The origins of graphic communication, pt. 2
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Annalee Newitz has a fascinating article on abstract Paleolithic notations in Ars Technica (
"38,000-year-old carving includes enigmatic 'punctuation' pattern: New finding suggests that paleolithic Europeans shared a common set of symbols."
reporting on this paper:
R. Bourrillon, R. White, E. Tartar, L. Chiotti, R. Mensan, A. Clark, J.-C. Castel, C. Cretin, T. Higham, A. Morala, S. Ranlett, M. Sisk, T. Devièse, D.J. Comeskey, "A new Aurignacian engraving from Abri Blanchard, France: Implications for understanding Aurignacian graphic expression in Western and Central Europe", Quaternary International (1/24/17).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.09.063
Abstract
In the excitement of the widely publicized new finds of Aurignacian art from Chauvet, from the Swabian Jura and from as far afield as Pestera Coliboaia in Romania, it has almost been forgotten that a rich corpus of Aurignacian wall painting, engraving and bas-relief sculpture had been recognized and studied before World War I in the Vézère Valley of SW France. Scientific knowledge of the chronological and cultural context of that early-discovered graphic record has been limited by the crude archaeological methods of that pioneering era, and the loss and dispersal of many of the works discovered. In 2011, we launched new excavations and a re-analysis of one of the key sites for such early discoveries, the collapsed rock shelter of Abri Blanchard. In 2012, we discovered in situ a limestone slab engraved with a complex composition combining an aurochs and dozens of aligned punctuations.
This new find, recovered by modern methods and dated by molecular filtration and Hydroxyproline 14C, provides new information on the context and dating of Aurignacian graphic imagery in SW France and its relationship to that of other regions. The support is not a fragment of collapsed shelter ceiling and is situated in the midst of quotidian occupational debris. The image shows significant technical and thematic similarities to Chauvet that are reinforced by our reanalysis of engraved slabs from the older excavations at Blanchard. The aligned punctuations find their counterparts at Chauvet, in the south German sites and on several other objects from Blanchard and surrounding Aurignacian sites. In sum, we argue that dispersing Aurignacian groups show a broad commonality in graphic expression against which a certain number of more regionalized characteristics stand out, a pattern that fits well with social geography models that focus on the material construction of identity at regional, group and individual levels.
For me, the most striking thing about this paper is its repeated references to what the authors call "isolated punctuations" and "aligned punctuations". By "punctuations", they do not mean marks used in writing to separate sentences and their elements to clarify meaning, but rather they are referring to carefully created, shallow holes in stone surfaces. What distinguishes these Abri Blanchard punctuations from the regular marks (notches and lines carved on bone plaques) studied by Alexander Marshack (1918-2004) is that they were not meant to record a sequence of events (e.g., lunar phases) as they occurred. Instead, judging from their placement and the fact that they were all made at the same time, these punctuations must be indicating some other type of information, such as, perhaps, "markers of social identity at regional, group, and individual levels." If this is true, it means that the Aurignacians who made them not only had representational art, such as the beautiful aurochs with which this particular set of punctuations are associated, but a device for abstract notation as well.
More remarkable still is that the abstract punctuations were made first and then the aurochs was inscribed on and around them afterward.
Fig. 5B in the Quaternary International paper shows repeated depictions of female "vulvae" , unsurprisingly one of the favorite themes of Paleolithic artists and on down through human history; see:
Miriam Robbins Dexter and Victor H. Mair, Sacred Display: Divine and Magical Female Figures of Eurasia
(Amherst, NY: Cambria, 2010).
Miriam Robbins Dexter and Victor H. Mair, "Sacred Display: New Findings", Sino-Platonic Papers, 240 (Sept. 2013), 1-122.
Thus the Aurignacians were able to alternate between abstract notation and representational depiction, and also combine the two — picture and text, as it were.
This new research follows up on the recent and ongoing work on the Europe-wide Paleolithic symbol systems of Genevieve von Petzinger, the granddaughter of a World War II codebreaker at Bletchley Park in England, as described in this post:
"The origins of graphic communication " (11/21/15)
and in this article:
"Mysterious Markings May Hold Clues to Origin of Writing: Geometric signs on cave walls and ancient artifacts may be some of humanity’s earliest graphic communications" (Heather Pringle, National Geographic, 5/29/16)
As Annalee Newitz concludes her article on the new finds from Abri Blanchard and their study by R. Bourrillon and colleagues:
Still, we are certain that many styles of these punctuations exist across a broad geographical area. That suggests there was a widely shared symbolic system among the peoples of Europe 38,000 years ago. But there were also local dialects and regional variants. Perhaps these ancient dots and dashes allowed people to interact across cultural boundaries while also maintaining distinct, hometown identities.
The exact signification of the European symbol and notation systems being investigated by Genevieve von Petzinger and R. Bourrillon and colleagues is not known, but their recurrent regularity, placement, and patterning ensure that they had communicative meaning.
[h.t. Michael Carr]
Adrian Morgan said,
February 3, 2017 @ 5:29 pm
I have to say, it would be lovely if a representative from Language Log Plaza could make it to one of Lynne Kelly's public lectures per this link. I have nearly finished reading "The Memory Code" (which is released internationally this week) and her main themes about the role of art in prehistoric societies (representational or abstract) are, to me, conspicuous by their absence from the discussion above.
maidhc said,
February 4, 2017 @ 12:02 am
Many caves belonging to Neanderthal groups during this period are full of cultural objects that strongly resemble Aurignacian ones, but with their own distinctive Neanderthal flare
???
Rodger C said,
February 4, 2017 @ 11:31 am
The author plainly has a flare for homophones.
Victor Mair said,
February 9, 2017 @ 5:54 pm
From Genevieve von Petzinger:
Good question about these punctuations and how they fit in with what I'm doing. As the article mentioned, there are a few portable art artifacts from Germany and elsewhere that have similar markings on them, so that is an interesting point unto itself when it comes to shared graphic practices…especially at such an early date (the German stuff also dates to the earliest human occupations in Europe).
I haven't really seen any engraved markings on walls that match this pattern, but there are a few examples (particularly in Northern Spain) of rows of painted dots that could be said to have a similar look to them. Some are thought to date a bit later (say more around 25,000 to 28,000 BP), and a more systematic study would probably be needed to really say if something interesting is going on here, but it certainly is suggestive…