So-called Paleolithic man was not dumb
Part One:
Long cultural tradition of sky watching
“The
earliest known depiction of the constellation Orion,
according
to Rappenglueck was carved on a piece of mammoth tusk”.
The following
needs to be read according to a revised context (necessitating far lower BC
dates) for Aurignacian Paleolithic as according to the sort of model pioneered
by Dr. John Osgood, at: https://creation.com/a-better-model-for-the-stone-age
A Better Model for the Stone Age
Paleo-Astronomy
In the previous post we discussed the “cultural explosion” of the Upper
Paleolithic which brought the beginnings of art, religion, and magic, as well
as technological advances. Along with these innovations came the earliest
forms of observational astronomy, the calendar and
astro-ceremonialism–mythology, religious beliefs and rituals associated
with the heavenly bodies.
The Hall of the BullsLascaux caves, France
photo: http://www.lascaux culture.fr
French paleo-astronomer Chantal Jegues-Wolkiewiez insists there was a long
cultural tradition of skywatching among the people of the Cro-Magnon Age of
Europe (30,000-10,000 BCE).
She proposes that the famous cave paintings of Lascaux in France record the
constellations of a prehistoric version of the zodiac which included solstice
points and major stars. Her theory is based on the discovery of
numerous dots and tracings superimposed on the paintings of bulls, aurochs and
horses on the walls of Lascaux. She claims these correspond to the patterns of
constellations–most notably the constellations of Taurus and Pleiades
and the stars Aldeberan and Antares. She proposes most
of the constellations are represented by paintings of animals, accurately
depicting their coloring and coats during the corresponding seasons of the
year. Jegues-Wolkiewiez visited 130 cave sites in France over a period of
seven years, identifying solar alignments throughout the seasons, and found
that 122 of the sites had optimal orientations to the setting of the sun during
the solstices. She concludes that these sites were mainly selected because
their interiors were illuminated by the setting sun on the day of the winter
solstice. She also determined through computer modeling that the sun’s setting
rays during the summer solstice illuminated the painting of the Red Bull on the
back wall of the Hall of Bulls in Lascaux 17,000 years ago.
Bull painting from Lascaux with dots possibly
indicating stars of Taurus, Orion and Pleiades
German researcher Dr. Michael Rappenglueck has arrived at similar
conclusions, pointing to the markings juxtaposed on the painting of a bull at
Lascaux, which he claims delineate the constellation Taurus. The Pleiades
constellation is also accurately represented in its relative position in the
sky over the bull’s shoulder. The Pleiades have been used as seasonal markers
in ancient cultures worldwide and were possibly used to mark the autumn and
spring equinoxes at the time the artwork of Lascaux was created.
Constellations of Orion, Taurus and Pleiades
juxtaposed on bull painting
Painting from Shaft of the Dead
Man–Lascaux
Rappenglueck believes the paintings of Lascaux not only represent the
constellations, but also the cosmology of Paleolithic shamans. He
points to the area of the caves known as the “Shaft of the Dead Man” where the
enigmatic painting of a prone man, a bull, and bird perched on a staff can be
found. It has been interpreted as a shaman lying in trance next to a sacrificed
bull, watched over by his bird helping spirit.
Summer Triangle superimposed on painting from
Shaft of the Dead Man.
According to Rappenglueck these figures form a map of the sky with
the eyes of the bull, man, and bird representing the three prominent stars of Vega,
Deneb and Altair. These three bright stars form the “Summer Triangle”
which can be seen overhead during the summer months in the northern
hemisphere.
Around 17,000 years ago they would have never set in the sky and would have
been prominent during the early spring, in fact Deneb was close to the Pole
Star at the time. Rappenglueck notes: “It is a map of the prehistoric
cosmos…It was their sky, full of animals and spirit guides.”
Orion carving with calendar on reverseBBC-Science/Nature
The earliest known depiction of the constellation Orion, according
to Rappenglueck was carved on a piece of mammoth tusk. This 32,000 year old
artifact of the Aurignacian people of the Upper Paleolithic represents a male
figure with arms and legs outstretched in the same pose as the constellation.
The tablet also has 86 markings on its sides and back. Rappenglueck notes these
are the number of days which when subtracted from a year equal the average
number of days of human gestation. That number also matches the days that one
of Orion’s brightest stars–Betelgeuse–is visible yearly, suggesting
early skywatchers may have connected women’s pregnancy with the cycles of the
celestial gods.
