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Eerie Figures With Giant Heads Found Painted in a Rock Shelter in Tanzania
Science ^ | June 29, 2022 | Michelle Starr

Posted on 07/03/2022 5:48:47 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

In 2018, archaeologists made a staggering discovery in Swaga Swaga Game Reserve in central Tanzania: 52 previously undocumented rock shelters, deliberately painted with rock art. Weathering had mostly destroyed all but a handful; but of those that were preserved, one was an absolute enigma.

The site, named Amak'hee 4, was elaborately painted with a frieze of figurative art – including three mysterious, anthropomorphic figures with extremely oversized heads...

The Amak'hee 4 panel is difficult to date, but in 2021 Grzelczyk was able to gauge that it's at least a few hundred years old. It's painted almost entirely in red pigment, except for five figures in white.

The weathering on this pigment, and the absence of domestic animals, suggests that it's fairly old, dating back to the time of hunter-gatherer societies in the region.

Depicted on the panel are animals that appear to resemble wildebeest, elands, buffalo, and even a giraffe, as well as a smattering of human-like figures with large heads. But one group stands out...

The culture of the Sandawe people, who are descended from those who used to inhabit the region, does not include motifs of buffalo-headed people or people who can shape-shift into buffaloes (or vice versa), so the images may depict something else. But, Grzelczyk notes, buffalo horns do play a significant role in some Sandawe rituals.

Whatever they may be, the strange figures are not without precedent. Not far from Amak'hee 4, in the Kondoa region in central Tanzania, two rock shelter paintings in particular bear a strong resemblance to the trio...

All three sites show similar figures, with large heads, although the Kolo figures sport a striped motif, interpreted as a headdress.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: africa; amakhee4; caveart; godsgravesglyphs; sandawe; swagaswaga; tanzania
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To: seowulf
I'm not sure he ever knew anything about anything. :^) And he's never been as entertaining as Giorgio A. Tsoukalos:
Is such a thing even possible? Yes, it is.
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

21 posted on 07/03/2022 7:50:38 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

That’s the ticket


22 posted on 07/03/2022 8:07:53 AM PDT by Vaduz ( )
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To: SunkenCiv

Co-existing with realistically drawn figures does tend to make this interesting.


23 posted on 07/03/2022 8:43:33 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: gundog

Goodness! She is beautiful!


24 posted on 07/03/2022 8:44:10 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: GingisK

My guess is, cave art was entertainment, and everyone including children participated in its making. :^)


25 posted on 07/03/2022 8:49:25 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

That is a very level-headed guess. If I were to help with the art, you’d also end up with something like that.


26 posted on 07/03/2022 9:05:05 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: gundog

Not guilty


27 posted on 07/03/2022 9:14:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Eerie, weird, creepy, these are the words that attract readers, even though there is nothing at all eerie about ancient graffiti.


28 posted on 07/03/2022 10:02:08 AM PDT by webheart
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To: SunkenCiv

Those are clearly weather balloons.


29 posted on 07/03/2022 12:50:31 PM PDT by unlearner ( Si vis pacem, para bellum. Let him who desires peace prepare for war.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I’m sure it’s nothing…


30 posted on 07/03/2022 3:26:58 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
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To: SunkenCiv
SC; I really like the 4 horned giraffe that is gazing down on the crowd! (i know...probably2 ears and 2 horns by a mediocre artist!)

Who knows? A party or celebration? Back from a hunting trip and having a big barbeque? A family portrait including livestock and family pets? (Anybody see Betty Boop and Siren Head in there?)

31 posted on 07/03/2022 5:06:03 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: seowulf

Crash go the Chariots! Van Daniken at a certain point in his book wrote “I seem to remember the Bible saying....” regarding gold foil on the Ark of the Covenent.

Von D. could not even be bothered to open a book that is universally available book to verify and footnote a remembered statement in support of the central thesis of his book. Why would anybody need to ever take him seriously again?


32 posted on 07/03/2022 5:27:44 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: SunkenCiv

I was just reading “Archaeology” magazine, and I noticed that “rock shelters” is the term-of-art these days, instead of “caves.”

Also, they say “horse riders” instead of “horsemen.”


33 posted on 07/03/2022 7:00:59 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
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To: x

BUMP to link in post 5 for later


34 posted on 07/03/2022 7:13:14 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (“Government is the problem.” --Milton Friedman)
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To: Tax-chick
I was just reading “Archaeology” magazine, and I noticed that “rock shelters” is the term-of-art these days, instead of “caves.”

Fred Flintstone was a man ahead of his time.

35 posted on 07/03/2022 7:16:07 PM PDT by Ezekiel (🆘️ . . . - - - . . . "Come fly with US". Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with Mars ♂️)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Maybe the giraffe had a Saturday morning kids’ show.


36 posted on 07/03/2022 9:05:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Tax-chick

Rock shelters can be just a slight overhang, but the description subsumes caves, which a slight overhang isn’t. :^)


37 posted on 07/03/2022 10:24:06 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission
Why would anybody need to ever take him seriously again?

I'm not sure anyone ever took him seriously. On the other hand, this came out in the 60-70s and there was a lot of flaky, drug addled ideas at the time.

I read it when I was 11 or 12 and thought it was OK for science fiction.

38 posted on 07/04/2022 6:54:20 AM PDT by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: seowulf

“I read it when I was 11 or 12 and thought it was OK for science fiction.”

Oh... OK!


39 posted on 07/04/2022 7:46:33 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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