DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter 6. Exploring the Long-Range Pre- and Protohistory of Element Cosmologies: Steps in the Unfolding of Human Thought Faculties

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter 6. Exploring the Long-Range Pre- and Protohistory of Element Cosmologies: Steps in the Unfolding of Human Thought Faculties Quest: An African Journal of Philosophy / Revue Africaine de Philosophie , vols 23-24 (2009-2010), nos 1-2D 1-398 Chapter . E:ploring the long1range pre1 and protohistory of element cosmologies3 Steps in the unfolding of human thought faculties 6.1. E5plo ations into the 2iddle Palaeolithic p ehisto y of element cosmologies Can we say something about the oldest forms of the transformation cycle of elements, and estimate their anti4uityX Recent reconstructions in the field of comparative mythology allow us a glimpse into the remote past of human thought. 1e have seen that the various element cosmologies studied above have often been used for divination. 1e shall now probe into the (oint history of element cosmologies and divination, see2ing to delve even deeper than the 5pper Palaeolithic, if possible. 5nexpected indications concerning the anti4uity of element systems come to light when we manage to plausibly reconstruct some of the mythological contents of Pandora=s Box. 151 Start- ing with a sample of ,frican cosmogonic myths recorded in historical times, I have presented a distributional argument tentatively identifying the mythemic nuclei (ENarrative Complexes=) in these ,frican myths, and attempted to trace their prehistoric tra(ectory through space and time after the Iut-of-,frica 0xodus8 the reconstruction method is a form of argued distributional triangulation, and has so far been executed and written up entirely without any explicit or conscious reference to divination. If a Narrative Complex occurs in sub-Saharan ,frica, New Guinea, ,ustralia, 151 van Binsbergen 2006a, 2006b8 Table 6.1 below, cf. Tables 2.1 and 2.2 above. 179 1im van Binsbergen, Before the Presocratics it is li2ely to have found itself in Pandora=s Box, because for reasons of ecological adaptation ,natomically 3odern Cumans, in their first sallies Iut of ,frica, c. 60-80 2a BP, initially seem to have 2ept close to the Indian Icean shores until reaching New Guinea and ,ustralia (which before the 0arly Colocene global rise of the sea level by 200 m could have been completed with dry feet except for a 70 2m patch of open sea South of Timor 9 proof of humans= early nautical abilities8 cf. Bednari2 1997, 1999), but without populating the other continents yet. 3eanwhile Table 6.1 suggests that divinatory patterns as recorded in historical times, and their implications in terms of element systems, so unmista2ably echo the specific reconstructed contents of Pandora=s Box, at the onset of the 3iddle Palaeolithic, that we may persuade ourselves to see continuity between the two periods, and thus ac4uire an in2ling of what may have been a surprisingly rich divinatory life in the 3iddle to 5pper Palaeo- lithic, in ,frica as well as in other continents where ,natomically 3od- ern Cumans gradually too2 the, element-relevant, contents of Pandora=s Box. This step is admittedly not without ris2sD even if the complex recon- struction underlying Table 6.1 was executed without any conscious thought of divination and element systems, still the same author who processed these data and compiled the Table has been so preoccupied with divination and element systems over the past 4uarter of a century, that it cannot be ruled out that that domain of empirical analysis inadver- tently seeped into the comparative mythology domain, rendering the results somewhat dependent upon one another. Cowever, that is a ris2 I am prepared to admit, and yet to ta2e. Na ative Comple5 (NC) Na ative p oposed .se of this p oposed ele- (n.clea mytheme) econ- Comple5 mytheme in 2iddle and ment in t ans- st .cted to have been in no. Fppe Palaeolithic fo mation cycle Pando a6s Bo5 p oto-divination as s.ggested by divinato y patte ns in histo ical times 152 The .ightning Bird (and the 4 lightning as omen ,ir, ,ether8 6ire 1orld 0gg) fowl as divinatory ani- 152 The literature on the numerous forms of divination through space and time is enormous, and cannot be ade4uately represented here. I limit myself to a minimum selection per item. Rich source on the comparative study of divination areD Castings 1908-1921D I7, 775-8308 .e Scoué:ec et al. 1965. 153 Castings 1908-1921, II, 55, iv. 820-826 (Roman divination)8 III, 697 (coc2 omen). 