc.), are I worked a few summers with earth sci- sated for, try the simple, limited by their necessary granitic rocks of the Canadian ence, you quick, and fun test at historical contexts. You can- Precambrian (i.e. rocks gen- Wikipedia’s Blind spot (vision) not test a whole laboratory erally regarded older than need to page . It will help to actually model because the neces- 543 million years). Everyone work with experience what I mean by sary scale of time and the was used to thinking in terms opposing ‘blind spots’ in science and size and energy required are of the first option above, theories or how a multidisciplinary ap- prohibitively humongous. ‘magmatic differentiation’. At proach can help fill critical Meanwhile, some small-scale the time, I was not aware of principles.” gaps of knowledge. experiments are still accessi- any third option until I read ble, but the main obstacle is about it in an old monograph. To face any paradox in the institutionalized theory. By relying solely on the popu- earth science, you need to Example: Granite is still a lar institutionalized theory, we work with opposing theories mystery. Igneous petrologists ended up ignoring the para- or principles simultane- acknowledge that our laborato- doxes of granite. Modern stu- ously. Each offers its own ries are allegedly equipped to dents of geology learn only one perspective. Positively, each reproduce granite artificially. theory. My plan is to go back to model emphasizes interest- However, we have still been the lab with new approaches. ing correlations of its own. unsuccessful. Our theory on The worst circumstance for the formation of granite must Experimental science good science is when a par- be wrong. Here are the three I strongly believe in experi- ticular theory becomes so models by order of popularity: ‘institutionalized’ that its mental science to solve, at protagonists ignore its weak 1.) Melting origin like least partly, a few known points or blind spots. magmatic differentiation paradoxes. Some tests are already in the process. For Nuclear physics (not cosmol- 2.) Metasomatism : rock example, I am presently ogy) has the advantage of re-mineralization from growing Equisetum (horsetail) being experimental within hydrothermal fluid under 1 bar (2 ATA) of pres- the time scale of small 3.) Transforming one type sure in acrylic tubes ( Fig. 1 ). physical laboratories. Experi- of rock existing in a solid Many clues support the idea ments in these environments state directly into another that atmospheric pressure force us to accept paradoxes type of solid rock. was higher during the Car- and counterintuitive phe- boniferous than it is today. nomena like the ones in The last one, #3, is so weird quantum theory. that most geologists decide Some terms to simply ignore it, even ‘ATA’ is a unit referring to Earth sciences, on the other though the theory’s argu- the total pressure of a system hand (geology, paleontology, ments have a strong base in evolutionary biology, inner direct field observation. > Cont. on page 39

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Blind spots in earth science research (cont.)

compared to the pressure of It was easy to attract the ics and science in general the medium vs. vacuum only. attention of botanists very well: It is used in place of ‘ATM’ worldwide with this line of “It was (standard atmosphere) inquiry but more challeng- Pennesi writes, easy to at- where one unit is roughly ing to find new lab partners. “For some evolutionary tract the equal to Earth’s atmospheric You hardly see any labora- biologists, just hearing attention of pressure at sea level. tories taking up this chal- the term epigenetics lenge. Also, there are only a ‘Carboniferous’ refers to raises hackles. … Darwin- botanists few publications on hyper- the time period of the Paleo- ism became a theory so worldwide baric botanical research. zoic Era gen- institutionalized that its erally believed One of my aims is to de- protagonists hinder re- to span 60 velop a simple technology search in epigenetics.” million years to encourage new lab ini- from the end tiatives. In Paleozoic times, At the end of the last ice of the Devo- equisetums were growing age, the giant species of nian (358.9 like the trees by processing mammals or megafauna million years massive silica amounts to became dramatically smaller. ago) to the fabric their tubular trunks. This change happened within beginning of just a few hundred years the Permian A few years ago, a botanist throughout the world, even (298.9 million friend told me not to expect among the marsupials of years ago). any change in these relic Australia. Now, paleontolo- It is the time plants’ genotype (genetic gists are turning to epigenet- during which constitution of an organism). ics for a proper explanation. the horsetails I assumed that idea and was Knowledgeable scientists (Equisetum ) expecting only phenotype agree Darwinism (mutations in fossil form (characteristics of individuals and selections) cannot ex- are the most resulting from genotype and plain such rapid change. well known. environmental interactions) There are many other exam- changes in my equisetums. ples where institutionalized ‘Hyperbaric’ However, with the discovery theories act as a blind spot refers to gas of epigenetic effects (non- effectively hiding certain under a higher genetic influences on gene realities of nature. than normal expression), these Darwinis- Fig. 2. Example of Equisetum pressure. tic presumptions fade away. (horsetails; plants believed to have a It is possible to change the Some paleon- Reference 360 million-year history. Horsetails and genotype of plants. See for their relatives are known to have grown tologists be- Pennisi, Elizabeth. 2013. Evolu- 100 feet tall during Carboniferous times. instance the seminal research lieve that di- tion heresy? Epigenetics under- Why this might have been is a fascinat- of Dr. Frank Johannes, PhD, nosaurs might lies heritable plant traits. Science ing question. Their long continuity in Bioinformatics Center (GBIC) also have lived 341 (6150): 1055. time allows more direct lab testing. Groningen University, Neth- under higher erlands; e.g., Revolution in pressure than Plant Genetics ( Science Linx with this characteristic of the earth News , Feb. 6, 2014); and GUY L EDUC is a Canadian geo- today; but this line of inquiry line of in- that of his French colleagues logical engineer specializing in is even more controversial. tectonics, geomorphology, and quiry but in collaboration, e.g., quick Since the group is now ex- sequence stratigraphy. He is figures in Transgenerational more chal- tinct laboratory experiments also a longtime researcher in Epigenetic Inheritance lenging to cannot be directly associated paleontology, achaeostronomy, (Institut de biologie de l'Ecole mythology and linguistics. Le- with the actual living or- find new normale supérieure IBENS | duc is presently living in France. ganisms. That mystery is lab part- ENS; June 26, 2009). so great it seems only time ners. You travel could solve it. Impeding epigenetics hardly see Prior articles in PCN : However, we can certainly any labora- What does this entire topic Catastrophic subglacial flood at the directly observe ancient have to do with blind spots end of the last Ice Age (PCN #57, tories tak- though still-existing plant in the life and earth sci- Jan-Feb 2019) ing up this types such as Equisetum, ences? Concerning the GBIC i.e. horsetails (see Fig. 2 )— Challenging plate tectonics theory challenge.” research, Elizabeth Pennesi’s (PCN #58, March-April 2019) under different atmospheric article in Science , ‘Evolution conditions. It is an example Heresy? Epigenetics Under- The paradox of ancient seashores of making a more direct con- lies Heritable Plant Traits,’ and landscapes (PCN #59, May- June 2019) nection between full laboratory describes the hindering ef- experiments and life forms fect on the field of epigenet- of the very distant past.

