This is an interesting piece of news that we would like to share and comment. Some days ago this article here reports that “Archaeologists Discover 200,000-Year-Old Hand & Footprints That Could Be the World’s Earliest Cave Art”. Very interesting, indeed? Reading this and other sources it is clear that the finding, in in Quesang Hot Spring on the High Tibetan Plateau (average elevation above 4,500 metres), 80 km from Lhasa, consists in “five handprints and five footprints dating to the Middle Pleistocene near the base of a rocky promontory”. These footprints would be dated between 69,000 and 226,000 years ago! If confirmed, it would be the first rock art act ever. According to the scholars who investigated it, this was a deliberate act made by young males (7 and 12 years old). The debate switched to the term “rock art”. Is this rock art? Or a child game? In the piece of news linked in our first paragraph you can read that not all the scholars agree and dr Zhang (main field investigator on this story) remembers that “such arguments are predicated on modern notions of what constitutes art, driving his point home with an appropriately stone-aged metaphor: When you use stone tools to dig something in the present day, we cannot say that that is technology. But if ancient people use that, that’s technology”. We fully agree with him. The concept of “art” has always been linked to the cultural perspective of the humankind. Who can says what art is and what is not? We are not great lovers of “contemporary art”, but apart our personal approach, it is quite sure that “contemporary art” would have not been named as art some decades ago! Moreover, we should add here also the concept of “playing” as a peculiar human act, therefore expression of the humankind. Is an “expression” of our culture, “art”? We think yes, therefore a “game” is “art and those footprints can be considered the oldest rock art ever”.
The Clovis projectile found in Zacatecas Image Credit : INAH, published in Heritagedaily.com
We report this piece of news recently published online, which points out – once more – a theory called “Clovis first”. The opportunity comes from a recent discovery of a “Clovis projectile point” found almost 1.000 miles far from Clovis, where the theory began in the early 20th century.
The link will help you to read once again the theory: “Clovis first” was the predominant hypothesis among archaeologists in the 20th century according to which the first Americands derive from this prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, Clovis.
During our 2011 tour in South America we interviewed different researchers who are not aligned with that. Together with those, we remind here the great book “Across Atlantic Ice” written by Professor Breadley (read here our latest inerview to him) together with Dott. Dennis Stanford (Smithsonian Institution – Washington, D.C.). In 2002 Prof Bradley proposed the so-called Solutrean hypotesis. According to this, Solutrean (a relatively advanced flint tool-making style of the Upper Paleolithic of the Final Gravettian, from around 22,000 to 17,000 BC) is the European culture that was able to cross the Atlantic, starting the “conquer” of the Americas. Then, if we enlarge our focus to South America, we have to mention the cultures which arrived in Peru’s and Chile’s coasts from Asia (Japan?).
A short post, just to remind us how complex our history could be!
Karahan Tepe (Turchia): tempio di 11.000 anni fa impone delle nuove domande
Immagine pubblicata su https://www.habernediyor.com/
Si chiama Karahan Tepe e sta a circa 50 km da Gobelki Tepe. E’ il nuovo santuario rupestre trovato nella stessa zona della Turchia meridionale, che orami possiamo considerare uno degli epicentri della ricerca archeologica, tanto sta rivoluzionando la nostra comprensione del passato. Karahan Tepe, individuato nel 1997 ma scavato solo dal 2019, ci impone con una profonda necessità di ridefinire i parametri del Neolitico.