180 Quest: An African Journal of Philosophy / Revue Africaine de Philosophie , vols 23-24 (2009-2010), nos 1-2D 1-398 mal 153 The Stones (as 0arth8 in the 8 psephomancy (divination 0arth8 ,ether, .ate Palaeolithic / proto- by pebbles)8 154 divination ,ir8 3etal ( e.g. Neolithic probably revised to from stones and roc2s 155 sidereal iron) become 8a. The Stones / 3eteorites as Connection between Ceaven and 0arth) The 3oon 9 3oon as omen, 156 proto- X astrology The 0arth as primary (appar- 10 earth omens, proto- 0arth ently, NC 10 was subse- geomancy 4uently revised towards EThe 0arth as the Source of Cattle, in the Neolithic) 6rom under the Tree (proba- 12 divination by trees, 1ood bly subse4uently diversified branches, twigs8 157 into 12a EThe world and cleromancy with wooden humanity from the tree=, and tablets etc. 158 12c EThe .eg-Child=) The Cosmic / Rainbow Sna2e 13 sna2e as divinatory ,ether, ,ir8 0arth animal, sna2e omens 159 The Spider (probably subse- 15 spider as omen and X (,ether, ,ir) 4uently transformed into 15a divinatory animal 160 EThe 6eminine ,rts= in proto- Neolithic times ) Table A.1. The divinatory and element-cosmological significance of the reconstructed mythological contents of Pandora's Bo7, Africa, 80-A0 ka BP and earlier. ,pparently, the element-cosmological classification systems which ex- erted a ma(or influence upon literate divination systems of the post- Neolithic period already had some detectable roots in Pandora=s Box, at 154 Corowit: & Curowit: 1992. 155 Castings 1908-1921D I, 866-867. 156 Castings 1908-1921D II, 64-65. 157 Castings 1908-1921D II, 832, II, 455b-457. 158 See above, Chapter 2 and passim . 159 Castings 1908-1921D I, 526b-527, and I, 406. Confusion with 0arth possible because of homonomyD Starostin & Starostin 1998-2008, EIndo-0uropean etymology= note that proto-Indo-0uropeanD GJಬKHP Eearth= (Po2orny 1959-69D I 662 f. 8 Buc2 n.d.D 16) is Eihjard to distinguish from the reflexes of JಬKHP #3258. ,ll Italic forms (.atiinj KXPXV , etc.) may in fact belong there=8 the reference is to proto-Indo- 0uropean Jಬ K HP , Jಬ K PÕ\ Esna2e, worm= (Po2orny 1959-69D I, 790). 160 Castings 1908-1921D I, 528. 181 1im van Binsbergen, Before the Presocratics least 60 2a earlier. The only ma(or Eelement= missing out in Table 6.1 is Water 8 and the only NarCom left without a suggested element association is the 3oon. Real- ising that in many cosmologies, as well as in most astrologies of the Ild 1orld, the 3oon tends to be associated with water, we may readily fill this gap. Needless to remind the reader of the prominent role water, and its mirroring surface, plays in divination through space and time ( cf. Castings 1908-1921D II, 707). In distributional grounds (notably, con- sistent association of 6lood myths with groups characterised by mtDN, Type B, which emerged in Central ,sia c. 30 2a BP), I have tended (van Binsbergen 2006b, 2010a) to situate the emergence of a water-centred Narrative Complex (6lood mythsW) much later than Pandora=s Box, but perhaps the systematics of Table 6.1 should bring us to reconsider such an argument now. 1it:el (2010, 2012) suggests that 6lood myths should be placed in Pandora=s Box. ,bove I referred to my hypothesis of a succession of two distinct types of cosmogony in the 5pper PalaeolithicD (a) revolving on the Separation of 1ater and .and8 (b) revolving on the Separation of Ceaven and 0arth. Cere, too, we may detect indications of an incipient element cosmology. If conceived in that light, (a) would be about the emergence of the pro- posed primary (proto-)elements 1ater and 0arth, whereas (b) could be revolving on the separation of the (proto-)elements 0arth and 6ire (½ Sun) 9 after a transformation that resulted in a down-playing of the watery connotations of the S2y (as E1aters i,bovej=), and, with the emergence of na2ed-eye astronomy, the luminaries= growth into more important aspects of the S2y than the latter=s 1ater associations. Given the stri2ing paucity of UBorean reconstructed lexical items for ES2y= and E3oon= (onlyD +9.09 and 79/.9 , respectively) against as many as seven for ESun= ( &9:9 , +9.9 , .909 , 19-9 , 1959 , 39&9 , 7919 ), dating this transformation to post-UBorean times would put us on even more slippery ground than usual in the course of my admittedly con(ectural argument. ,nother advantage of operationalising the presence of element cosmolo- gies through their use in divination is that element cosmologies in them- 182 Quest: An African Journal of Philosophy / Revue Africaine de Philosophie , vols 23-24 (2009-2010), nos 1-2D 1-398 selves patently do not leave any archaeological traces, whereas divination systems may, albeit infre4uently. The archaeological case for 9pper Palaeolithic divination is theoretically 4uite plausible, yet it has remained empirically thin 9 the only truly convincing case being two engraved bones from the Remouchamps caves in Belgium (Dewe: 1974), to which we shall return below (6ig. 8.6). 1e have to proceed to the Neolithic period, less than 14 2a BP, in order to find archaeological evidence whose interpretation in terms of divination is li2ely to stand up to further scru- tinyD the 0arly Neolithic of South 0astern ,natolia (from c. 14 2a BP) including the once prototypical ¾atal Cgyg2 161 (now supplanted by much older finds in the region 9 Badisches .andesmuseum 2007)8 and China towards the end of the Neolithic (Nai 19638 .i et al.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Janus-Faced Dilemma of Rock Art Heritage