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 0

Mathematical rock art in old world India In special context to Jawaharlal Nehru University campus, Part 1: Complex cup-mark pairs

By Raghubir S. Thakur MA (History), Rock art researcher and preservationist

Clear and repeated mathe- I had discov- “India, al- matical ideas expressed in ered in the JNU ready well- rock art show much more than region over a known for its just a ‘pattern of behavior’ as 3-year span suggested of cup-marks or (Jan 2013–Dec cupules in general by a lead- 2015). The many ing rock art expert. As noted ideas brought in my earlier articles begin- forth included ning with Vivid creations by among others: early man, an introduction, Evidence of com- Delhi-Aravallis-System, India munity planning, (PCN #39, Jan-Feb 2016), we representations Fig. 2. Sample rock art panel within the 1.6 sq. mi. JNU tend to accept such views of of constellations region showing complex geometric patterns. Notice espe- our ancestors because we have or other objects cially the rows of cup-marks in parallel pairs. Each group been told by the mainstream in the night sky, shows pairs of 5 totaling exactly 10 cup-marks. This theme for so long that earlier people calendars, ritual recurs throughout the JNU complex clearly indicating some unknown cultural significance. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. were not as intelligent as us. practices, and even the more Here, I provide observable mundane such historical evidence that India, already as game boards well-known for its historical contributions or simple tallies. to mathe- contributions to mathematics (for example ‘the decimal’ In this article, and ‘zero’ recently con- I focus on one firmed) may have a much testable mathe- earlier developmental matical proposal, history recorded in the namely, that the form of sophisticated complex rock art rock art petroglyphs in Delhi region, including clearly-repeated quite unlike the cup-mark arrangements irregular exam- in the Delhi-Aravalli region ples seen else- Fig. 3 . Four ‘pairs of five’ cup-marks in close proximity to (Fig. 1 ) of northern India where in India each other on a large rock surface within the 1.6 sq. mi. JNU and specifically within the and throughout Complex. Unlike the jumbled disorganized nature of most now Jawaharlal Nehru the world, shows cup-marks (but not all) worldwide many within the JNU show Fig. 1. The Aravallis mountain clearly-repeated arrangements. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. range, Delhi region northern India, University (JNU) complex. completely un- ambiguous ar- where over decades time I have ‘Pairs of 5’ documented many previously rangements of unrecorded rock art sites. In my second PCN article, pairs of rows , Vivid creations by early especially pairs matics...may man, Delhi-Aravallis-System, of rows with have an ear- India, Part 2 ( PCN #40, exactly five cup- March-April 2016); I docu- marks each row lier develop- mented in outline the results making a consis- mental his- of two brainstorming ses- tent total of 10 tory recorded sions with several rock art cup-marks per in the form of expert colleagues—Dr. Gyani two-row group- L Badam (paleontologist and ing (Figs. 2–3). sophisticated Quaternary geologist), Dr. For now, I will rock art.” ML Sharma (archaeologist), Fig. 4 . Intriguing variation: Pair-of-5 motif capped at each Ramesh K Pancholi (M.A.), just call them end by solitary cup-marks (a different variation has only one Professor VH Sonawane ‘Pairs of 5’ for end-cap). Obviously well-thought-out pattern surely beyond (archaeologist), and Dr. Na- easy reference. utilitarian use of cup-marks. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. rayan Vyas (archaeologist)— However, the While the Pairs of 5 are remarkable where we discussed many equation, 2 x 5 = 10, is just as I have also recorded many varia- cultural possibilities that might accurate and puts the possible tions on the theme (e.g., Fig. 4 ). be represented in the cup-mark- importance of these groupings into a whole different light. and-related arrangements that > Cont. on page 311

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 1

Mathematical rock art in old world India (cont.)

Two pairs of 5 intention- arrangements, unlike main- ally associated stream ideas, whether Paleo- The complexity of the JNU cup-marks assemblage does not end with ‘pairs of 5’. Another level above this is when two ‘pair of 5’ groups “The are found in unmistakable complex association with each other rock art (see Fig. 5 ). Apart from an apparently deliberate in Delhi dividing line between the Fig. 6 . Another example from different region... two pairs of 5, notice that area of the JNU Complex showing two shows the two are angled to each of the ‘pairs-of-5’ pattern side-by-side though angled somewhat to form a larger com- other creating a “V” shape. How can we be certain the “V” pattern. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. pletely arrangement is deliberate? unambi- This is proved by the exis- guous tence of an identical set arrange- including “V” shape found elsewhere at JNU site (see ments of Fig. 5 . Two ‘pairs-of-5’ side-by-side. Notice they Fig. 6 ). Unlike the unor- pairs of are arranged in angle to each other foming a “V.” ganized appearance of rows, es- Emphasis on the numbers 2, 5, and 10 (repeated most cup-mark or cupule pecially in JNU Complex) is doubled thus adding the panels such easily recog- numbers 15 and 20. Top: Detail. Bottom: Context nized duplication occurs pairs of within large boulder. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. regularly in the rock art rows of JN University Complex with ex- strongly suggesting a actly five long-term cultural context. Perhaps it was an ideal cup- place to build a university. marks Two ‘pairs of 5’ in per- each row pendicular duplication making a The rock art panels within consis- the 1.6 sq. mi. JNU Complex tent total no doubt stretch across a of 10 wide range of dates likely cup- Paleolithic, Neolithic, and later. This suggests that marks the startling duplication per two- seen in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 row appearing to be differently group- aged (Delhi region is classed as a ‘hot semi-arid’ climate ing.” Fig. 8 . The exact same symbolic with limited rainfall)—could relationship at two different locations have had a stable cultural is proof that the ‘2 separate pairs-of-5’ significance across a wide in perpindicular relationship to each period of time. If the panels other is intentional. It is likely also to are dated with others at JNU be of some unknown mathematical or Complex by ‘reputable’ cultural significance. Again, emphasis scientists whether found on the numbers 2, 5, and 10 is unmistakable. The two sets being to be contemporaneous or doubled cleanly adds the numbers 15 vastly separated in time, and 20 at the very least. The either would give reason to perpindicular could mean many things pause. My inclination based mathematically. The few ‘extraneous’ on other Indian dates is solitary cup-marks in both panels are Fig. 7 . Another startling variation on the to expect them to date to similar also suggesting significance. ‘pairs-of-5’ pattern featuring two sets in a clear a time before Sumerian Photos: Raghubir S. Thakur. perpindicular relationship to each other. Like in or Babylonian origins of Figs. 1–2, emphasis on the numbers 2, 5, lithic, Neolithic, etc., were not mathematics. The implication and 10 is unmistakable. Top: Detail. Bottom: inferior to us in any way. How- The larger context. Photo: Raghubir S. Thakur. is that the makers of these > Cont. on page 12

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 2

Mathematical rock art in old world India (cont.)

