This article - okay - I'm retracting my first statement, which was THIS ARTICLE IS A JOKE. Forget I wrote that. Instead, I'm just writing "Duh!"
Gimbutas depicted such symbols in her many books on "Old European" culture that are twice as old as this one beginning - what - 30 years ago! Those "zig-zags" - I call them "M's" and "W's" - wave patterns, are extremely ancient, dating back to at least 25,000 BCE and are found in many places in Europe; the symbols travel the width and breath of the Old World across time, and are evidence in the art work of Native Americans too. The most likely explanation is not independent invention by relocating populations but that the extremely ancient patterns and symbols travelled with the people to the New World.
What's the symbol for the primal waters of the deep in many ancient cultures in their later writing - DUH! Wavy lines! One that immediately comes to mind is "n-n" -- pronounced something like "nuuuun" in ancient Egyptian, drawn something like vvvv or wwww, -- in heiroglyphics. It meant WATER, more importantly, the very first waters out of which the first mound of earth (the black dirt) arose, from which all things on earth were then created. From the ancient waters of the deep came the first earth, and from the first earth all things of creation were made.
I don't have my notes/research from many years in front of me, so I'm working from memory, but these forms (wwww's and vvvvv's - zig-zags) are well documented by many researchers, not just Gimbutas. In many extremely early instances they were associated with carvings of "bird" or "eye" goddesses. So making a big hoo-ha about this relatively young carving on an antler is, to my way of thinking, way out of proportion. It is nice to see that the work of the early pioneers is being confirmed by modern-day discoveries, but they are adding nothing new to the subject and give scant credit to the work upon which they are building. That's just not right.
From Discovery News
Stone Age Fertility Ritual Object Found
Etchings on a carved elk antler dating to nearly 11,000 years ago, may have been used to promote fertility
By Jennifer Vargas
February 4, 2011
A Stone Age-era artifact carved with multiple zigzags and what is likely a woman with spread legs suggests that fertility rituals may have been important to early Europeans, according to new research.
The object, which will be documented in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, is made out of a large elk antler and has been radiocarbon dated to about 10,900 years ago.
"The ornament is composed of groups of zigzag lines and a human representation, probably a woman with spread legs with a short zigzag nearby," lead author Tomasz Płonka told Discovery News. "The woman may be nude, but the geometrical style of representation does not allow us to answer (this question)."
Płonka, a University of Wroclaw archaeologist, and his colleagues analyzed the object, unearthed by a farmer at Swidwin, Poland.
At first the scientists believed the geometrical figure carved onto the antler could have been either the mentioned woman, or a nude man raising his arms. Measurements to determine the ratio of the stick figure limbs, in addition to comparisons with other early human representations, lead the researchers to support the woman interpretation. [Turn it one way, it's a man with a long penis! Turn it the other way, it's a woman with raised legs! Neolithic optical illusion, all within an economical sketch of - how's that for pushing an art form back!]
Zigzags are very popular motifs on artifacts from many cultures throughout the world, with many possible meanings, but Płonka said, "I think our zigzag lines are connected with water and life symbolism." [Gee! Ya think?]
Rest of article.
Gimbutas depicted such symbols in her many books on "Old European" culture that are twice as old as this one beginning - what - 30 years ago! Those "zig-zags" - I call them "M's" and "W's" - wave patterns, are extremely ancient, dating back to at least 25,000 BCE and are found in many places in Europe; the symbols travel the width and breath of the Old World across time, and are evidence in the art work of Native Americans too. The most likely explanation is not independent invention by relocating populations but that the extremely ancient patterns and symbols travelled with the people to the New World.
What's the symbol for the primal waters of the deep in many ancient cultures in their later writing - DUH! Wavy lines! One that immediately comes to mind is "n-n" -- pronounced something like "nuuuun" in ancient Egyptian, drawn something like vvvv or wwww, -- in heiroglyphics. It meant WATER, more importantly, the very first waters out of which the first mound of earth (the black dirt) arose, from which all things on earth were then created. From the ancient waters of the deep came the first earth, and from the first earth all things of creation were made.
I don't have my notes/research from many years in front of me, so I'm working from memory, but these forms (wwww's and vvvvv's - zig-zags) are well documented by many researchers, not just Gimbutas. In many extremely early instances they were associated with carvings of "bird" or "eye" goddesses. So making a big hoo-ha about this relatively young carving on an antler is, to my way of thinking, way out of proportion. It is nice to see that the work of the early pioneers is being confirmed by modern-day discoveries, but they are adding nothing new to the subject and give scant credit to the work upon which they are building. That's just not right.
From Discovery News
Stone Age Fertility Ritual Object Found
Etchings on a carved elk antler dating to nearly 11,000 years ago, may have been used to promote fertility
By Jennifer Vargas
February 4, 2011
A Stone Age-era artifact carved with multiple zigzags and what is likely a woman with spread legs suggests that fertility rituals may have been important to early Europeans, according to new research.
The object, which will be documented in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, is made out of a large elk antler and has been radiocarbon dated to about 10,900 years ago.
"The ornament is composed of groups of zigzag lines and a human representation, probably a woman with spread legs with a short zigzag nearby," lead author Tomasz Płonka told Discovery News. "The woman may be nude, but the geometrical style of representation does not allow us to answer (this question)."
Płonka, a University of Wroclaw archaeologist, and his colleagues analyzed the object, unearthed by a farmer at Swidwin, Poland.
Zigzags are very popular motifs on artifacts from many cultures throughout the world, with many possible meanings, but Płonka said, "I think our zigzag lines are connected with water and life symbolism." [Gee! Ya think?]
Rest of article.
No comments:
Post a Comment