Datato al 9.000 a.C. – come Gobelki Tepe – Karahan Tepe è una struttura templare, scavata nella roccia con un diametro di 23 metri e una profondità di 5 che si contraddistingue per undici pilastri di roccia a forma fallica. Da una parete “sbuca” una forma che sembra essere quella di una testa umana. Aggiungeteci pure 250 obelischi con figure di animali. Ci sarebbe tanto da dire su questi elementi, ma ci preme invece sottolineare come questo tempio possa essere espressione di una cultura stanziale, o quanto meno di un prodotto da un élite religiosa che stanziale doveva essere. Infatti, come era per Stonehenge, non è detto che un tempio – che dobbiamo comunque inserire in un concetto di Sacro e Sacralità del Territorio che è ben differente da quello odierno – sia il segnale definitivo di una società stanziale. Potrebbe infatti essere espressione di una cultura ancora nomade, o semi-nomade – che però decide di eleggere degli esponenti devoti ad una sfera sacra, dei sacerdoti, che quindi si prendono cura di un tempio. Sacerdoti di cosa? Esponenti di una religione? O di una scienza? Questo tempio ha delle caratteristiche che inducono a pensare a una qualche connessione con l’osservazione del cielo: obelischi di pietra, colonne itifalliche parlano di una valenza simbolica, ma in quanto elementi verticali richiamano il cielo, verso il quale puntano. Non scordiamoci che gli elementi verticali sono stati spesso interpretati – con diverse prove a ragione – come possibili “cornici”, strumenti per inquadrare astri e pianeti, per registrarne movimenti e ricorrenze- Conoscere il movimento degli astri ha diversi vantaggi in differenti attività: aiuta gli spostamenti (per mare o per terra), l’agricoltura (semina e raccolta), ma anche l’allevamento (spostamento degli animali dal pascolo estivo a quello invernale). In breve, suggeriamo di tenere traccia di qualsiasi sviluppo nello studio dei templi turchi. Il sistema Gobelki- Karahan Tepe ci ricorda tanto il sistema Stonhenge-Woodenhenge. Sistemi binari connessi al cielo creati da esseri umani con menti binarie che al cielo vorrebbero sempre tendere.
Categories: Senza categoria|Commenti disabilitati su Il sacro svela il profano
Presented to Arkeomount.com by Aline Lara Galicia | University of Sevilla
Rock art is one of the most powerful marker of our prehistory. A key element to consider when studying an environment as it is a crucial part of the human landscape. Paying a great attention to rock art studies, we got in touch with Aline Lara Galicia of the Universidad de Sevilla asking her to present us the recently released documentary “Rock art manifestations in Latin America“. Aline, who is part of the “Instituto de Estudios sobre América Latina” and the “Grupo de Investigación ATLAS” (Seminario Permanente Manifestaciones Rupestres en América Latina) was so kind to write down a post for arkeomount.com! This is the link to watch the full documentary online : https://youtu.be/tkZgbvMvn6E and following is Aline’s post. Thx Aline!
Note that we are trying to get in touch with each single researcher involved in this project as to present on this blog some further insights coming from the project!
Cover of “Manifestaciones Rupestres en América Latina” – June 2021 – Edition: Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre América Latina. Universidad de SevillaPublisher: Instituto de Estudios sobre América Latina (Universidad de Sevilla) – Editor: Aline Lara GaliciaISBN: 978-84-09-31817-9
Eduardo Galeano once said, “Many small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world”. And I am one of those who think that indeed those small people -unique- can do the same from their research. How could the world be changed? Well, through creativity and scientific dissemination in which everyone contributes, proposes and creates; but also trying to reach society. That everyone understands how great is everything that precedes us and has been created by human beings. Rock art is just a small sample, but curiously, perhaps the most difficult to investigate, to understand and also to conserve.
The history of rock art, or more commonly known as rock art, goes back tens of thousands of years. The possibility of being able to understand this symbolism or what they could have meant first brings us closer to knowing the past and the shared elements of human culture and cultures. In Latin America, these are social representations, made in specific places and moments. It tells us about ceremonies, thoughts about shamanism, writing, myths and cosmologies.
With the documentary we present the most recent research on rock art in countries such as Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina in the voice of the researchers themselves. We tried to make the reading for a wider audience that likes this part of the history of mankind. Society today, for example, in Spain knows a lot about European rock art, since it is one of its most important prehistoric representatives. However, they do not know that there is rock art evidence in Latin America and that they are as important and amazing as Altamira in Spain, or Lascaux or Chauvet in France or Val Camonica in Italy.
Through this work we wanted to point out not only the diverse investigations but also that rock art in Latin America can still approach the meanings, thanks to the reminiscences that have remained in the memory of the native peoples. In spite of the long temporality, it is evident that the interpretations, especially those of the XVI and XVI centuries, can embrace the narratives of cultural identity and the past of these peoples. Many represent one of the largest concentrations of rock art where the forms and figures represent the mirror of a cosmovision of the past of all these cultures.
The project arises from our most recent teaching innovation project from the University of Seville “Rock art manifestations in Latin America” which began with an online seminar in 2020, but now we have been expanding regions, activities and joint publications, always with the aim of disseminating. It is an initiative of several Latin American and European institutions.
