Cave Paintings

Dhambalin, a sandstone rock shelter, was discovered in autumn 2007. The unique site holds polychrome paintings including the first sheep paintings in Somali archaeology. There is an extraordinary originality in the paintings, particularly those of the sheep and goats. There are unusual quality images and styles of humpless cows of which some are headless. The fauna depicted include antelopes, dogs, giraffes, snakes and a turtle, some of which are associated with human figures wearing what appear to be headgears and holding bow and arrows in hunting scenes. Relative dating is possible perhaps through the superimposition of various styles of paintings. Also the site shares some similarities with the Neolithic or protohistoric Arabian–Ethiopian Style in the Horn of Africa. Hence, there is a need for a multidisciplinary approach to the ritual landscapes, religion and identity in the Horn of Africa. With its richness of fauna, including unambiguous depictions of sheep and various styles of depiction of bovine, the new site of Dhambalin will no doubt play a major role in shedding light on pastoral cultures and pre-historic symbolism in the rock art of the Horn of Africa.

An introductory speculation, Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle is a consideration of the epistemological, ontological and metaphysical downfalls of film theory’s understandings of the spectator and the spectacle; with particular emphasis directed towards the neurobiological implications of the spectator’s body.

The thesis will argue that these shortcomings are representative of wider ranging issues of complacency engulfing the film industry and film exhibition as a whole. Furthermore, the fundamental disruptions of the digital upgrade of cinema, and the expanding means through which film content can be experienced, will be explored in relation to the pressing need for film theory to reassess itself.

Drawing on a plethora of empirical and non-empirical research, this dissertation is a highly progressive expression of how film experience has always been about transcendence and, as a result of its digital re-birth and diversifications, it is now becoming even more so.

​ ​ The art in the Cave of the Trois­ Frères ​ appears to be based on ancient asterisms, signs, or constellations. This graphic is a rendition of a dying bison. The bison image may have persisted for thousands of years in this form. The proper motion of the stars would eventually require designs that better fit the sky at that time. Star charts are for 15,300 BC. Observatory: Cave of the Les Trois­ Freres, France. Coordinates:43.0322° N, 1.2117° E

​ ​ The art in the ​ Cueva de La Pasiega​ (Cave of La Pasiega) ​ appears to be based on ancient asterisms, signs, or constellations. Star charts are for 40,600 BC. Observatory: Cueva de La Pasiega, Spain. Coordinates: 43.2889° N, 3.9658° W. This graphic shows the bison­-horse opposition with a deer.

An introductory speculation, Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle is a consideration of the epistemological, ontological and metaphysical downfalls of film theory’s understandings of the spectator and the spectacle; with particular emphasis directed towards the neurobiological implications of the spectator’s body.

The thesis will argue that these shortcomings are representative of wider ranging issues of complacency engulfing the film industry and film exhibition as a whole. Furthermore, the fundamental disruptions of the digital upgrade of cinema, and the expanding means through which film content can be experienced, will be explored in relation to the pressing need for film theory to reassess itself.

Drawing on a plethora of empirical and non-empirical research, this dissertation is a highly progressive expression of how film experience has always been about transcendence and, as a result of its digital re-birth and diversifications, it is now becoming even more so.

Entering the Circle - Journey of a Shamanic Artist is a (3) year (2012-2015) long endeavor in esoteric experiences related to the creation of art through the use of dreamwork, shamanic poses/journeys, rituals, religious specialists and media exploration, resulting in a body of spiritual work with the intention of creating a meaningful and personal life healing experience for both artist and viewer.

Dance is a conscious movement sequences having certain aims, and a part of human life. All the rhythmic and certain order movements, as we called dance, were reproduced, changed and developed into a stylistic and conceptual context with various meanings from prehistoric times till present at the history of human. Generally speaking, dance is composed of direct or indirect religious, certain local-traditional beliefs, rituals, cults, mythology, legendary stories and rituals. It is known that dancing is affiliated with rituals in communities throughout prehistoric times. These ceremonies shaped by new experiences and new beliefs contributed to new forms of dancing. During ancient cultures, dance was a section of customs akin to mythology, cults, hunting and pre-war exercises, in addition to, traditional-secular ceremonies. Some dance styles based on ancient folk entertainment spread in nearly whole Europe in the Middle Age; some variations of these traditional folk dances became partial formal changes continued to exist from Middle Ages up to now. In the second half of the 17th century, when Louis XIV on power, establishing of the Académie Royale de Danse was the most significant step for the development of dance as an academic art. Besides, new dance academies continued to be established in Europe; books about the dance history and dance were written in the 18th century. In the 19th century, especially in Europe, dance contained in the entertainment culture, as an ordinary act at the theaters and cabarets, the balls, festivals of palaces and aristocrats, in the education programmes of academies as well. This article examines some dance images being analyzed in terms of conceptual and iconographical on the chronological lines surviving from prehistoric dates until the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the purpose of this work is to convey historical development of the dance exemplifying some of the art works and literary texts belong to different periods and unlike cultures. In this context, miniature copies of various literary works, including dance scenes, were also examined and included in the study. The most distinguished thing here is some of the popular dance genres of a period are mentioned in literary texts at the same epoch, and these dance genres are accepted as art works.