    The Janus-faced dilemma of rock art heritage management in Europe: a double dialectic process between conservation and public outreach, transmission and exclusion Mélanie Duval, Christophe Gauchon To cite this version: Mélanie Duval, Christophe Gauchon. The Janus-faced dilemma of rock art heritage management in Europe: a double dialectic process between conservation and public outreach, transmission and exclusion. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, Taylor & Francis, In press, 10.1080/13505033.2020.1860329. hal-03078965 HAL Id: hal-03078965 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03078965 Submitted on 21 Feb 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Duval Mélanie, Gauchon Christophe, 2021. The Janus-faced dilemma of rock art heritage management in Europe: a double dialectic process between conservation and public outreach, transmission and exclusion, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2020.1860329 Authors: Mélanie Duval and Christophe Gauchon Mélanie Duval: *Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB), CNRS, Environnements, Dynamics and Territories of Mountains (EDYTEM), Chambéry, France; * Rock Art Research Institute GAES, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Christophe Gauchon: *Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB), CNRS, Environnements, Dynamics and Territories of Mountains (EDYTEM), Chambéry, France.
    [Show full text]
  • Explanatory Index of Proper Names Other Than Authors Cited
    Quest: An African Journal of Philosophy / Revue Africaine de Philosophie , 24 (2010), 1-2D 1-398 E:planatory inde: of proper names other than authors cited 0xhaustive listing of all proper names other than those of authors cited. 6or names mar2ed with UU also see Inde7 of Authors Cited . Some entries have underlying con- cepts explained under V.v. ( Vuod videre , Esee there=)8 for many other entries this index sei:es the opportunity of explaining details that could not be accommodated in the main text. 1hen a boo2 title is listed, it appears in italic , followed by the author=s name (if any) between parentheses. Inly capitalised text has been processed 9 thus e.g. ECatalyst= is listed but not the many occurrences of Ecatalyst=, Ecatalytic=, etc. Due to last-minute text additions a few page references may be off by 1. identity, 53 227n, 291n8 ,ssyrian ,baris, ,ncient Gree2 Achsenzeit , see ,xial ,ge traces in 9 , 1298 ,rab shaman, 112, 114, 114n ,cragas, 1098 cf. ,grigen- influence on sub- ,b2ha:oids, linguistico- tum Saharan 9, 758 9 and ethnic cluster in the ,dam, Biblical figure, 135 ,ncient Near 0ast, 73, ,ncient 3editerranean, ,donai, .ord, 1608 cf. 1298 9 and North ,mer- 233 ,idoneus ica, 9, 118, 265, 2748 9 ,boriginal ,ustralian, 91, ,egean, Sea and region, and 0urope, 808 and 0ast 1928 cf. Dur2heimUU 115, 141, 151, 175, 294, ,sia, 9 and ,sia, 35, 90, ,braham, Biblical figure, 273n8 9 -,natolian, 226 275, 280, 186n8 1est 162 ,ether, 103-104, 117-118, ,frica, 74, 268, 2818 ,bri du 6acteur, 5pper 130, 137-139, 152, 180- Central ,frica, espe- Palaeolithic site, 189 181, 154n, 165n, 184n8 cially South 9 , 5, 8, 17- ,byss, ,bysmal, 122, ,ether and Day, chil- 18, 31, 43, 62, 64, 70, 164, 236, 101n8 cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Tsodilo Hill, Botswana
    Alec Campbell and Lawrence Robbins Tsodilo Hill, Botswana The Tsodilo Hills in northwestern Botswana were listed as World Heritage in 2001 on account of their prolific rock art, some 4 000 images, 100 000-year occupation by humans, prehistoric specularite mining, early occupation by pastoral Khwe and Black farmers, spiritual importance to their modern residents and unique attributes in a land of endless sand dunes. Tsodilo Hills are situated in a remote region of nium AD farmer villages. Local residents of the the Kalahari Desert in northwest Botswana. Hills, Ju/’hoansi (Bushmen) and Hambukushu The Hills form a 15km-long chain of four (Bantu-speaking farmers) still recognise the quartzite-schist outcrops rising, the highest Hills as sacred. to 400m, above Aeolian sand dunes. The Hills contain evidence of some 100 000 years of Background intermittent human occupations, over 4 000 Tsodilo’s rock paintings, first noted by the rock paintings, groups of cupules, at least 20 outside world in 1898, received legal protec- prehistoric mines, and remains of First Millen- tion only in the late 1930s. The law protecting Fig. 1. Western cliffs that glow a copper colour in evening light giving the Hills their N/ae name, ‘Copper Bracelet of the Evening’. 