“The exam- ever, it is almost certain that the encouragement to continue Chakrabarti, Dilip K. and Nayanjot even the mathematically com- trying to bring attention to this Lahiri. 1987. ‘A Preliminary Report ples given plex examples given suggest remarkable rock art site in India on the Stone Age of the Union Terri- tory of Delhi and Haryana’. Man and suggest at at the very least a long-term (Fig. 9 shows the general vicin- Environment , Vol. XI: 109–16. ity of my discov- eries). In the next Hoek, M. V. 2000. Rapa Nui issue, I will discuss Cupules: Voices of a Disintegrat- ing Society? 17(2), pp. 99–110. some of the other mathematical rock Odak, O. 1992. Cup-marks pattern art in the JNU as an Interpretation strategy in some Southern Kenyan Petroglyphs. Complex (e.g. In Rock art in the Old world (ed. Fig. 10 ) including Michel lorblanchet). pp. 49–60. cup-marks in rela- Pande, B.M. 1985. ‘A Late tion with other Acheulean Hand-axe from New petroglyphs. Delhi’, Man and Environment , Links to my earlier Vol. IX: 157–58. PCN articles aside Thakur, R.S. 1997.‘Rock-Art: Palaeo from those on p.1: – Exhibits or Silent Communication’. Megaliths in Delhi- Purakala 8: 75–77. Aravallis-System, Thakur, R.S. 2016a. Petroglyphs India . Part 3 of the in Delhi-Aravallis-System, India. Delhi-Aravallis Fig. 2 . Contre-coupe retouches Pleistocene Coalition News Vol. 8 series ( PCN #41, start in the anvil-contact and (1): 5–7. May-June 2016); run towards the hammer- Thakur, R.S. 2016b. Petroglyphs contact. J.W. Van der Drift. Animal petroglyphs, in Delhi-Aravallis-System, India, Delhi-Aravallis- Part-2. Pleistocene Coalition System, India . Part 4 News Vol. 8(2): 4–6. of the Delhi-Aravallis Fig. 9 . Rough-sketch map showing the area of my study, the 1.6 square series (PCN #43, CAPT . R AGHUBIR S. T HAKUR , MA mile area of JNU campus, Delhi, India. Map: Raghubir S. Thakur. Sept-Oct 2016). (History), is an Ex-Army Officer ______(Gazetted) with his last role as the very stable culture that may have Consult. for Sec. and Land Mgmt. included algebraic math. It Acknowledgements I am grate- for the Archae. Surv. of India least a long- doesn’t have anything to do ful to my dear friend and popular under the Ministry of Culture and term stable with the people who made museologist Virendra Bangroo, Tourism, Govt. of India. His re- scholar, philosopher and very good sponsibilities included protecting them being guide. He was highly supportive somehow Nat. Gov.-listed Heritage proper- and motivational during my visits ties including World Heritage smarter than accompanying me to several of monuments. The Security Cell those anywhere the discovery sites and debating was formulated and created by else. Instead, it on various mysterious rock art Thakur’s persuasion of every is the natural designs. I am also deeply thankful Director General of the ASI for outcome of social to Dr. G. L. Badam and Dr. A. R. over 19 years. Over the years, Sankhyan for their expertise and Thakur has gained a broad knowl- groups develop- valuable input into many aspects of ing their cultures edge of rock art sites in the region the research. Initial continuation of being first to discover and docu- inside stable the research would not have oc- ment rock art in Delhi. Thakur has environments. curred were it not for archaeologist participated in 10 intl. archae. and Dr. K. N. Dixit who, on hearing of envir. conferences (1990–2012) As noted in my my first discovery, took the time to earlier articles, I presenting papers in India, Swe- visit the site and confirmed I was den, and Japan. He was Organiz- took this project on the right footing. I thank my ing Sec. of the Asian Conference up ‘single- close friends Shri Satish Jain and on Air Pollution (1999). Thakur’s handedly’ for Colonel Singh Raj Verma for their most recent presentation was at three years find- broad understanding and encour- the Joint Ann. Conf. of IAS, aging me to cross-check evidence ISPQS, and IHCS (2015). Among Fig. 10 . The same perpendicular pattern ing it difficult to from a multidisciplinary approach others, Thakur is associated with demonstrated for ‘pairs-of-5’ in Figs. 7–8 stir the interest before finalizing any opinions on the discovery of an Upper Paleo- extends to other numbers also. This example of mainstream important finds. Finally, I thank all lithic site near Ellora Caves (1992), shows a “V”-shaped ‘pair of 5’ at the archaeologists those who provided support over megalithic menhirs Western Ra- bottom and an 18–20 cup-mark pair above. or professors in the years giving me the strength jasthan (1997), cup-marks Siroli If valid, the configuration shows an even these obviously to hold true to the research. Dongari/Chhattisgarh (2007), 30 cup-marks. Photos: Raghubir S. Thakur. deliberate and Bibliography and nearly 100 cup-mark/ well-planned out petroglyph sites Delhi-Aravallis culture with petroglyphs. However, those I Badam, G. L. 2014. Evolution of mountain range (2013–15). a knowledge have mentioned in my articles animals and its implications for Direct links to all of Thakur’s understanding human history in PCN articles can also be found at of mathe- as well as the confidence and India. Presidential address for In- open-mindedness of those in dian History Congress 75 th Session . http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ matics.” Pleistocene Coalition gave me #rock_art_in_delhi_india

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VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 3

Member news and other info

Update about Virginia’s keep up the good work... We are “Thank you for letting me know. health and circumstances thinking of her and you all. There is I’ve been very concerned about not a day when she does not cross Virginia’s health... The words fail As mentioned in a recent my mind, because she is one of the me… I feel so frustrated that there Quick links to finest people anyone could know.” is no way to let Virginia know how mailing to our subscribers main articles in much I love her and keep thinking (and many con- “I am so very sad to PCN #66 : of her, praying for a miracle. ... cerned friends and hear your news. I can Virginia is highly respected and only begin to P A G E 2 colleagues) that loved by many. have been imagine how you ... Please keep must feel. PC How the handaxe inquiring, me informed.” was invented has been a real in early gift to all of us.” “Please transmit Jan Willem van der Drift Septem- to Virginia all my ber Vir- “Hoping for a wishes for good P A G E 5 ginia suf- speedy recov- health and rapid ery. A very Understanding the fered recovery.” Clovis-age lamp inspiring Lady, another stroke. She and my prayers Two PCN perform, Cedar had been slowly are with her.” articles by Fork Creek, Ohio recovering from her “As a new mem- archaeologist Link to PCN #66 Michael Gramly first stroke for sev- ber, I would like Richard eral years. This one P A G E 6 to say that I am Fig. 1. Archaeology Michael was much worse heartfelt for this of North Central Ohio, The mastodon as food and has left her news about your Volume 3 . 2020. Gramly, PhD, in ancient Mexico, unable to speak. dear leader and Glenwood Boatman have been Relevant Reprint Virginia was moved friend. Yes, I and Timothy Edward reprinted in was not aware (Eds.). Sponsored by Archaeology Virginia Steen-McIntyre from her home into of her nor the the Ohio Archaeologi- of North assisted living a cal Society’s San- P A G E 7 guiding and Central Ohio while ago by her wise hand that dusky Bay Chapter. Member news and caregivers (her she yielded. All Vol. 3 is the Society’s (Fig. 1 ). The other info nieces and family) this is so new to special volume focusing publication is me and I am on Palaeo Period inves- sponsored by Michael Gramly, these past years deeply grateful tigations in Ohio, Michi- the Sandusky Ray Urbaniak, David and is now under to you all for gan, and New York. Bay Chapter Campbell, Chris Har- special medical having some of of the Ar- daker, John Feliks care. As of this writ- Link to PCN #65 the answers that my chaeological Society of Ohio. ing, her condition journey has raised. P A G E 8 and circumstances ... Please let me Volume 3 is a special edition The problem of have not changed. know if a card or featuring Paleolithic era priority-fixation in letter to Dr. Steen- investigations in Ohio, For those who are paleoanthropology McIntyre would help.” Michigan, and New York. new subscribers, or PCN readers, editors are readers of PCN “Thanks for sharing [The PCN articles reprinted involve the Cedar Fork Creek Mastodon online, Dr. Virginia what’s happened with P A G E 9 Virginia. It is very excavations: ‘Lighting, heating, and Steen-McIntyre, is cooking during the Late Pleistocene Mammoth/notation painful to know about one of the founding Upper Paleolithic lamps in the Old panel update, 2nd her present status. Very members of the shocking. At the same and New Worlds’ with co-author mammoth, interac- Pleistocene Coalition, time it is good to know Dennis J. Vesper ( PCN #63, Jan- tive 3D projection writer, editor, and she has been moved Feb 2020), and ‘Understanding the Ray Urbaniak and scientific advisor. to assisted living and Clovis-age lamp preform from the Mark Willis her family is by her Cedar Fork Creek site, north-central She is also the PC’s Link to PCN #64 side. I do pray for her Ohio’ ( PCN #66, July-August 2020).] P A G E 1 1 primary inspiration speedy recovery and The Sandusky Bay Chapter A possible Pleisto- and an inspiration to many for her to stay blessed. Like of the ASO, aside from being cene-age picto- who know her story worldwide. Virginia has been an inspiration active participants in the Cedar graph site in the from the beginning of PC I pray Right after the mailing PCN Fork Creek Mastodon site’s Arizona Strip that God will be by her side and received many heartfelt and give strength to her caregivers.” four years of excavations, were Ray Urbaniak supportive messages from also responsible for bringing “Thank you very much for this nearly 10 countries. Anony- the site to Dr. Gramly’s atten- P A G E 1 3 update. Virginia had become con- mously, here are excerpts tion in 2016. During Dr. Nigel The Impact of Fos- from only a few of the senti- sidered a family member... I knew that she was in no condition to Brush’s 2014 excavation they sils , Installment 5 ments expressed for Virginia: send emails but my wife and I were provided unit supervisors and John Feliks “Fuerza y mucho cariño para vir- very concerned for her... If Virginia 18 volunteer excavators. Their ginia desde Chile.” [Strength and a is lucid enough to receive regular passionate involvement was lot of love for Virginia, from Chile.] mail or cards or a caregiver can crucial in understanding the read them to her, please inform “If it is possible give Virginia my Paleo-history at what is me when you receive an address regards and say like many [we] are to send it to. Again we are deeply presently Ohio’s only masto- thinking of her… whole heartedly. grateful to you for this update.” don bone-tool workshop site. ... All the best to her and everyone,