Paleolithic lunar calendar sservi.nasa.gov
Another researcher, Alexander Marshack, found what appears to be the worlds
oldest calendars— small bone plates dated around 30,000- 32,000 years
old— which are engraved or painted with dots or lines. After extensive analysis
he concluded these correspond to lunar or solar motions. One tablet
from Dordogne, France apparently represents the waxing and waning lunar
positions in serpentine form.
These discoveries suggest that Upper Paleolithic peoples were sophisticated
observers of the sky who tracked the motions of the sun, moon, and stars—and
recorded their observations in cave paintings and calendars. Undoubtedly this
knowledge would have enhanced their chances of survival, allowing them to
predict seasonal animal migrations and weather changes. The research also sheds
light on their religious beliefs and practices as well. The spectacular
paintings of bulls in Lascaux, embellished with the markings of the
constellations, imply these people may have possessed their own celestial
myths, and even performed religious ceremonies associated with the solstices
and changing of the seasons in the caves.
Egyptian sky-goddess Nut as cow.E.A. Wallis Budge 1904
These findings raise the intriguing possibility that Paleolithic sky-lore
may have been passed down to the early historical civilizations of Mesopotamia,
Egypt and Neolithic Europe. Is it any coincidence that in some Egyptian myths
the heavens were imagined as a star-spangled cow, or the Sumerians called
the constellation Taurus “the bull of heaven”? The Greeks borrowed the
constellation from the Babylonians, and as a bull it has remained since first
painted on cave walls 17,000 years ago.
Part Two:
Australian
Aboriginal Astronomy
Did Australian
Aborigines
know of star
Betelgeuse?
“The variation in Betelgeuse's brightness
was believed to have been observed with a telescope in 1836 by Sir John
Herschel, when he published his observations in
Outlines of Astronomy. However, the latest
study suggests the Australian Aboriginals
knew of its variability long before this
time, according to a report in ABC Science”.
April Holloway
According to
this article by April Holloway, the aboriginals did know about the star:
New research published in the Journal of
Astronomical History and Heritage suggests that an
ancient Aboriginal love story written in the sky reveals knowledge of
variability in the star Betelgeuse, the ninth brightest star in the night sky
and second brightest in the constellation of Orion.
Betelgeuse, also known as
Alpha Orionis, is a variable star whose magnitude varies between 0.2 and 1.2.
This means that the star brightens and fades over a period of about 400 days.
The variation in Betelgeuse's brightness was believed to have been observed
with a telescope in 1836 by Sir John Herschel, when he published his
observations in Outlines of Astronomy. However, the latest study suggests the
Australian Aboriginals knew of its variability long before this time, according
to a report in ABC Science.
Early last century, famous
anthropologist Daisy Bates spent 16 years living among the Aboriginal people of
South Australia’s Great Victoria Desert, recording their daily lives, lore, and
oral traditions. Among her archived notes are stories regarding the Aboriginal
astronomical traditions of this region.
One story, now referred to as
“The Orion Story” involves the stars making up the constellations of Orion and
Taurus. According to the legend, the story tells how the constellation Orion
(called ‘Nyeeruna’), which is often portrayed as a male hunter, chases after
the Pleiades star cluster, usually portrayed as a group of seven sisters
(‘Yugarila’). Standing between Nyeeruna (Orion) and Yugarilya (Pleiades
cluster), is their eldest sister Kambugudha, represented by the Hyades star
cluster. Kambugudha taunts Nyeeruna by standing before him. The club in
Nyeeruna's right hand, which is the star Betelgeuse, fills with 'fire magic'
ready to throw at Kambugudha. However, she defensively lifts her foot, which is
the star Aldebaran and also full of fire magic, causing Nyeeruna great
humiliation and putting out his fire.
….
A detailed analysis of the
complete story has led researchers from the University of New South Wales to
suggest that the reference to the ‘fire magic’ of Betelgeuse is an observation of
the star in its bright phase, while reference to ‘putting out his fire’ is an
observation of the fading of Betelgeuse.
"This is very interesting
because this ancient story accurately describes the variability of Betelgeuse,
which brightens and fades over a period of about 400 days," said one of
the study authors, Dr Duane Hamacher.
Hamacher explains that other
parts of the Orion Story refer to sparks coming from Nyeeruna's body, when he's
filled with lust for the seven sisters. "The sparks coming from Nyeeruna,
match the radiant of the annual Orionids meteor shower produced by Earth's
passage through the debris trail of the comet Halley, which typically peaks
over the last two weeks of October," said Hamacher.
Hamacher, and co-author Trevor
Leaman, suggest that the Orion story is similar to myths and legends found in
many other cultures around the world, including Greek mythology and legends
from cultures across Asia, South America, and Africa.