34 the paintings also prohibited illegal excava- Archaeology tions and damage to, or theft of ‘Bushman Excavations have told us something about (archaeological) relics’, but failed to protect past human occupations of the Hills. White the Hills and their plants or wildlife. Paintings Shelter, excavated to a depth of Research, mainly undertaken by Botswana’s seven metres, has disclosed human-made ar- National Museum, commenced in 1978 with tefacts dating back almost to 100 000 years.
    [Show full text]
  • A Heritage and Cultural Tourism Destination
    MAKING GABORONE A STOP AND NOT A STOP-OVER: A HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM DESTINATION by Jane Thato Dewah (Student No: 12339556) A Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MAGISTER HEREDITATIS CULTURAEQUE SCIENTIAE (HERITAGE AND CULTURAL STUDIES) (TOURISM) In the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the Faculty of Humanities University of Pretoria SUPERVISOR: Prof. K.L Harris December 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this thesis is my own original work and has not been submitted previously at any other university for a degree. ............................................... Signature Jane Thato Dewah ................................................ Date ii Abstract The main objective of the study was to identify cultural heritage sites in and around Gaborone which could serve as tourist attractions. Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, has been neglected in terms of tourism, although it has all the facilities needed to cater for this market. Very little information with regards to tourist attractions around Gaborone is available and therefore this study set out to identify relevant sites and discussed their history, relevance and potential for tourism. It also considers ways in which these sites can be developed in order to attract tourists. Due to its exclusive concentration on wildlife and the wilderness, tourism in Botswana tends to benefit only a few. Moreover, it is mainly concentrated in the north western region of the country, leaving out other parts of the country in terms of the tourism industry. To achieve the main objective of the study, which is to identify sites around the capital city Gaborone and to evaluate if indeed the sites have got the potential to become tourist attractions, three models have been used.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Seashell Resonates After 18,000 Years
    PRESS RELEASE - PARIS - 10 FEBRUARY 2021 Ancient seashell resonates after 18,000 years Almost 80 years after its discovery, a large shell from the ornate Marsoulas Cave in the Pyrenees has been studied by a multidisciplinary team from the CNRS, the Muséum de Toulouse, the Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès and the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques-Chirac1: it is believed to be the oldest wind instrument of its type. Scientists reveal how it sounds in a study published in the journal Science Advances on 10th February 2021. The Marsoulas Cave, between Haute-Garonne and Ariège, was the first decorated cave to be found in the Pyrenees. Discovered in 1897, the cave bears witness to the beginning of the Magdalenian2 culture in this region, at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. During an inventory of the material from the archaeological excavations, most of which is kept in the Muséum de Toulouse, scientists examined a large Charonia lampas (sea snail) shell, which had been largely overlooked when discovered in 1931. The tip of the shell is broken, forming a 3.5 cm diameter opening. As this is the hardest part of the shell, the break is clearly not accidental. At the opposite end, the shell opening shows traces of retouching (cutting) and a tomography scan has revealed that one of the first coils is perforated. Finally, the shell has been decorated with a red pigment (hematite), characteristic of the Marsoulas Cave, which indicates its status as a symbolic object. To confirm the hypothesis that this conch was used to produce sounds, scientists enlisted the help of a horn player, who managed to produce three sounds close to the notes C, C-sharp and D.