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 4

Pleistocene Coalition News list with volume numbers for all 67 issues

PCN passes 1300 pages this issue. Direct link to our 11-year archive w/thumbnails #67 = 22 pages September-October 2020 running total 1321 11th Anniv. #66 = 15 pages July-August 2020 running total 1299 #65 = 24 pages May-June 2020 running total 1284 #64 = 26 pages March-April 2020 running total 1260 #63 = 24 pages January-February 2020 running total 1234 Vol. 12 (1) #62 = 18 pages November-December 2019 running total 1210 #61 = 28 pages September-October 2019 running total 1192 10th Anniv. #60 = 17 pages July-August 2019 running total 1164 #59 = 14 pages May-June 2019 running total 1147 “Thought- #58 = 18 pages March-April 2019 running total 1133 #57 = 21 pages January-February 2019 running total 1115 Vol. 11 (1) provoking #56 = 18 pages November-December 2018 running total 1094 and chal- #55 = 24 pages September-October 2018 running total 1075 9th Anniv. lenging.” #54 = 23 pages July-August 2018 running total 1051 #53 = 20 pages May-June 2018 running total 1028 –PCN reader #52 = 24 pages March-April 2018 running total 1008 #51 = 18 pages January-February 2018 running total 984 Vol. 10 (1) #50 = 22 pages November-December 2017 running total 966 “Objec- #49 = 20 pages September-October 2017 running total 944 8th Anniv. tively and #48 = 20 pages July-August 2017 running total 924 #47 = 21 pages May-June 2017 running total 904 critically #46 = 17 pages March-April 2017 running total 883 inspiring.” #45 = 15 pages January-February 2017 running total 866 Vol. 9 (1) –PCN reader #44 = 14 pages November-December 2016 running total 851 #43 = 22 pages September-October 2016 running total 837 7th Anniv. #42 = 22 pages July-August 2016 running total 815 #41 = 23 pages May-June 2016 running total 793 #40 = 22 pages March-April 2016 running total 770 Pleistocene #39 = 19 pages January-February 2016 running total 748 Vol. 8 (1) Coalition News #38 = 20 pages November-December 2015 running total 729 is produced #37 = 22 pages September-October 2015 running total 709 6th Anniv. entirely by #36 = 19 pages July-August 2015 running total 687 volunteers. #35 = 22 pages May-June 2015 running total 668 #34 = 21 pages March-April 2015 running total 646 #33 = 18 pages January-February 2015 running total 625 Vol. 7 (1) #32 = 21 pages November-December 2014 running total 607 #31 = 30 pages September-October 2014 running total 586 5th Anniv. #30 = 18 pages July-August 2014 running total 556 #29 = 22 pages May-June 2014 running total 538 #28 = 20 pages March-April 2014 running total 516 #27 = 20 pages January-February 2014 running total 496 Vol. 6 (1) #26 = 20 pages November-December 2013 running total 476 #25 = 19 pages September-October 2013 running total 456 4th Anniv. #24 = 19 pages July-August 2013 running total 437 #23 = 19 pages May-June 2013 running total 418 #22 = 18 pages March-April 2013 running total 399 #21 = 14 pages January-February 2013 running total 381 Vol. 5 (1) #20 = 17 pages November-December 2012 running total 367 #19 = 20 pages September-October 2012 running total 350 3rd Anniv. #18 = 24 pages July-August 2012 running total 330 #17 = 23 pages May-June 2012 running total 306 #16 = 23 pages March-April 2012 running total 283 #15 = 20 pages January-February 2012 running total 260 Vol. 4 (1) #14 = 23 pages November-December 2011 running total 240 #13 = 21 pages September-October 2011 running total 217 2nd Anniv. #12 = 22 pages July-August 2011 running total 196 #11 = 21 pages May-June 2011 running total 174 #10 = 17 pages March-April 2010 running total 116 #9 = 20 pages January-February 2010 running total 116 Vol. 3 (1) #8 = 18 pages November-December 2010 running total 116 #7 = 18 pages September-October 2010 running total 98 1st Anniv. #6 = 18 pages July-August 2010 running total 80 #5 = 18 pages May-June 2010 running total 62 #4 = 16 pages March-April 2010 running total 44 #3 = 14 pages January-February 2010 running total 28 Vol. 2 (1) #2 = 9 pages November-December 2009 running total> Cont.14 on page 12 #1 = 5 pages October 2009 running total 5 Debut Vol. 1 (1)

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VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 5 BOOK REVIEW Archaeology of North Central Ohio, Volume 3, (2020) Review by Richard Michael Gramly PhD, Anthropology; North Andover, Massachusetts

One of the favorite topics artifacts made of extinct ani- geological fieldwork in six coun- of North American archae- mal bone, antler, and ivory as tries and 30 states. His PhD “All 17 writ- ology is the peopling of the well as stone (N = 8 writings). dissertation (1975) focused on Kenyan and Tanzanian prehis- ings address New World—how?, when?, A relative ‘de-emphasis’ and why? From time to time on stone artifacts was a compilations of essays about deliberate act by Editors this topic appear, and more Glenwood Boatman and rarely overviews are pub- Timothy Edwards of the lished under single or joint Sandusky Bay Chapter. authorship. New publications As well, they selected a along these lines are land- 17th essay for inclusion marks in the science of ar- within the reader that was chaeology, and they are al- authored by James M. ways welcomed by scholars. Adovasio. Dr. Adovasio cautions against preoccu- Fig. 1. Ivory adze (tool similar to a hoe) Therefore, it is my privilege to pation with lithic artifacts. from the Hiscock site, N.Y. It is one from alert readers of Pleistocene In his opinion too much a cluster of four and features what appears Coalition News to the availabil- to be the well-sculpted profile of a mam- sites and ar- attention to durable (lithic) ity of a new compilation of moth. It is a rare example of Ice Age art tifacts of the artifacts engenders a bias contributions about the early in North America found in confirmed human against organic remains Palaeo- cultures of the New World. The context with stone tools and a fluted projectile with an unfortunate con- point (pp. 72 & 125 of book; crop of p. 72). focus is northeastern North American sequence that evidence America—where a small com- Clovis era.” for woman’s role in ancient tory. Dr. Gramly worked for six munity of amateur and profes- economies is downplayed. years in East Africa two years of sional archaeologists is (still) which he was an Exhibits Planner engaged in fieldwork leading Striking a balance among at the National Museum of to new discoveries and fresh the different categories Kenya, Nairobi, under famed data sets (e.g., Figs. 1–3). of artifacts—durable and more ephemeral—is critical This new reader was gener- to fuller appreciation of Ice ated by the Sandusky Bay Age cultures, and this new Chapter of the Archaeological reader, by its very structure Society of Ohio and is sold at and content, endeavors to the cost of manufacture only. present just such a more It is printed upon glossy stock, holistic view of ancient which shows the many color photographs (figures) to ad- America. We congratulate vantage. 218 pages in length, the Editors for their sen- the volume contains 17 con- sitivity and good taste. tributions by more than 20 To order send $35 to cover authors. Four of the contribu- the price of a reader plus $5 Fig. 2. Sled runner tions were freshly composed postage. Checks should be blade made from a for this reader; the others made payable to Sandusky split female masto- are reprinted from previously Bay Chapter ASO and sent to: don tusk, an addi- published journals and news- SBC/ASO tional Clovis cul- letters (including PCN) and c/o Glenwood Boatman tural insight artifact 5889 Edson Street from the Hiscock were used with permission. Vermilion, Ohio 44089 mastodon site, N.Y. All 17 writings address sites Fig. 3. European Gravettian-style pendant bead made from a flake struck off a mas- and artifacts of the Palaeo- RICHARD MICHAEL GRAMLY, PhD, todon tusk tip. The hole was unfinished. American Clovis era. There is is an archaeologist with a BS in geology (Rensselaer Hiscock mastodon site, N.Y. (p. 121 of book). a basic dichotomy between Polytechnic Institute) and an 1.) Clovis sites with exclu- AM and PhD in anthropology anthropologist Richard Leakey, sively stone artifacts (N = 8 (Harvard University). He has being well-acquainted with the writings) and 2.) sites with conducted archaeological and entire Leakey family.

