Art and megafauna in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia: Illusion or reality?

Taçon, Paul S.C.; Webb, S. David

doi:10.22459/ta47.11.2017.08

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…Unlike the Upper Palaeolithic art of Europe where there are multiple repetitions of rock art, the La Lindosa potential megafauna depictions are constituted by isolated finds in a small number of panels. This is similar to the picture from other regions of South America [ 15 ], Australia [ 3 ], South East Asia [ 2 ] and Africa [ 8 ]. The findings at La Lindosa contribute to the emerging picture of considerable geographical and stylistic variation in both geometric and figurative paintings that occur in rock shelters with early human occupations [ 13 , 81 , 82 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Depictions of megafauna have accompanied the early human archaeological contexts across all of the continents (e.g. [1][2][3]), revealing a fundamental interrelationship between early humans and megafauna during their global human expansion into new environments. However, the identification of extinct megafauna from rock art has been a source of considerable debate for archaeologists around the world [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?

Iriarte

Ziegler

Outram

et al. 2022

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Megafauna paintings have accompanied the earliest archaeological contexts across the continents, revealing a fundamental inter-relationship between early humans and megafauna during the global human expansion as unfamiliar landscapes were humanized and identities built into new territories. However, the identification of extinct megafauna from rock art is controversial. Here, we examine potential megafauna depictions in the rock art of Serranía de la Lindosa, Colombian Amazon, that includes a giant sloth, a gomphothere, a camelid, horses and three-toed ungulates with trunks. We argue that they are Ice Age rock art based on the (i) naturalistic appearance and diagnostic morphological features of the animal images, (ii) late Pleistocene archaeological dates from La Lindosa confirming the contemporaneity of humans and megafauna, (iii) recovery of ochre pigments in late Pleistocene archaeological strata, (iv) the presence of most megafauna identified in the region during the late Pleistocene as attested by archaeological and palaeontological records, and (v) widespread depiction of extinct megafauna in rock art across the Americas. Our findings contribute to the emerging picture of considerable geographical and stylistic variation of geometric and figurative rock art from early human occupations across South America. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our findings for understanding the early human history of tropical South America. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?

Iriarte

Ziegler

Outram

et al. 2022

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…permafrost carcasses), such as coat colour and patterning and other attributes expressed in perishable soft tissue structures (e.g. forms of ears, hair, fur and so on) (Bahn & Vertut, 1997; Pruvost et al ., 2011; Taçon & Webb, 2017). Pictorial representations in rock art also have the potential to elucidate early human–animal relationships that are difficult or impossible to reconstruct based only on excavated remains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Australia, where over 50 species of megafauna became extinct after the arrival of modern humans at least 50 ka, rock art specialists have long debated whether parietal images exist of these ancient creatures (Taçon & Webb, 2017). These debates invariably focus on unusual animal motifs painted in a seemingly naturalistic manner but which display one or more traits that are difficult to explain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another difficulty is when the depictions are purportedly of extinct megafauna with living counterparts that have comparable morphologies. For example, large rock paintings of kangaroos have been interpreted to depict, in one case, the extinct short‐faced kangaroo Procoptodon because the muzzle is deemed to be shorter than that of an extant kangaroo, and, in another case, the extinct long‐faced kangaroo Protemnodon because the muzzle is deemed to be longer (Taçon & Webb, 2017). Such interpretations are also hampered by the problem that most external morphological characteristics of extinct megafauna are not available from fossil reconstructions, and certainly no soft tissue details, so we do not know what these creatures actually looked like.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Pleistocene rock paintings depict Sulawesi warty pigs (Sus celebensis) with a domestication character?

Brumm

Oktaviana

Burhan

et al. 2021

Archaeology in Oceania

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The Indonesian island of Sulawesi harbours numerous early rock paintings of the endemic Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis). Several S. celebensis images, including one dated to at least 45,500 years ago (ka), portray these suids with an anatomical character not observed in the living species: a pair of teat‐like protuberances in the neck area. This feature seems to be most consistent morphologically with neck “wattles”, cutaneous appendages only manifested in modern domestic swine (Sus scrofa) and some other domesticated ungulates (e.g. goats). The notion that the trait portrayed by the Late Pleistocene artists is a domestication character is clearly contentious. We therefore consider: (1) whether we have misidentified the trait – a common problem in rock art analysis; (2) whether wattles are a genuine domestication trait; and (3) if so, whether the notion that Pleistocene people domesticated S. celebensis is plausible. A clear resolution to all of these problems evades us; however, our investigation of this anomaly in the ancient rock art poses important questions about the nature and complexity of early human–pig relations in this island.

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Extinction, Inscription and the Dreaming: Exploring a Thylacine Connection

Glaskin

2021

Anthropological Forum

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Art and megafauna in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Australia: Illusion or reality?

Cited by 3 publications

References 14 publications

Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?

Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?

Do Pleistocene rock paintings depict Sulawesi warty pigs (Sus celebensis) with a domestication character?

Extinction, Inscription and the Dreaming: Exploring a Thylacine Connection

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