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Concept of Home at Hunter-Gatherer Sites in Upper Paleolithic Europe and Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Homes for hunters?: Exploring the concept of home at hunter-gatherer sites in upper paleolithic Europe and epipaleolithic Southwest Asia Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nt6f73n Journal Current Anthropology, 60(1) ISSN 0011-3204 Authors Maher, LA Conkey, M Publication Date 2019-02-01 DOI 10.1086/701523 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Current Anthropology Volume 60, Number 1, February 2019 91 Homes for Hunters? Exploring the Concept of Home at Hunter-Gatherer Sites in Upper Paleolithic Europe and Epipaleolithic Southwest Asia by Lisa A. Maher and Margaret Conkey In both Southwest Asia and Europe, only a handful of known Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic sites attest to aggregation or gatherings of hunter-gatherer groups, sometimes including evidence of hut structures and highly structured use of space. Interpretation of these structures ranges greatly, from mere ephemeral shelters to places “built” into a landscape with meanings beyond refuge from the elements. One might argue that this ambiguity stems from a largely functional interpretation of shelters that is embodied in the very terminology we use to describe them in comparison to the homes of later farming communities: mobile hunter-gatherers build and occupy huts that can form campsites, whereas sedentary farmers occupy houses or homes that form communities. Here we examine some of the evidence for Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic structures in Europe and Southwest Asia, offering insights into their complex “functions” and examining perceptions of space among hunter-gatherer communities. We do this through examination of two contemporary, yet geographically and culturally distinct, examples: Upper Paleolithic (especially Magdalenian) evidence in Western Europe and the Epipaleolithic record (especially Early and Middle phases) in Southwest Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Creating a Better Tourist Experience Through The
    ISSUE SIX (2017) Creating a better tourist experience through the presentation and interpretation of World Heritage Values in Botswana Tshepang Rose Tlatlane Introduction Communities across the world have gradually transformed tourism from time at the beach, sun and sand (Adams 2006), to spending time at World Heritage sites learning about their preservation. There is strong evidence from research that local guides and traditional leaders play a fundamental role in educating tourists about local cultures. Mass tourism regrettably causes a lot of environmental challenges; Ghulam Rabbany et al (2013) confirm the direct impacts of tourism on the environment which include things such as alteration of natural habits, noise and air pollution, loss of biological diversity, and littering. In Botswana, littering is considered one of the eye sore at the famous Okavango Delta. Littering has significantly impacted tourism development in the Okavango Delta and the entire industry in Botswana (Mbaiwa 2004). As tourism is heavily dependent on the quality of the environment, it is crucial for all stakeholders to protect the environment for it to continue being a sustainable economic resource. One of the major issues is the role of mass tourism in environmental protection and sustainable tourism. Is destruction in mass tourism avoidable? A possible answer is Smith’s (1956) market segmentation strategy of grouping tourists in a way that is of most manageable value. Market segmentation results in niche tourism as tourists are divided into smaller groups, according to their needs, behaviours and expectations (Adams 2006). Heritage tourism has observed a significant growth in recognition as a niche in Botswana.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa
    Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 13, No. 4, December 2005 (C 2005) DOI: 10.1007/s10814-005-5111-y What Is a Hunter-Gatherer? Variation in the Archaeological Record of Eastern and Southern Africa Sibel B. Kusimba1 This article reviews the recent history of the archaeology of African hunter- gatherers, focusing on debates around the origins of modern humans and the destiny of hunter-gatherers with the advent of food production. African archae- ologists are developing an increasing appreciation for the diversity of African hunter-gatherer societies. Understandings of hunter-gatherers based primarily on ethnography are being successfully challenged and extended. KEY WORDS: Africa; hunter-gatherers; Paleolithic; Middle Stone Age; later Stone Age; food production. INTRODUCTION African examples of hunter-gatherer societies have been paramount in world ethnography (Lee, 1979, 1984; Marshall, 1976; Turnbull, 1962; Woodburn, 1968). African ethnographic cases have also provided useful ethnographic analogy for archaeologists working in many places and time periods (Shott, 1992). Recip- rocally, African archaeologists have sought to provide an ethnographic view of ancient people, focusing on site occupations, settlement patterns, economic activ- ity, and intergroup relationships, at least since the late 1960s (Clark, 1970, p. 80). The effort to excavate “hunter-gatherers” is complicated by the oft-cited poor fit between ethnographic case studies and known archaeological patterns (Parking- ton, 1984; see also Kuhn and Stiner, 2001; Price and Brown, 1985). Ethnographic analogy is still the most important means of interpreting African hunter-gatherer archaeology, although alternatives are well-developed (Winterhalder, 2001). 1Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois 60115; and The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois 60605; e-mail: 337 1059-0161/05/1200-0337/0 C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • The Use of Ochre and Painting During the Upper Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura in the Context of the Development of Ochre Use in Africa and Europe
    Open Archaeology 2018; 4: 185–205 Original Study Sibylle Wolf*, Rimtautas Dapschauskas, Elizabeth Velliky, Harald Floss, Andrew W. Kandel, Nicholas J. Conard The Use of Ochre and Painting During the Upper Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura in the Context of the Development of Ochre Use in Africa and Europe https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2018-0012 Received June 8, 2017; accepted December 13, 2017 Abstract: While the earliest evidence for ochre use is very sparse, the habitual use of ochre by hominins appeared about 140,000 years ago and accompanied them ever since. Here, we present an overview of archaeological sites in southwestern Germany, which yielded remains of ochre. We focus on the artifacts belonging exclusively to anatomically modern humans who were the inhabitants of the cave sites in the Swabian Jura during the Upper Paleolithic. The painted limestones from the Magdalenian layers of Hohle Fels Cave are a particular focus. We present these artifacts in detail and argue that they represent the beginning of a tradition of painting in Central Europe. Keywords: ochre use, Middle Stone Age, Swabian Jura, Upper Paleolithic, Magdalenian painting 1 The Earliest Use of Ochre in the Homo Lineage Modern humans have three types of cone cells in the retina of the eye. These cells are a requirement for trichromatic vision and hence, a requirement for the perception of the color red. The capacity for trichromatic vision dates back about 35 million years, within our shared evolutionary lineage in the Catarrhini subdivision of the higher primates (Jacobs, 2013, 2015). Trichromatic vision may have evolved as a result of the benefits for recognizing ripe yellow, orange, and red fruits in front of a background of green foliage (Regan et al., Article note: This article is a part of Topical Issue on From Line to Colour: Social Context and Visual Communication of Prehistoric Art edited by Liliana Janik and Simon Kaner.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Transmission and Lithic Technology in Middle Stone Age Eastern Africa
    Cultural Transmission and Lithic Technology in Middle Stone Age Eastern Africa by Kathryn L. Ranhorn B.A. in Anthropology, May 2010, University of Florida A Dissertation submitted to The Faculty of The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 31, 2017 Dissertation directed by Alison S. Brooks Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs David R. Braun Associate Professor of Anthropology The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University certifies that Kathryn L. Ranhorn has passed the Final Examination for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy as of May 9th, 2017. This is the final and approved form of the dissertation. Cultural Transmission and Lithic Technology in Middle Stone Age Eastern Africa Kathryn L. Ranhorn Dissertation Research Committee: Alison S. Brooks, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, Dissertation Co-Director David R. Braun, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dissertation Co-Director Francys Subiaul, Associate Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Committee Member Christian A. Tryon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University Committee Member ii © Copyright 2017 by Kathryn L. Ranhorn All rights reserved. iii Dedication To my mother, who taught me that evolution requires sometimes copying old ideas, and often creating new ones. Na pia kwa marafiki wangu wa Tanzania na Kenya, hii ndo story zenu. Bado tunapanda. -- “It sometimes appears that all of us treat stone artifacts as infinitely complex repositories of paleocultural information and assume that it is only the imperfections of our present analytical systems that prevent us from decoding them.