PLEISTOCENE COALITION NEWS

VOLUME 12, ISSUE 5 P A G E 1 6

Accelerated extinction of the proboscideans due to hunting of young animals

By Ray Urbaniak Engineer, rock art researcher and preservationist

“With the In the article titled , Mam- ‘young’ mammoths which are Agam and R. Barkai. 2018. moth/notation panel update, on the southern Utah panel Quaternary , Vol. 1, Iss. 1). The younger ones second mammoth, and inter- described in the article. authors outline the apparent active online 3D projection ; preference for hunting young This proposal doesn’t mean by Ray Urbaniak and Mark Willis mammoths on continents ancient Americans didn’t hunt (PCN #66, July-Aug, 2020); apart from the Americas: older proboscids, e.g., those I speculated that the rapid stuck in mud, or the injured, “Indirect archaeological evi- extinction of trunked mam- sick or old. Nor does it mean dence of proboscidean hunt- mals, i.e. mammoths, masto- they wouldn’t have killed ing age profiles… generally dons, and gomphotheres in healthy full grown proboscids indicate the preference for the Americas may have been either if they were hungry young individuals… Lower due primarily to human hunt- enough. It only means with Paleolithic Terra Amata ing of the ‘young’ in this the younger ones being eas- (France)…selective procure- group (scientific name for the ier to kill we might expect ment of young… individuals… group is the ‘Proboscidea’). them to be the first to ‘die off’ Acheulian site of Holon being easier to What brought me to the idea as a demographic. (Israel) most of the elephant bones found were of juve- kill we might is two-fold: 1.) finding what If the two central animals niles… post-Acheulian cave expect them appear to be young tusk-less depicted in the ‘Mammoth/ site of Bolomor (Spain), all mammoths in southwest U.S. notation panel’ the elephant bones yielded are indeed young were of young or juvenile mammoths, it animals. ...Middle Paleo- could very well lithic Spy Cave (Belgium), support my theory it seems… new-born mam- that it was pri- moth calves brought to the marily the young site and consumed had mammoths that been killed soon after birth. were hunted. See Svoboda et al suggested… The giant bear and the selective predation of other megafauna juveniles and sub-adults and oral tradition can be inferred. At the (PCN #53, May- Upper Paleolithic 27,000- June 2018). In that year-old site of Krems- article I listed sup- Hundssteig (Austria), the porting evidence mammoth assemblage is for the hunting dominated by juveniles and not only of young subordinate adults. Juveniles mammoths in the were also preferred at Pleis- Americas but the tocene cave sites in China.” young of other megafauna as well. This definitely shows a clear preference for hunting young Interestingly, I animals in the Old World. The stumbled across Fig. 1. Top: Lightly-outlined proposed mammoth petroglyph I discov- authors go on to say that pre- ered on the Mammoth/notation panel 30’ up a rock face in southwest an article greatly dominance of young probos- Utah (photo by Ray Urbaniak) compared with a modern Indian elephant supporting the cidean remains at archaeologi- (Wikimedia Commons); PCN #62 . Bottom: Newly-discovered proposed idea with evidence cal sites suggests age actually mammoth petroglyph a few inches from the original (drone photo by for the hunting of archaeologist Mark Willis) showing the stance and what appears to be did play a role in determining young animals the domed head, long trunk (with ‘fingers’), and open mouth compared what animals were selected documented in with a modern elephant at the zoo (Wikimedia Commons); PCN #66 . for hunting. ‘Ease of procure- Europe, the Middle ment’ was listed as one of East, and Asia: rock art and 2.) realizing young the possible explanations. to be the first animals would have been eas- ‘Elephant and mammoth hunt- to ‘die off’ as a ier to kill while still providing ing during the Paleolithic: A Apart from the relative ease plenty of meat for survival of review of the relevant ar- of obtaining food by going demographic.” the ancient Americans. Fig. 1 chaeological, ethnographic and shows two of the proposed ethno-historical records’ (A. > Cont. on page 17

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Accelerated extinction of the proboscideans (cont.)

