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RECORDS OF COLONIALISM IN ROCK ART
An equestrian raider with a musket and stolen domestic stock. The zoomorph at top right is interpreted as a 'rain animal' magically summoned to wash away the tracks. Photograph from Sam Challis and...
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BICEPHALIC DRAGONS/SISIUTLS REVISITED, THIS TIME IN BULGARIA:
Reconstructed Thracian shrine, Razlog, Bulgaria. Internet illustration, public domain.On 28 January 2023 I published a column titled ‘SISIUTL AND CHINESE DRAGONS - A CONNECTION?’ in which I addressed a...
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FORESHORTENING IN ROCK ART:
Eland rear view, 5 in. high. The Meads, Griqualand East, Cape Province. South Africa. Illustration from Wilcox, 1963, pl. 32.We are so used to seeing rock art in side or frontal views that we don’t...
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REPLY TO A COMMENT ON 25 APRIL 2015 COLUMN "DINOSAURS IN ROCK ART - PERU'S...
Photograph of Ica Stone illustrating a Triceratops with back fins - a fabrication. Internet photograph, public domain.On May 1, 2023, I receibed a new comment from Anonymous to my posting of 25 April...
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UNICORNS IN ROCK ART AND MYTHOLOGY:
Lascaux "Unicorn", Lascaux Cave, France. Online internet image, public domain.Extinct Elasmotherium. Online internet image, public domain.Drawing of Elasmotherium, Rouffignac Cave, France. Online...
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WE MAY FINALLY HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF DENISOVAN ART- A LION CARVED OUT OF MAMMOTH...
Denisova Cave, Russia. Internet photograph, public domain.While science still has a lot to learn about the mysterious hominids known as Denisovan after the cave in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, Russia,...
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HARAKBUT STONE FACE IN PERU:
The Harakbut stone face as it is approached in its river gorge. Online image, public domain.Is it? Or is it not? This large rock formation which seems to resemble a crude sculpture of a human face is...
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ARE SHADOWS PORTRAYED IN ROCK ART? THEY ARE CERTAINLY IMPLIED IN CAVE ART:
The philosophical search for shadows and the question of their existence in rock art:Aurochs, horse and deer, Lascaux Cave, France. Internet image, public domain.The idea for this began with an article...
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A SELF PORTRAIT OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH DISCOVERED IN THE TOWER OF LONDON:
The Tower of London. Internet image from rove.me, public domain.“A mysterious painting hidden for centuries at the Tower of London may be a self-portrait of the famous adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh....
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EDITORIAL ON THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ROCK ART ANALYSIS:
Newly discovered Nazca geoglyph identified by Artificial Intelligence. Internet image, public domain.Now I must begin this with the confession that I have used Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the past....
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ROCK ART AND PALEO-SYNANTHROPY:
Synanthropy is the term used to describe the process of wild species that have adapted to living in the vicinity of humans and find benefits from it, but are in no way domesticated. In my suburb we...
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MIGHT THIS ACTUALLY BE HOMO NALEDI ROCK ART?
Possible Homo naledi rock art panel. Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Image by ABC News.Pretty much anyone who is interested in archaeology has heard of the 2015 discovery of the...
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FORESHORTENING ON MAGDALENIAN BONE CARVINGS:
Grotte de la Vache, Ariege, France. Internet image, public domain.In my column for 28 April 2023, titled “Foreshortening In Rock Art,” I discussed examples of San rock art in Africa that exhibited...
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A SMALL STONE CARVED WITH A VIKING SHIP MAY BE THE OLDEST PICTURE IN ICELAND
Carved sandstone showing Viking ship in full sail, from Stöð, Iceland. Credit, The Landnámsskáli group in Stöð.Iceland had no native indigenous population before European discovery and settlement by...
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57,000 YEAR OLD NEANDERTHAL CAVE MARKINGS IN LA ROCHE-COTARD:
Entrance to La Roche-Cotard Cave, France. Photograph from ancientorigins.net.The mask of La Roche-Cotard. Image courtesy Wikipedia.On 19 November 2022 I posted a column titled A Neanderthal Mystery –...
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9,000 YEAR OLD PETROGLYPHS COPY DESIGNS OF MEGA-SCALE DESERT ANIMAL TRAPS:
Desert kite at Mafraq, Jordan. Photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.Gigantic stone constructions from millennia ago can be found in the deserts of the Middle East. These stone assemblies are referred to...
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REINDEER HERD MIGRATION PORTRAYED IN NORWEGIAN ROCK ART:
Migrating reindeer closeup, Gamnes, Norway. Photograph Jan Magne Gjerde, Tromsø Museum - The University Museum.A report about a rock art site in Norway caught my attention recently. It is a petroglyph...
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57,000 YEAR OLD NEANDERTHAL CAVE MARKINGS IN LA ROCHE-COTARD:
Cave of La Roche-Cotard, France. Online image, public domain.On 19 November 2022 I posted a column titled "A Neanderthal Mystery – The Mask of La Roche-Cotard." This discussed a mysterious artifact...
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MOLUCCAN FIGHTING CRAFT ON AUSTRALIAN SHORES – CONTACT PERIOD ROCK ART FROM...
Moluccan Perahu boat race. Photograph Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen, Netherlands.New evidence of pre-European colonization cultural contact in northern Australian has been discovered in analysis...
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A NEWLY DISCOVERED PETROGLYPH IN EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO:
Boulder with Jerry Grandel's petroglyph and shadow pointer. Photograph Jerry Grandel.We often tend to think that the only new discoveries of rock art will happen in isolated places, far from the...
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