    [Show full text]
  • Concerning a Cupule Sequence on the Edge of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa
    Rock Art Research 2015 - Volume 32, Number 2, pp. 163-177. P. B. BEAUMONT and R. G. BEDNARIK 163 KEYWORDS: Cupule – Age estimate – Palaeoenvironment – Tswalu Kalahari Reserve – South Africa CONCERNING A CUPULE SEQUENCE ON THE EDGE OF THE KALAHARI DESERT IN SOUTH AFRICA Peter B. Beaumont and Robert G. Bednarik Abstract. The Tswalu Reserve in the southern Kalahari is an arid place, the present occupation of which is only made possible by means of boreholes that tap patches of fossil water, while semi-permanent surface sources of ~65 m2 extent are confined to three localities within an investigated area of over 1000 km2. Lithic evidence indicates that this vicinity was abandoned by humans during even drier Ice Age intervals, when rainfall fell at times to ~40% of present values, thereby providing a way to refer petroglyphs there to interglacials of known age and intensity in terms of regional and global paleaoclimatic data. By such means, together with microerosion measurements, it then becomes possible to identify three regional cupule production intervals: the earliest with cupules only at ~410–400 ka bp, the next with cupules and outline circles at ~130–115 ka ago, and the most recent, with cupules, geometric motifs and iconic images, at ~8–2 ka bp. Introduction then, but the later dating of various regional sites (Miller Cupules are manmade, roughly semi-hemispherical 1971; Sampson 1974) placed the artefact level between depressions, not normally more than ~8 cm in diame- ~25 and 13 cal ka ago (Weninger and Jöris 2008), and it ter, that were produced on hard rock surfaces by is consequently considered probable that the Chifubwa hammerstone percussion (Kumar and Krishna 2014), petroglyphs were made at some time within that reportedly supplemented or replaced on softer stones interval (Clark 1958).
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Experimental Knapping in Empirically Testing Key Themes in the Evolution of Lithic Technology: Reduction Intensity, Efficiency and Behavioural Complexity
    The role of experimental knapping in empirically testing key themes in the evolution of lithic technology: reduction intensity, efficiency and behavioural complexity Antoine Muller BA (archaeology) BA Honours (archaeology) A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2017 School of Social Science Abstract Experimental knapping has complimented and stimulated lithic analyses for over a century. Throughout this period, the discipline has witnessed an increase in the scientific rigour and theoretical grounding with which these studies are conducted. This thesis charts these key trends and in doing so establishes a best-practice model of experimental knapping, the veracity of which is in turn tested using four new lithic experiments. These case-studies employ experimental knapping to advance our understanding of flake platform measurement, reduction intensity, technological efficiency, and behavioural complexity. The first case-study, Chapter 3, offers a more accurate and precise calliper-based method of flake platform measurement that relies on simple geometric approximations of platform shape rather than the inflexible and unreliable existing method of multiplying platform width by thickness. In Chapter 4, a new reduction intensity metric for backed blades, a hitherto overlooked tool-type, is developed and tested on the backed blades from an early Neolithic site in Turkey. This new metric allows a reconstruction of the raw material consumption patterns at the site, finding that the backed blades likely contributed to conserving the inhabitants’ scarce lithic raw material. Meanwhile, Chapter 5 outlines the results of a comparison of the raw material efficiency of eight different lithic technologies, finding that lithic technological efficiency was a generally ascending trend over the last 3.3 million years and that the main transition in efficiency occurred between the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic.
    [Show full text]