after the younger animals Fig. 4 is a cropped version of a we can’t break away from. It “My color as a consideration the au- rock art photo by Shivaya Coy- wouldn’t have taken many spectrum thors proposed something ote Varlet Castle, a hiker perhaps in Dinosaur National closer to Monument. She posted home, the picture on Facebook ‘taste,’ sim- several years ago with ply sug- the title: ‘Goat and a gesting Circus Elephant.’ Note: I young pro- used an enhanced ver- boscideans sion of this in prior arti- were cles. The enhanced ver- ‘tenderer’ sion looked like it could Fig. 4. Hiker, Shivaya Coyote Varlet Castle, and ‘tasted have tusks, but that was took this picture in Dinosaur National Monu- better’ (a when I assumed it had ment (Colorado) and posted it on Facebook perspective to have tusks. My idea with the title, “Goat and a Circus Elephant.” offered was that the pictograph When reproducing it in PCN #41, courtesy of along with painter could have used the photographer, I presumed all mammoths or mastodons had tusks and that the painter less likely the nearby inclusions in may have intended the rock inclusions to though still the rock to represent represent them. Here, with aid of the ed’s crop, possible tusks for a true mam- the inclusions are out of the picture and the nutritional moth or mastodon de- creature next to the long-horned animal appears considera- piction. The technique very much to be a tusk-less mammoth. tions such is well-known in the Fig. 2. Two ‘elephant’ pipes from Louisa as the pres- rock art of Europe. Here I re- generations to wipe out all County, Iowa. It seems possible to me ence of produce the picture without proboscidea if the young were these depictions could have been made higher the inclusions which are to systematically killed for food. according to descriptions passed down quality fat the left of the picture. It does through oral tradition or copied from older RAY U RBANIAK is an engineer by artifacts. Source: The Lenape Stone in certain indeed appear to represent a training and profession; how- (illustrated): or, The Indian and the Mam- organs). I mammoth without tusks with ever, he is an artist and pas- moth, Henry Chapman Mercer, 1885. would com- a long-horned animal to its right. sionate amateur archeologist at pare it to heart with many years of sys- Fig. 5 shows another appar- our modern taste for lamb ent proboscid without tusks in (young sheep) as opposed enhance- a New Mexico photo by Bob to mutton (adult sheep). ment that Young (used with permission). seemed to Recently a rock art researcher The pecking appears bright in Australia, John McGovern, which would normally indi- drew my cate newness. However, on attention to close examination the art- an 1885 work appears over-pecked at book, The a later date—a fairly com- Lenape mon rock art practice. I com- Stone pare it with an example of a (illustrated): mammoth petroglyph also or, The In- without tusks recently dis- dian and the covered in Mongolia: “ Fifteen- Mammoth , thousand-year-old drawings of by Henry ‘woolly mammoths and rhi- Fig. 3. American Indian famous construc- Chapman nos’...identified in ancient rock tion called, Elephant Mound, in Grant art ‘gallery’ on the border of Fig. 5. Apparent tusk-less proboscid County, Wisconsin. Source: The Lenape Mercer. Russia and Mongolia” –msn.com in a New Mexico petroglyph (photo: Stone (illustrated): or, The Indian and the The book Bob Young w/permission) compared Mammoth, Henry Chapman Mercer, 1885. shows There are other photos of ap- with a recently-discovered 15,000- American parent tusk-less proboscids I year old tusk-less ‘mammoth’ petro- glyph in Mongolia (Institute of Archae- Indian effigy pipes and an will detail later. Some are more ology and Ethnography via msn.com). bring the effigy mound that each confusing due to overlapping lines perhaps representing hidden ani- depict proboscids without tematic field research in Native atlatls or spears. Finally, I am mals to tusks ( Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 ). American rock art of the South- not convinced my interpretations west and other topics. Urbaniak life.” All three of the above im- are correct, but in science, unlike has written over 50 prior articles ages are from Mercer’s the emotional anthropology with original rock art photogra- 1885 book and all three prevalent today where aggres- phy for PCN . All of them can be appear to show elephant- sive competitors want theirs to found at the following link: like depictions with an ab- be the final word we need to get http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ sence of tusks. unstuck from old-school ideas index.htm#ray_urbaniak

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More observations on the controversial subject of the peopling of the Americas

By Ray Urbaniak Engineer, rock art researcher and preservationist

This article is a continuation region of Maryland, Vir- of my original article, ginia, and Delaware States “I would Some observations on the in the U.S.). While the controversial subject of the tool’s exact point of origin certainly peopling of the Americas , is not known it was recov- PCN #54, July-August 2018). ered in context with a mas- todon skull also In the prior arti- dredged up and cle I speculated securely dated the early Ameri- at 22,000 can Clovis and years old. The the Solutrean tool by its as- people of what sociation with is now France, the skull is Spain, and Por- presumed to tugal may be the date to the not call same springing same time pe- from a population this evi- riod. It is dis- Fig. 2. Top: American of ancient north tinctive So- Clovis fluted point c. dence of Eurasians. I lutrean-style 13,500–12,800 BP the first speculated they (courtesy of Virginia Fig. 1. Flaked blade dredged points like this Dept. of Historic Re- people in could have mi- up from the Chesapeake Bay that are the grated from sources). Bottom: End- along with a mastodon skull. primary evi- thinned (fluted) portion the northern Eurasia It shows evidence of open air dence to sup- of Spanish Solutrean weathering, saltwater marsh, Americas to France then port the idea point c. 21,000–17,000 and ocean weathering. Since but sim- across the ice Solutrean peo- BP (detail of Fig. 5.10 in bridge to North the area was submerged c. Across Atlantic Ice by ply evi- 14,000 BP the tool is likely ple (originally America as per Stanford and Bradley. dence of at least that age. Image: from France, the Solutrean Dennis Stanford. etc.) somehow the Hypothesis, and/ made it to not recall Solutrean points as source of or from North North America living along having a concave base such one par- Eurasia across the kelp the east coast of the Atlan- as the Clovis points of estab- highway to North America. ticular tic Ocean. lished American origin, only Therefore the connection of that the flaking techniques American the Solutreans to the Clovis Recently; while reading In- appeared to be the same. culture.” people’s stone point designs. troduction to Paleolithic Cave Painting in Northern Spain So, I went back to my Fig. 1 shows what is possi- by C.G. Sainz, R.C. Toca and copy of Across Atlantic Ice , bly a laurel leaf-style bifa- T. Fukazawa; on p. 160, I by Dennis Stanford and Bruce Bradley and found sketches of points from northern Spain that not only had concave bases but a small flute on one side as well! In Fig. 2 , I compare an American Clovis point with one of Fig. 3. Clovis people and Solutrean people may be the same (PCN #54, July-August 2018): the fluted Solutrean point 1.) Ancient North Eurasians migrated East and West more than 15,000 years ago. bases from Spain in Stan- 2.). Pre-Clovis peoples could have reached the east coast of North America if they had increased ford and Bradley’s book. genetic presence of the dopamine receptor known as D4 and crossed the kelp highway. In my prior article I made 3.) Solutreans could be basically the same people as population 2 and/or they may have the diagram seen in Fig. 3 . crossed the ice bridge to North America. It is pretty much a standard- read about stone hunting style imagining of a group of cial Solutrean point that points of the Solutrean pe- people simply migrating to was dredged up from riod (21,000–16,500 BP) Chesapeake Bay (in the with a ‘concave base.’ I did > Cont. on page 19

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More observations on peopling of the Americas (cont.)

“We in the someplace and then...that’s In Craig Childs’ recent way new theories worth in- Pleistocene it! They just stop migrating. book, Atlas of a Lost World: vestigating further come Coalition Travels in Ice Age America , about. These particular ideas However, I considered an- he suggests something may help explain how the have pub- other perhaps more inter- similar along these lines: Clovis point suddenly ap- esting pos- peared and swept across the sibility that “The increased genetic North American continent! might be presence of the dopamine worth receptor known as D4 is Finally, it might sound like a throwing correlated with restless long journey, halfway around into the mix behavior and what is the globe, but it really isn’t. of the So- known as ‘novelty- We in the Pleistocene Coali- lutrean- seeking’—the kind of peo- tion have published many Clovis co- ple who are reckless or articles about how little time nundrums. adventurous, in need of it actually takes to travel That is that something new.” from one place to the next— if this group on foot—around the entire of Solutre- If the Solutrean/Clovis peo- world. Many individual per- ans in ple did do a reverse migra- sons have ‘walked’ across northern tion, when they arrived the U.S. multiple times not Spain— back in the Mal’ta area, to mention many people those who where they originated, and have walked around the en- made the did not find any of their tire world! It is old school points in ancestors, they could have thinking pushing the idea it Stanford then decided to continue takes ‘hundreds,’ or worse, and Brad- migrating East. While there ’thousands’ of years for ley’s com- is no direct evidence there groups to migrate. There is plete Fig. is plenty of indirect evi- just no evidence or logical Fig. 4. Thumbnail of Stanford and 5.10 (see dence that most early reason to believe it. Clovis Bradley’s Fig. 5.10 in their book, thumbnail groups had the skills to culture spread across North Across Atlantic Ice, showing Spanish Fig. 4 ) for make boats. I.e. unless we American very rapidly with Solutrean indented base points dating instance, believe the mainstream National Geographic empha- c. 21,000–17,000 BP. were indeed story that early people sizing in 2007 that the entire the Ancient weren’t smart enough, Clovis culture only lasted lished many North Eurasians that mi- there is no logical reason 200 years! (‘Clovis people the Solutrean/Clovis people articles grated to Northern Spain in not first Americans, study the past—what would pre- could not have followed the shows’). If we lower to out- about how vent some of them from kelp highway to and from moded mainstream beliefs, at little time it deciding to migrate back to North America. See the an average of 120 miles per actually where their ancestors came black arrows in Fig. 5 . year it would have taken 100 years from Northern Spain to the East coast of the USA— an average of 0.4 miles per day for the 12,000 mile jour- ney. At an average of 1,200 miles per year it would have only taken 10 years or an average of 4 miles per day. Fig. 5 There is no reason anthropology has to look at everything from so stiff a view that once an ancient group migrates to another area they then just stop. Some conundrums might be given help by adopting a more open view to perhaps going back where they came from. RAY U RBANIAK is an engineer by training and profession; how- takes to from? Migrating back to This group of Solutreans ever, he is an artist and pas- sionate amateur archeologist at travel from ones original homeland could have become the could have been for reli- heart with many years of sys- one place to people we know as the tematic field research in Native the next—on gious or any number of rea- Clovis people after they American rock art of the South- sons. Or perhaps a sponta- foot—around reached North America and west and other topics. Urbaniak neity of a type not dis- they refined the Solutrean has written over 50 prior articles the entire cussed in our hard-set man- indented base point design with original rock art photogra- world.” ner of looking at ancient into what we now know as phy for PCN . All of them can be found at the following link: migrations. I.e. perhaps the Clovis point! they moved simply because http://pleistocenecoalition.com/ they became restless living All of this, of course, is index.htm#ray_urbaniak a while in one spot. speculation but that’s one