In the Greek
myth of the Pleiades, a group of seven sisters were transformed into a cluster
of stars, and were chased by a man seen in the Orion stars. Photo source: Wikipedia.
"There's always a debate
about why these stories are so similar from different places around the
world," says Hamacher. "It could be contamination from one culture to
another, but I think it's simply that as humans we perceive natural phenomena
in certain similar ways”.
[End of quotes]
Mackey’s comment: Or it
could be that we are all descendants of the one human family which was already in
possession of this astronomical knowledge.
Part Three:
Skilled Aboriginal
encoding of knowledge
“It
was evident to Kelly that Aboriginal people catalogued huge scores of
information
about
animals – including species types, physical features, behaviour, links to food
and plants – and wondered how they do it”.
The following is a brief review of Lynne Kelly’s
intriguing book, The Memory Code (2016):
Ancient
Celtic bards were famous for the sheer quantity of information they could
memorise. This included thousands of songs, stories, chants and poems that
could take hours to recite in full.
Today
we are pretty spoiled. Practically the whole of human knowledge is conveniently
available at our fingertips. Why worry about memorising something when we can
simply Google it?
The
answer seems pretty evident when we go into a panic after losing our
smartphones!
Long
before the ancient Celts, Aboriginal Australians were recording vast scores of
knowledge to memory and passing it to successive generations.
Aboriginal
people demonstrate that their oral traditions are not only highly detailed and
complex, but they can survive – accurately – for
thousands, even tens of thousands [sic?], of years.
Yet I
struggle to remember what I did last Tuesday. So how did they do it?
Researcher
Lynne Kelly was drawn to this
question while investigating Aboriginal knowledge about animals for her PhD.
It was
evident to Kelly that Aboriginal people catalogued huge scores of information
about animals – including species types, physical features, behaviour, links to
food and plants – and wondered how they do it.
A memorable thing
Aboriginal
elders explained to her how they encode knowledge in song, dance, story and
place. This led to a theory that may revolutionise archaeology.
It has
long been known that the human brain has evolved [sic] to associate memory with
place, referred to as the method
of loci. This means that we associate memory with a location. How often do
memories come flooding back to us when we visit our childhood haunt?
Loci (Latin for “place”), can refer to
landscape features, ceremonial sites, abstract designs – anything with distinct
features where information can be linked to memory.
Kelly
developed this into a framework that may explain the purpose of famous sites
such as Stonehenge, the Nasca lines and the Moai of Easter Island.
The
meanings of these sites have been a topic of controversy for decades. What
Kelly proposes in her new book The Memory
Code is that sites such as Stonehenge and the Nasca lines are actually
memory spaces.
Knowledge is power
In
oral cultures, knowledge is power. It is imperative that the most important
knowledge be maintained and preserved by a few select custodians who have
proven their worth.
In
Indigenous cultures, elders who have passed the highest levels of initiation
hold the deepest levels of knowledge.
This
is reflected in ceremonial sites where knowledge is passed down. Aboriginal
initiation sites include a secret area where the most sacred knowledge is
discussed.
We
also see this at Stonehenge, where the perimeter of standing stones shields the
centre of the ring, where the most important aspects knowledge are passed on
through ceremony.
These
sites include features that are unique in shape and form. At Uluru, the Anangu
elders associate every crevice, bump, and notch around the perimeter of the
mountain with knowledge that is stored to memory.
Star maps and memory
But loci
is not only linked to places you can touch or visit. Indigenous people also use
the stars as memory spaces.
For
example, groups of stars can represent features on the landscape. Aboriginal
Law Man Ghillar Michael Anderson explains how the Euahlayi people were able to
travel long distances for trade and ceremony.
The
Euahlayi would memorise star
maps at night and learn the songs that talk about their relationship to the
land. Each star was associated with a landscape feature, such as a waterhole.
Later
in the year, they would sing the song as they travelled across country by day.
These songline routes became the foundation of some of our highway networks
that criss-cross the country.
Rather
than navigating by the stars, the stars themselves serve as a memory space.
In The
Memory Code, Kelly provides new insights into how oral societies are able to
store vast quantities of knowledge to memory without it degrading over time.
It may
explain how Aboriginal memories of land that existed before it was flooded by
rising sea levels during the last Ice Age survived
in oral tradition for more than 7,000 years [sic].
To
test it herself, Kelly used the technique to memorise all of the world’s
countries in order of population by linking them with features around her
neighbourhood, including buildings and gardens – making up her own stories for
each one. And she can now recite them flawlessly.
You
might be surprised how easy it is to do yourself.
[End of quote]
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