You may have read my post a little while back Figure Stones - Simple Genus, where I suggested how prehistoric language had evolved into a simpler form. Here is a find from my site that is so concise and accurately carved with such visible single minded intent, that I suggest it is absolute proof. All the common glyphs are easily created with this flint tool in the most practical and efficient way, this time no archeologist has the excuse of 'I cant see it', unless of coarse they are in fact blind.
Further more this find links straight into Anatomical Modern Human culture and written symbolic language and art.
Further more this find links straight into Anatomical Modern Human culture and written symbolic language and art.
If you are new to figure stones these two posts should bring you up to speed:-
Eoliths, flint tools and figure stones.
Figure stones Mystery solved? Unlikely!
How do we know it was humans that used these items?
Quite Simply, it's woven into the very fabric of our culture throughout history.
1. Figurative art - Humans are the only species proven to have created figurative art. There is no evidence that our closest cousins the neanderthals or denisovan created any pictorial descriptions of any kind, nor any other creature on the planet for that matter.
2. Consistence - These objects were in use for vast amounts of time and there is consistency in the art style and topology of the descriptions. Half, full side on and head profiles were used in this art form, which I have traced back as far as the cretaceous period. Even the Egyptians used these conventions in there wall paintings and hieroglyphs. So the same art conventions were in use for millions upon millions of years.
3. Optical illusions - I'm not talking about anamorphic art or seeing things here, the point I want to get to is the combining of two or more images to create a single image that depicts each of the subject matters. This is quite a hard thing to archive , and the 'engine' for such images in prehistoric times was practicality and efficiency. Practicality from the stand point of - why carry ten stones to say ten things, and efficiency - why carve two images when a slight addition to one image covers both descriptions. This kind of optical illusion can be seen throughout my entire artwork collection, has only ever been used by humans and can be seen in much more recent prehistoric artworks known to be made by humans. See :- Duncan Caldwell's Page
4. Cognition and Skills - Fine sculpture, complex cognition the use of pigments and paint in the time of the dinosaurs (although who actualy knows when that was), come on people!, it can only be us!, paleo anthropology is completely busted. There is no observable evolution in our cognition or artistic skills for millions of years., what is observable is actually a simplification over time of the art used in the creation of prehistoric visual communication devices.
5. Gönnersdorf Venus Figurines - These so called 'Venus' figurines were carved around 15000 years ago by Anatomically Modern Humans. These are not Venus figurines at all, although there is evidence that a symbolic representation of the female form is being used, they are in fact the simplification of prehistoric visual language, with all the glyphs molded into an almost nondescript simple shape. This is exactly the same shape common in figure stones, except usually with many more details. Even the flint knife found in the 4000 year old grave of the Amesbury Archer has this symbology worked into it. See :- Don's Maps
6. The Written Word - As far as visual communication goes, It all makes perfect sense, figure stones to hieroglyphs to the first alphabets, a continuity in the art of visual communication. See :- Is Sinai 361 a Figure Stone?
The Flint Tool that puts it simply.
In this plate flint cleaver/chopping tool many paleolithic glyphs can be seen, only in a very simplified format, others that have the same basic shape and combined motifs in the same locations can be seen here and here. To use these items prehistoric peoples held them aloft and pointed to the designated eye feature of the chosen subject matter, in some cases where eye features are shared the tool was likely animated to give more indication of the correct creature motif to be communicated. (Flapping motions for birds, strutting motions for gorillas)
Above: Two painted eye symbolic representations can be seen. Suggested motifs are human, hominoid and bovine.
Above: Elephant motif to the left. Notice the perfect right angle bottom right, and parallel line to the left.
Above: Two painted eye descriptions can be seen on the white surface to the right of the stone. The upper painted with an unknown substance the lower with ochre.
Above: A phallic glyph is shown.
Above: Gorilla strut to the right probably also doubles as a bear front half glyph.
(Use the lower ochre eye description)
Above: A pointing hand, finger or thumb description is show leftwards.
(Note the chip to create the symbolic nail)
Above: A horse head glyph is shown rightward.