Great researchers participate such as Ramon Viñas Vallverdú, Moisés Valadez Moreno, Yuri de la Rosa Gutiérrez, Sandra L. Ramírez Barrera, Luis A. Martos López; all of them from the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico, Leonardo Páez from Venezuela; Aïcha Bachir Bacha from the EHESS in France, Marcela Sepúlveda Retamal from the Pontificia Universidad Católicaa de Chile and a whole team in Argentina with Christian Vitry Di Bello director of the Tastil project, Bernardo Maltz, Gastón Vitry and Ana Paula Cevidanes from the Universities of Salta, Córdoba and Buenos Aires, the youngest of the project. The project continues, the documentary is only a part of it. There are other activities with other researchers of great trajectory. And the web page is in process. Lastly, we have a project to create awareness of the faunal biodiversity in Latin America and the danger of extinction, from rock art. With success especially with children. We are still small people but our work is to give some knowledge from the past to be able to act in the present.
Aline Lara Galicia Instituto de Estudios sobre América Latina Grupo de Investigación ATLAS Seminario Permanente Manifestaciones Rupestres en América Latina Universidad de Sevilla
Teotihuacan (Messico) Credits: Image by Makalu from Pixabay
E’ recente la notizia che l’antico insediamento messicano di Teotihuacan possa essere molto più vasto di quanto noto ad oggi (a questo link trovate una fonte inglese).
Ancora una volta a consentire l’acquisizione di massicce informazioni in un tempo relativamente breve e senza scavare una sola buca, è una scansione effettuata con LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) combinata con sondaggi sul terreno e dati di precedenti mappature. Il confronto tra l’antica Teotihuacan e l’odierna valle di Teotihuacan è spettacolare! Si evince che Teotihuacan, tra gli anni 100 a.C. e 550 d.C., era una delle città più grandi del mondo antico. La tecnologia LIDAR, che sfrutta i riflessi della luce laser per individuare strutture nel sottosuolo, ha scoperto che il sito copriva 21 chilometri quadrati e il 65% delle aree urbane ha proprietà o caratteristiche allineate ortogonalmente entro tre gradi rispetto ai 15 gradi a est del nord astronomico (l’allineamento già noto e riconosciuto per Teotihuacan). Come le mura cittadine, anche i fiumi furono deviati secondo questo allineamento: sommati ai corsi dei canali artificiali, il totale dei corsi d’acqua della regione impattati da questa monumentale opera di allineamento astronomico, raggiungono la lunghezza di quasi 17 chilometri! Stiamo cercando di metterci in contatto con i ricercatori che hanno lavorato sul campo e non mancheremo di farvi avere aggiornamenti sul tema!
Categories: Senza categoria|Commenti disabilitati su Teotihuacan: il LIDAR ci restituisce una grandiosa opera di allineamento astronomico
La ricostruzione dell’Uomo venuto dal ghiaccio al Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige (c) Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige
Il 19 settembre 2021 saranno 30 anni dalla scoperta del corpo dell’uomo del Similaun – Ötzi – che per 5.000 anni si è conservato tra i ghiacci delle Alpi Venoste fino a quando la famiglia Simon di Norimberga non lo ha notato. Conservato dal 1998 presso il Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige a Bolzano, dove ancora oggi lo si può ammirare, Ötzi non è solo “un uomo dell’Età del Rame”, ucciso da un suo simile durante una battuta di caccia, ma è soprattutto un parente di tutti noi, che ci ha portato in regalo il nostro passato. 30 anni sono trascorsi e non sono mancati gli studi sul corpo, sui materiali, sull’alimentazione, sulle armi di Ötzi. Grazie a lui si è affermata anche in Europa la bioarcheologia e alcune degli studi più sensazionali li abbiamo ripresi anche qui, su arkeomount, come nel 2014 quando lo studio sul DNA della mummia ha aperto nuovi scenari sulla linea genetica europea. Sappiamo che camminava molto, che i suoi attrezzi testimoniavano scambi commerciali su ampia scala in tutto il continente, che ha permesso a 800 studiosi di tutto il mondo di fare avanzamenti nella nostra conoscenza della preistoria. Qui un buon riassunto.
Nell’occasione di questi 30 anni dalla scoperta, sabato e domenica 18/19 settembre 2021, il Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige festeggerà questa ricorrenza con i suoi visitatori sui prati del Talvera, a soli 200 metri dal museo, con un festival archeologico gratuito che include anche l’ingresso al museo. Per chi volesse avere una visione più ampia dei ritrovamenti di esseri umani preistorici tra i ghiacci del mondo, suggeriamo di guardare questa nostra intervista esclusiva al Prof. Chavez, protagonista nel 1995 insieme all’archeologo Reinhard del ritrovamento della mummia di Juanita. Intervista girata nel novembre del 2011 al Museo Santuary di Arequipa (Peru) di fronte a quella che forse è la più famosa mummia al mondo ritrovata nelle terre alte.
