Posted on 02/13/2006 10:11:37 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Among the motifs is an "anthropomorph", a humanoid figure, according to Dr Alberto Broglio. It is full face, with two horns which "may be a mask" on its head; the arms are by its side and the legs are spread. "The right hand is holding something which is hanging downwards, probably a ritual object," Dr Broglio says. Another figure shows a four-legged animal seen from the side and "resembles the profile of a small statuette from Vogelherd". Radiocarbon dates from the Vogelherd caves, near Ulm on the upper Danube, also give dates between 36,000 and 30,000 years ago, Dr Nicholas Conard points out in a new book discussing the importance of the Fumane paintings. He agrees that "the red paintings from Fumane are of extreme importance" for a number of reasons, among them the contrast between the rather simple form of the Fumane figures and the more sophisticated detail of the Vogelherd carvings, which include a famous horse carved from mammoth ivory and less than two inches long, found in 1931.
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"Radiocarbon dates from the Vogelherd caves, near Ulm ..."
Johann Gamblepudding...auf Ulm.
Now that is a strange Headline.....
We all age, y'know... ;')
Guess Stone Age Artists do it in a very special way.....
Think I'll say goodnight ....
Been a long day....my body says/
Thanks, and good night! Got a 9:30 AM meeting, yuck.
Not far from Ulm, in southern Germany, is the location of some of the best artifacts of the continental celtic civilization. Recreated villages.
I guess you would have to hold the rock at various angles in order to see the 'ritual object'. I can't say I saw anything other than an odd stick figure.
And I thought this thread was about Super Bowl halftime!
Wow! Those are really detailed. Thanks for the links.
Aren't we all?
Ever notice that whenever an archiologist doesn't know what some thing is he says "probably a ritual object" or some such. I bet the thing was a dildo. And I have as great a chance of being right as he does.
(Imagine further, centuries from now, when some future archiologist discovers "American Gothic" What kind of ritual will he describe the pitchfork as being used in?)
Another figure shows a four-legged animal seen from the side and "resembles the profile of a small statuette from Vogelherd"
Which proves that the artist(?) from Fumane travelled extensively and came home to record his voyages.
On second thought I change my identification of the object being held. I think it was really an auctioneer's hammer and the drawings record the sale of this guy's acquisitions from his trips. "Next up we have this lovely deer carving from Vogelherd. Do I hear a bid of five clams?"
(Silly I know but I get so tired of every thing being religious in nature. The poor stone aged people were apparently so busy performing religous rituals or making objects for religious rituals that they had no time to procure food and thusly they starved to death. Sometimes a stick is just a stick)
Couldn't be, radiocarbon dating only goes back about 60K years. ;')
s/b a FR topic, eh? ;')
LOL
THe period 30 to 36,000 BP was somewhat warmer than most of the last ice age, so the proliferaton of man and leisure time for ritual and art would have been more likely. Then there were a series of reductions in temprature, at least 3 that occurred down to about 20,000 BP. I think I have identified one event as the eruption of Sakura-Jima in Japan which left a 15 mile in diameter Caldera. This occurred about 22,000.
Vesuvius had a plinian type eruption 25,000 BP, but I don't know the size of the caldera it left. If anyone has information on the date and size of other major pleistocene caldera forming events, I would like to know. I know about Toba, Yellowstone, and Long Valley.
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