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The Impact of Fossils A paper on Paleolithic fossil collecting and its possible influence on early humans, text pp. 119–120 By John Feliks

“All basic The Impact of Fossils PCN full-text 6th Installment on the Development of continuing from Installment 5 entoptic (after ‘Enigmatic prehistoric art- forms have Visual Representation works and fossils side-by-side)... abundant John Feliks. 1998. Rock Art Re- PART III counterparts search 15: 109–134. [Submitted 1995, 1997, FOSSILS AS REFERENTS FOR 1998. See AMBIGUOUS PREHISTORIC PCN #61 (Sept-Oct ICONOGRAPHY 2019) for The ‘fossil depictions the full story theory’ [CONTINUING ] of the pa- per, experts’ Natural images and responses ‘entoptic’ images to its sup- pression, Lewis-Williams and Dowson and what (1988, 1993) and others have At the Permian-age seafloor diorama, this serial- offered examples of Neolithic Field Museum of Natural History , Chicago. ized ver- (and some Palaeolithic) art- The author’s lifelong study of fossils began sion hopes works which they believe may c. age 8. Photo May 1962 by V. Feliks. to fulfill.] have been inspired by ‘entoptic phenomena’ (visual sensations in the natu- ABSTRACT derived from the structure of ral world of The origins of visual representation the optic system). Lewis- Fig. 4. ‘Entoptic’ motifs in prehistoric rock art fossils.” have been debated primarily in Williams and Dowson focus on compared with common fossils. (a) Carved mega- terms of human activity and psy- such patterns as they relate to lithic monument, Meath Co., Ireland (after Shee Twohig 1981: Fig. 216). (b) Nummulites, fossils Click here for chology. This paper proposes that ‘shamanic’ trance states. (See of giant foraminifera (after Fischer and Gayrard- the Introductory manmade representation was also Bednarik’s non-shamanic preceded by a natural, already Valy 1978: Pl. 32). (c) ‘Complex non-figurative’ article describing ‘phosphenes theory’—overview quite perfected representational petroglyph, Sturt’s Meadows, New South Wales, and references, 1995: 614.) I the paper’s sup- system, the products of which were Australia (after Clegg 1988). (d) Eridophyllum , pression by com- observed and collected by early suggest that if the cited art- fossil solitary coral (after Fenton and Fenton petitive editors humans. The author suggests works (those associated with 1989: 129). (e) Carved stone monument, and researchers the following new hypotheses: the geometric or ‘non-iconic’ of Yorkshire, England (after McMann 1980: Fig. 101). countered by Lewis-Williams’ and Dowson’s (f) Hexagonaria , fossil colony coral (after Fenton 1.) Fossils were a means by which and Fenton 1989: 133, portion only). quotations from Stage 1) are removed from the human beings came to under- eminent experts entoptic (or phosphene) con- stand the concepts of ‘imagery’ text and are viewed instead in fossil images could be given for in many fields and ‘substitution’ prior to the (PCN #61, the context of palaeontology, it most of the geometric prehistoric creation of manmade images. is not at all difficult to see them motifs cited as entoptic by Lewis- Sept-Oct 2019). 2.) Humans evolved their own as iconic depictions of various Williams and Dowson, and oth- Click here for forms of iconic visual represen- fossil forms which have long ers. However, for the purposes Installment 1 tation (especially those in the been visible in the natural world. of this general overview, only a (PCN #62, medium of rock), having first For example, many species of few examples will be given here. Nov-Dec 2019). been made aware of various fossil brachiopods and pelecy- possibilities via fossils. Compare an engraved megalithic Click here for pods display one of the most often cited of ‘entoptic’ pat- monument in Ireland cited as Installment 2 3.) Many unexplained prehistoric possibly inspired by entoptic (PCN #63, artworks may be structurally terns—the zig-zag (including the multiple row zig-zag motif). It is phenomena (Bradley 1988; Jan-Feb 2020). and proportionally accurate Lewis-Williams and Dowson depictions of fossils . readily seen in the shells of Click here for rhynchonellid brachiopods which 1993) with nummulite fossils Installment 3 Because fossils are known have been collected by prehis- (Figs. 4a, b). Nummulites are (PCN #64, throughout the world, the hy- toric people ever since the Châ- extremely large (often exceed- March-April 2020). potheses have cross-cultural telperronian, Aurignacian and ing 10 centimeters) and abun- validity. Clinical studies offer the Périgordian (Leroi-Gourhan dant Eocene foraminifera. They Click here for potential of analogical testability. 1964; Dance 1975; Oakley are known in the British Isles Installment 4 where spiral motifs are com- KEY WORDS 1985; Taborin 1993a). (PCN #65, mon, and are ‘widely used for May-June 2020). • Iconic recognition • Depiction Without exception, all basic ornamental purposes (Fortey Click here for • Prehistoric art entoptic forms have abundant 1991: 55-6, 165). That nummu- Installment 5 • Rock art sign counterparts in the natural world (PCN #66, • Fossil collecting of fossils. Therefore, alternative > Cont. on page 21 July-Aug 2020).

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The Impact of Fossils (cont.)

