Possible Astronomical Depictions in Franco-Cantabrian Paleolithic Rock Art

Rappenglück, Michael A.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_116

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Pleiades are one of the most represented asterisms in ancient times, but isolating the members is very challenging since they are very close to one another. Generally, six or seven members are reported and often with a mere symbolic representation (Rappenglück 2015). Nine members is quite exceptional but it is actually possible to see up to 14 of the stars with the naked eye in areas without light pollution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible stellar asterisms carved on a protohistoric stone

Molaro,

Bernardini

2023

Astron Nachr

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Chisel marks on a stone uncovered in Rupinpiccolo protohistoric hill fort from north‐eastern Italy were suggested to be a representation of the night sky (Bernardini et al. 2022 Documenta Praehistorica XLIX). The patterns of the 29 marks are analyzed here to establish if they reproduce popular stellar asterisms. Nine marks are found to match the Tail of Scorpius and five the Orion's Belt, together with Rigel and Betelgeuse. Nine marks are found in the approximate position of the Pleiades showing some match with the cluster members. On the back side, 5 marks possibly reproduce Cassiopeia. One mark slightly North of Orion cannot be identified. The 28 marks show a Pearson correlation coefficient (28) with stellar positions higher than 0.99 with a probability of a wrong correlation lower than 0.001. Departures are about one degree, or about 7 mm, as the mean diameter of the marks, which suggests a manufacturing limitation in the charting. The fort dates 1800–400 BCE when Scorpius and Orion showed about the same orientation at the heliacal rising. The unidentified mark challenges the whole picture. We suggest it could have been the progenitor of a failed supernova, thus offering also the possibility of a verification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible stellar asterisms carved on a protohistoric stone

Molaro,

Bernardini

2023

Astron Nachr

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“…Rappenglück (2014), Taylor (2021) and Bacon et al (2022) all emphasize the importance of the number 13 and attempt to link their calendars to events tied to animal behaviour such as mating, birthing and migration, but they differ in the details, for example whether the number 13 connotes days (Taylor 2021), weeks (Rappenglück 2014) or months (Bacon et al 2022), whether the starting point for the calendar should be the 'bonne saison' (Bacon et al 2022) or the new moon (Taylor 2021), and over the importance of 'box signs' (i.e. quadrangles) (Rappenglück 2014;Taylor 2021) versus Y-signs (Bacon et al 2022). Rappenglück (2014), however, interprets quadrangles as months of time rather than the new moon (Taylor 2021).…”

Section: Seasonality In Animal Depictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…quadrangles) (Rappenglück 2014;Taylor 2021) versus Y-signs (Bacon et al 2022). Rappenglück (2014), however, interprets quadrangles as months of time rather than the new moon (Taylor 2021). We now turn to an evaluation of the interpretations put forth by Rappenglück (2014), Taylor (2021) and Bacon et al (2022).…”

Section: Seasonality In Animal Depictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There has been a renewed interest in lunar calendars as an explanation for parietal art from the Upper Palaeolithic (see, for example, Bacon et al 2022;Rappenglück 2014;Taylor 2021). The reasoning behind this proposed interpretation is that huntergatherers are dependent on the animals in their environment for their livelihood (though it should be noted that plant foods may be of overwhelming importance in hunter-gatherer diets : Milton 2000; moreover, it has long been noted that the animals predominantly depicted in Palaeolithic art are not those which formed the bulk of the diet: Bahn 2016, contra Bacon et al 2022, 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the Evidence for Lunar Calendars in Upper Palaeolithic Parietal Art

Nowell,

Bahn,

Le Quellec

2024

CAJ

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In this paper, we examine the lunar calendar interpretation to evaluate whether it is a viable explanation for the production of Upper Palaeolithic parietal art. We consider in detail the history of this approach, focusing on recently published variations on this interpretation. We then discuss the scientific method and whether these recent studies are designed to address the research questions necessary to test a lunar calendar hypothesis. More broadly, we explore challenges related to inferring meaning in art of the deep past, the use of secondary sources and selecting appropriate ethnographic analogies. Finally, we assess claims that the lunar calendar interpretation documents the world's oldest (proto)writing system. We conclude that the lunar calendar interpretation as currently construed suffers from multiple theoretical and methodological weaknesses preventing it from being a viable explanation for the production of Upper Palaeolithic art. We further find that claims following from this interpretation to have discovered the oldest known (proto)writing system are unsubstantiated.

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“…Examples abound of prehistoric rock art with motifs that have been interpreted as representations of celestial objects, including constellations (e.g. Rappenglück 2015) and even supernovas (e.g. Aveni 1993), or with motifs that are activated, or perhaps animated, through their interaction with sunlight (e.g.…”

Section: Celestial Symbolism In the Materials Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbolism and Archaeoastronomy in Prehistory

Silva

Pimenta

Tirapicos

2021

Oxford Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution

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This chapter explores the symbolic and conceptual relations between prehistoric groups and the sky. The study of how people engage with the sky is known as cultural astronomy, a term that comprises any field concerned with sky and culture, including archaeoastronomy. The latter focuses on analyzing the archaeological record for evidence of past skyscapes, i.e., past forms of engagement with the celestial objects, and how they would feature in the world views of the societies under study. The chapter discusses six case studies from the Western part of the Iberian Peninsula that are representative of prehistoric contexts found in other parts of the world. They illustrate how prehistoric skyscapes provided not only spatial axes for the construction of structures that align to celestial objects and events but, more importantly, how such alignments served as temporal anchors moored to key environmental, social, and symbolic moments of transition.

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Possible Astronomical Depictions in Franco-Cantabrian Paleolithic Rock Art

Cited by 3 publications

References 2 publications

Possible stellar asterisms carved on a protohistoric stone

Possible stellar asterisms carved on a protohistoric stone

Evaluating the Evidence for Lunar Calendars in Upper Palaeolithic Parietal Art

Symbolism and Archaeoastronomy in Prehistory

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