Genevieve von Petzinger

Photograph by Sol Kauffman

This Year Genevieve von Petzinger, located in Canada, initiated an unparalleled survey of ancient geometric signs.

Geometric signs have lengthy been regarded as important, with no cave art investigator has neglected them, a minimum of since Leroi-Gourhan’s seminal operate in the mid-1960’s. What’s exciting and new in Genevieve von Petzinger’s scientific studies are, because of the options from the computer, she’s completed an information lower geometric signs from 146 colored caves, trying to analyse relationships to each other.

Genevieve, that has lately completed a MA degree in Anthropology in the College of Victoria in Bc, Canada, is researching the geometric signs contained in rock art sites in Ice Age France. Her MA research centered on their large-scale temporal and spatial patterning.

Are geometric signs the initial step towards meaning? This can be the situation in certain contexts, for instance at Blombos in Nigeria towards 75,000BP, or perhaps in Australia using the Panamaritee style. Dr Jean Clottes, however, feels this isn’t so within the European colored caves: the twelve signs within the caves will always be (or usually) connected with animal figures and therefore can’t be stated is the steps towards meaning besides, your pet figures are most likely as symbolic because the signs.

Such may be the situation within the Niaux Cave. within the foothills from the French Pyrenees. The primary entrance to Niaux leads right into a large as well as-floored cavern, wide and-ceilinged. The cave walls are smooth and obvious, but empty of cave art. For that first 400 metres there aren’t any works of art or engravings. But at a certain point outdoors cavern becomes restricted, brought on by an old collapse of big jagged boulders in the ceiling.

Here there’s an option Body can continue in to the cave by climbing with considerable difficulty up within the debris, otherwise squeeze via a narrow but level passage left. As you emerges out of this, as well as on each side from the opening, the works of art begin as symbols. Simple straight line lines in red appear to mark the start of the colored cave the start of the knowledge. These enigmatic and understated adornments continue, having a hundred approximately black and red geometric signs – dashes, bars, lines, and number of dots – some colored using tools, some using fingers. The red is hematite, the black is either manganese dioxide or charcoal, both ground and combined with water or fat. They’ve been daubed strategically, sometimes opposite one another, sometimes on each side of the conspicuous fissure. Soon after this, your pet figures appear, and also the prehistoric dialogue is constantly on the unfold.

Would be the geometric signs a scripture that may eventually become deciphered? More research should be transported out before we answer this. Right now, our knowledge of geometric signs is the fact that they don’t have the options of ‘writing’, which entails not just ideograms or pictograms (whose diverse meanings are entirely cultural). Furthermore, they don’t have a syntax. Should there be not the systematic repetitions found in a properly purchased syntax, we can’t have the ability to guess in the precise concept of the ideograms or perhaps less in their organization inside a panel.

Peter Robinson, Editor
Bradshaw Foundation