In 2011 she hosted us at the only museum in Chile where a Moai statue outside of Rapanui is. We are talking about Betty Haoa Rapahango, born in the Easter Island, who devoted her career to spread her native culture. She works at the Fonck Museum in Viña del Mar (Chile) and being a descendant of the only 122 natives survived in the Island, it was an honour to spoke to her. We adapted a little bit the 2020 questions for her, who is not an archaeologist, but a very interesting person with a passion for mankind history!
A: Why did you choose to help other people to better understand your native culture? BHR: It wasn’t really on purpose. Just as I was entering the library world, I began to realize that most of those who visited the Rapanui library did not know much about my culture. Then, I realized that, by showing them the evolution, development and decline of the island’s culture, they would better understand the Rapanui people who still exist today.
Betty Haoa, 2020
A: When did you understand that it was the right or the wrong choice? BHR: It was given little by little, as more and more people visited the library and for several years I did not think about it.
A: Sometimes during hard times we think about giving up…You did not! You are still doing it! Why? I mean, what happened? Do you have a special “mantra” helping your balance, or did you have to struggle with someone convincing this person that going on was the best choice? Who? Your relatives? Yourself?… The final question is “what is your secret to keep on doing your job?” BHR: In truth, I am a fan of Rapanui culture. Like everyone on the island. No Rapanui denies his culture, no matter how enormous the counterpart. I have never considered, nor will I do in the future, to stop helping those who need to study, understand or live in this Polynesian culture.
A: How do you spend your spare time when you are far from home? BHR: I really like reading, so I take advantage of free time (and also air travel to Easter Island) to catch up on what’s new in books, magazines and newspapers.
A: Let’s suppose that you were not a “cultural expert”.. what is your job? policeman, farmer, superwoman? BHR: What job would I have liked to have? Well, anyone who allowed me to travel around the world, what I already get as a researcher of my culture.
Today we are happy to host Stefano Grimaldi (Italy), archaeologist, Associated Professor at Università degli studi di Trento (Trento, Italia) and President of the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana (Anagni, Italia). We interviewed him in 2015 for the Italian magazine “Montagne 360” (Club Alpino Italiano) and today he is our host for the Do Not Feed the Archaeologists’ project!
Stefano Grimaldi, archaeologist
Why did you choose to become an archaeologist? SG: Archaeology have chosen me. I started Economy and Finance studies but after three years I decided it was not for me. By chance some friends invited me to re-start my studies at the Humanities faculty (they were different times, by the way… we were not still addicted to technology, so we needed to talk with people to get information, ideas, …) and after a while I met the professor who became my teacher in archaeology. The more I studied with him, the more Archaeology embraced me.
When did you understand that it was the right or the wrong choice? SG: Never! I am still figuring out; but I do not think this is the problem. More than a choice it was a good chance to live a life dedicated to what I really like: to travel around the world in order to have a larger glimpse over modern humanity.
Sometimes during hard times, we think about giving up…You did not! You are still an active archaeologist! Why? I mean, what happened? Do you have a special “mantra” helping your balance, or did you have to struggle with someone convincing this person that going on was the best choice? Who? Your relatives? Yourself?… The final question is “what is your secret to keep on digging?” SG: Digging is fascinating, it is an exciting intellectual and physical activity. The boring side of our profession is bureaucracy. About one-third (probably more) of my working time is dedicated to fulfill endless forms, to discuss to administrative officials, to write complex reports just to have the permit to buy a simple pencil.
Stefano Grimaldi in an “off record” picture taken on the field!
How do you pass your spare time during the digging evenings (anyway while you are off from digging, but still far from home?) SG:
There is no free time during the excavation time. After digging, we back home and, while someone prepare the meal for everybody, other people wash and clean the archaeological findings; after dinner, we check the documentation, draw the artefacts, and so on until midnight or later; at five a.m. we are ready for another excavation day… OK! this is the situation that any field director is dreaming about. The truth is to have a pint of beer during a night out with the students.