A note on the pa- lite fossil s were noticed by pre- the Acheulian (Oakley 1971, Laseron, C. 1969. Ancient Australia: the story per’s suppression historic people is traced back to 1981). Consider the comparison of its past geography and life . Neanderthal and Magdalenian of a Neolithic carved stone and later un-cited Revised by R.O. Brunnschweiler. borrowing con- times (Bednarik 1995; Marshack monument in England with the Taplinger Publishing Company, N.Y. tinuing to this day 1991 b, 1990; Taborin 1993 a). cosmopolitan colonial coral Leroi-Gourhan, A. 8 Before anthropol- Nummulite fossils, along with the Hexagonaria ( Figs. 4e, f ). 1964. Les religions de la préhis- ogy was exposed much-collected spiraled am- toire (Paléolithique) . Presses for destructive monites and gastropods, likely Continued in PCN Installment 7* Universitaires de France, Paris. Lewis-Williams, J.D., and T.A. Dowson academic practices represent the initial referential References for the 1998 1988. The signs of all times: (such as unjustified source for the spiral motifs com- paper for this section only entoptic phenomena in Upper suppressions and mon in prehistoric art. The fact Palaeolithic art. Current An- plagiarisms), and follow. This Installment 6 that a large ammonite adorns thropology 29: 201–45. started requiring represents pp. 119–120 of the entrance stone of a Neolithic ------declarations of the 1998 RAR publication. 1993. On vision and power in conflicts of interest , barrow near Bath, Great Britain the Neolithic: evidence from the competitive theorists (Oakley 1978), further supports decorated monuments. Current acting as reviewers, a ‘natural world’ inspiration for *Installment 7 in the next Anthropology 34: 55–65. often anonymously, spiral motifs in megalithic art. issue is the section called: Lewis-Williams, J. D., T. A. Dowson, and got away with J. Deacon 1993. Rock art and blocking the work of Concentric circles, and radiating Complex enigmatic images changing perceptions of south- competitors in the lines or filigrees are also known and trilobites ern Africa’s past: Ezeljagdspoort name of ‘science.’ as entoptic forms. However, reviewed. Antiquity 67: 273-91. Marshack, A. Editor of RAR was these very same forms are com- 1990. Early hominid symbol and References an example, deni- mon in rock as fossils, visible evolution of the human capacity. In grating the Fossils primarily as cross-sections of Bahn, P. G. P. Mellars (ed.), The emergence of 1997. Journey through the paper as its pub- corals, archaeocyathids, and modern humans: an archaeological lisher in print, and Ice Age . University of California crinoid columnals. Consider the perspective . pp. 457–498. Cor- publishing an un- Press, Berkely and Los Angeles. nell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y. comparison of a New South scholarly attack-dog Bednarik, R. G. ------reviewer, each Wales Aboriginal petroglyph, cited 1993. Paleolithic art in India. 1991b. A reply to Davidson because the paper as possibly inspired by entoptic Man and Environment 18: 33–40. on Mania and Mania. Rock Art challenged his own phenomena (Clegg 1988), with ------Research 8: 47–58. 1995. Concept-mediated marking ‘phosphene theory’ the radiating circular structure McMann, J. 1980. in the Lower Palaeolithic. Current being aggressively Riddles of the Stone Age: rock (septal pattern) of a common Anthropology 36: 605–34. promoted as the fossil coral ( Figs. 4c, d ). The two carvings of ancient Europe . Bradley, R. Thames and Hudson Ltd, London. final word on geo- similar figures Clegg reproduces 1988. Deaths and entrances: Oakley, K. P. metric rock art. RAR’ s can as easily be compared with A contextual analysis of Mega- anti-science practices 1971. Fossils collected by the the septal patterns of other lithic art. Current Anthropol- have not abated earlier Palaeolithic men. In ogy 30: 68–75. Mélanges: De Préhistoire, including refusing species of fossil coral. Clegg’s Branagan, D. F., and G. H. Packham d'Archéocivilisation et d'Ethnolo- PDF to PCN readers assertion, therefore, that such 1967. Field geology of New South artworks ‘do not look like any- gie offerts à André Varagnac, requesting it, and Wales . Science Press, Sydney. pp. 581–584. École Pratique the author prior, thing’ is simply not true. The Clegg, J. des Hautes Études, Paris. part of what neces- fact that fossil corals are abun- 1988. Comment on J. D. ------sitated this series. dant in New South Wales Lewis-Williams and T. A. Dow- 1978. Animal Fossils as Charms. son, ‘The signs of all times: To learn what more (Branagan and Packham 1967; In J. R. Porter and W. M. S. entoptic phenomena in Upper objective scientists Laseron 1969) suggests that Russell (eds), Animals in folk- Palaeolithic Art.’ Current An- lore, pp. 208–281. D. S. Brewer thought about the they should be considered as a thropology 29: 219–20. Ltd. and Rowman & Littlefield for paper and the fads possible referential source for Dance, P. S. the Folklore Society. Cambridge: promoted by such complex ‘non-figuratives.’ 1975. The molluscan fauna. In ------as RAR and Current H. L. Movius, Jr (ed.), Excava- 1981. The emergence of higher Anthropology see Other entoptic motifs consist tion of the Abri Pataud, Les thought 3.0–0.2 Ma B.P. In The the Introduction to of grouped dots or cupules, Ezies (Dordogne) , pp. 154– emergence of man, pp. 205– this series, What the and grouped zig-zag or 159. Peabody Museum, Har- 211. Organized by J. Z. vard University, Cambridge. experts really think, hexagonal figures. (Manmade Young, E. M. Jope, and K. P. Fenton, C. L., and M. A. Fenton. Oakley. The Royal Society and including from leading cupules are known from neuroscientists and 1989. The fossil book: a re- the British Academy, London. Acheulian times in India, and neurologists ( PCN #61, cord of prehistoric life . Revised ------Sept-Oct 2019). Mousterian equivalent times in and expanded by P. Vickers 1985. Decorative and sym- Europe and Australia [Bednarik Rich, T. Hewitts Rich, and M. bolic uses of fossils: selected “I find myself react- 1993, 1995; Bahn 1997] Adams Fenton. Doubleday & groups, mainly invertebrate . ing…by saying, ‘It’s Pitt Rivers Museum, Univer- through to the present.) But Company, Garden City, N.Y. so obvious; why sity of Oxford, Oxford. didn’t I think of that!’” these patterns too, are abun- Fischer, J. C., and Y. Gayrard-Valy. Shee Twohig, E. dant on rock in the form of 1978. Fossils of all ages. 1981. The Megalithic art of –Dr. John L. Bradshaw Grosset & Dunlap, New York. neuropsychologist. fossils, being most often seen in Europe . Clarendon Press, Oxford. colonial corals. That such fossils Fortey, R. Taborin, Y. “Absolutely riveting.” were noticed by prehistoric 1991. Fossils: the key to the 1993a. La parure en coquil- –Dr. Oliver Sacks past. Harvard University lage au Paléolothique. CNRS neurologist, author and people is traced as far back as Press, Cambridge. Éditions, Paris. protagonist of the film Awakenings . The late Dr. Sacks was a long- 8 Earlier drafts of this paper (excluding 1993–1994) explored the compatibility of the ‘fossil depictions time subscriber to PCN . hypothesis’ and Lewis-Williams’ and Dowson’s neuropsychological model.

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 Learn the real story of our Palaeolithic ancestors—a story about intelligent and innovative people—a story which is unlike that promoted by mainstream science.

The  Explore and regain confidence in your own ability to think for yourself regarding human ancestry as a Pleistocene Coalition broader range of evidence becomes available to you.

 Join a community not afraid to challenge the status quo. Question with confidence any paradigm Prehistory is about to change promoted as “scientific” that depends upon withholding conflicting evidence from the public in order to appear unchallenged.

PLEISTOCENE COALITION CONTRIBUTORS to this Pleistocene Coalition NEWS , Vol. 12: Issue 5 ISSUE News is produced by the (September-October) Raghubir S. Thakur Pleistocene Coalition © Copyright 2020 bi-monthly Guy Leduc since October 2009. PUBLICATION DETAILS Jan Willem van der Drift Back issues can be found EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/LAYOUT Readers to Virginia near the bottom of the John Feliks PC home page. Michael Gramly

Glenwood Boatman To learn more about early COPY EDITORS/PROOFS man in the Pleistocene visit Virginia Steen-McIntyre Timothy Edwards our website at Tom Baldwin Richard Dullum Ray Urbaniak pleistocenecoalition.com Tom Baldwin

SPECIALTY EDITORS Virginia Steen-McIntyre The Pleistocene Coalition cele- James B. Harrod, Rick Dullum, brated its eleven-year anniversary Matt Gatton John Feliks September 26, and the anniver- sary of Pleistocene Coalition News , October 25. PCN is now in its ADVISORY BOARD twelfth year of challenging main- Virginia Steen-McIntyre stream scientific dogma.

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