Let’s suppose that you were not an archaeologist… what is your job? policeman, farmer, batman?… SG: No way! It is very hard stuff to answer. But in my dreams… I have not a job: I am a prehistoric hunter!..
It’s high time to read Prof. Ernesto Piana (Argentina) retired archaeologist, former main researcher at CADIC/Conicet in Ushuaia and former Director of the Archaeological Project “Canal Beagle”. We visited him in October 2011, during “Ande 2011” project and we published plenty of posts thanks to his “lessons”!
1) Why did you chose to become an archaeologist?
EP: It looked to be a better than a bank cashier life. And also I was a country boy and archaeologists are the evolution of the field trackers. Reading more traces than formulas or papers.
2) When did you understand that it was the right or the wrong choice?
EP: AFTER RETIREMENT. Key word in this tricky question is the past tense “was”. All along my career I asked myself “is this the right choice”. Only now I may question “was it”.
Prof. Ernesto Piana during an hike – 2019
3) Sometimes during hard times we think about giving up…You did not! You are still an active archaeologist! Why? I mean, what happened? Do you have a special “mantra” helping your balance, or did you have to struggle with someone convincing this person that going on was the best choice? Who? Your relatives? Yourself?… The final question is “what is your secret to keep on digging?” EP: I am retired but keep active. Why to keep researching? Main reason, curiosity. Second reason, because archaeology is the routine of astonishment. The other 98 reasons are too many to be detailed. Why to keep going to field work at 71 years old? Because of old students and other archaeologist invitations. And to have a friendly wine by the camps fire.
4) How do you pass your spare time during the digging evenings (anyway while you are off from digging, but still far from home?) EP: Is there time to spare during field seasons? After hour of diggings includes conditioning the findings, go over the day’s recordings, cutting wood for fire, tent order, cleaning equipment, food preparing, discuss on the out comings, the blooming data and next day’s planning. But mainly having fun.
Prof. Ernesto Piana hiking in the mountains – 2019
5) Let’s suppose that you were not an archaeologist.. what is your job? policeman, farmer, batman?.. Graphic humorist. Or to be a land owner. A couple acres would be enough,… if being around the “Fontana di Trevi”!
Today let’s read Prof. Bruce Bradley (USA) – anthropologist and Emeritus Professor / University of Exeter – Department of Archaeology. He was mentioned in Arkeomount.com in 2012 when he published the book “Across Atlantic Ice” together with Dott. Dennis Stanford (Smithsonian Institution – Washington, D.C.). Today he is part of our Do Not Feed the Archaeologists! project! Bruce runs also a great blog: check out www.primtech.rocks !
Prof. Bruce Bradley in Beijing – 2019
1) Why did you choose to become an archaeologist?
BB: From a very young age I was fascinated with things “Indian”, especially arrowheads and other ‘relics’. I was also keen on snakes, lizards, frogs and other small beasties and of course, like many kids- rocks. I was fortunate to be in a family that encouraged these interests and made opportunities to explore. The one key passion I had was wanting to make arrowheads but try as I might this eluded me until I was in High School. Our family moved from Michigan, where visibility of artifacts was very low to the Arizona desert where they were almost everywhere I looked. When I was ready to enroll in University, I wanted to become a herpetologist, but the science requirements were overwhelming. So, I decided on archaeology (anthropology). That was the beginning, and I am still at it.
2) When did you understand that it was the right or the wrong choice? BB: I knew is was right from the day I realized I could make it my life’s path.
3)Sometimes during hard times, we think about giving up…You did not! You are still an active archaeologist! Why? I mean, what happened? Do you have a special “mantra” helping your balance, or did you have to struggle with someone convincing this person that going on was the best choice? Who? Your relatives? Yourself?… The final question is “what is your secret to keep on digging?” BB: I have never lost my passion for discovery- things, ideas, people, places, etc. Archaeology has provided it all.
prof. Bruce Bradley in Brazil – 2016
4) How do you pass your spare time during the digging evenings (anyway while you are off from digging, but still far from home?) BB. Most places I when go ‘on the road’ it is because I am either giving a knapping workshop or working on a research project where experimental archaeology is a primary method. So, I can usually be found busting rocks. When not doing that I enjoy the challenges of sport fishing. Check out my web page www.primtech.rocks
5) Let’s suppose that you were not an archaeologist.. what is your job? policeman, farmer, batman?.. BB: I can imagine I would have knuckled down and done the science to become a herpetologist. If that hadn’t happened, probably a stone mason.