El siguiente estudio quiere proponer un diálogo de raíz estética entre pintura y cine, para hallar en sus realidades estructurales y plásticas puntos de encuentro, en tanto que encarnaciones de una sensibilidad y de carácter sensorial, que permitan la indagación y reflexión en el mundo imaginal que construyen y abren como sesgo de la percepción. De esta forma, se intenta descubrir, en dichas relaciones, su fondo común de lugares de la imagen, en los que ésta acontece como un cosmos en sí misma, desentrañando así su naturaleza de síntesis entre la interioridad y la exterioridad. La investigación se desarrollará mediante las siguientes cuatro pautas paradigmáticas: las pinturas rupestres del Paleolítico y su relación con la realidad cinematográfica; el territorio y el paisaje que se abren en una imagen como lugar acotado y de acontecimiento estético; el estudio de la luz, su visibilidad y resonancia; y la vida de las fuerzas que suceden y conforman la imagen como vibraciones interiores de una pulsación vital. Este artículo es una propuesta de estudio y se presenta como aproximación y marco de investigación.

Newberry Cave most likely represents a particular striking and persuasive example of what Coulam and Schroedl suggest are  sites of ritual and ceremonial “increase totemism”.  A men’s bighorn sheep totemic hunting society camped here and conducted  rituals to promote the life and health of a key supernatural ancestor animal person - the desert bighorn sheep.  Their ceremonies ensured the propagation of this key game animal and the perpetuation of their society.

The International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences UISPP 2021 Meknes, Morocco

Presenter: Bernie Taylor

Animistic and shamanistic peoples worldwide have traditions of regarding high mountains as being spiritual and the observances of them in songs and myths are widely recorded in the anthropological record. We find these traditions carried directly and metaphorically into ancient religions and literature. High mountains may have also been considered sacred in prehistory given their global spiritual observances to the present time. Early recordings of these sacred high mountain observances may be found in the Upper Paleolithic Cave of El Castillo in Cantabria, Spain and in Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar. Panels in these caves store human fabricated images that closely resemble geological features on two high mountains in the greater Iberian region.

Our Palaeolithic ancestors did not make good representations of themselves on the rocky surfaces of caves and barring certain exceptions – such as the case of La Marche (found on small slabs of stone or plaquettes) or the Cueva de Ambrosio – the few known examples can only be referred to as anthropomorphs. As such, only hand stencils give us a real picture of the people who came before us. Hand stencils and imprints provide us with a large amount of information that allows us to approach not only their physical appearance but also to infer less tangible details, such as the preferential use of one hand over the other (i.e., handedness). Both new and/or mature technologies as well as digital processing of images, computers with the ability to process very high resolution images, and a more extensive knowledge of the Palaeolithic figures all help us to analyse thoroughly the hands in El Castillo cave. The interdisciplinary study presented here contributes many novel developments based...

The cave paintings in Los Letreros cavern, and specially the one called The Wizard, show a precise symbology, shared by all megalithic cultures, whose correspondences spread to the high cultures, with remains as far as in Romanesque art. According to the works of ethnomusicologist Marius Schneider, this symbology corresponds to a mystic-religious thinking originated in the musical system, and matches to a culture to which the sound is the highest level of reality. In this culture, musical notes are not symbols or signs of the pictograms, they are rather a solidified evidence of sound, which is the truly real world. This would be the proof that such culture has already left the totemic thinking which has taken place to a symbolic one, and that they know the musical scale, the Circle of Fifths, and probably they perform rites based in that religious world view.
Key words: Circle of Fifths, Vélez Blanco, Marius Schneider, Megalithic Culture.

​ ​ The dot pattern art in the Cave of El Castillo​ ​ appears to be based on ancient asterisms, signs, or constellations. Coordinates: 43.2923 N, 3.9655 W. Star chart date: 40,600 BC. This chart shows the handprints image from the ​ Panel de las Manos​ and dot patterns from Cave of El Castillo. The dot patterns are star patterns formed by visualizing lines between bright stars or by grouping stars together. These ancient constellations circled the northern celestial pole of that time.

​ ​ The art in the ​ Cave of the Trois­ Frères ​ appears to be based on ancient asterisms, signs, or constellations. This graphic is a rendition of a dying bison. Star charts are for 15,300 B.C. Observatory: Cave of the Les Trois­ Freres, France. Coordinates:43.0322° N, 1.2117° E

Burial sites and the use of ochre (ocher) continued in the Aurignacian Age. Carvings and cave paintings include animals, plus both the human male and female figures, whereas statues are predominately female. To date, the locations of primary cave finds are from southwest France and from northern Spain. Sculptured and fired female figures have been found in: Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, France, Spain and Russia. These BCE female figures include statues that are known as black madonnas or goddesses. The main French location is Landes. The goddess of Willendorf is from Austria. The Dolni Vestonice is from Czechoslovakia. These figures suggest “rituals of an immensely extended culture that reached from Spain to Siberia and formed the foundation of the later Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures.” (MG: 684.) (LOG: 331; COG: 431; CAH: Vol. 1, Part 1; PDA; CEOA.)

An introductory speculation, Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle is a consideration of the epistemological, ontological and metaphysical downfalls of film theory’s understandings of the spectator and the spectacle; with particular emphasis directed towards the neurobiological implications of the spectator’s body.

The thesis will argue that these shortcomings are representative of wider ranging issues of complacency engulfing the film industry and film exhibition as a whole. Furthermore, the fundamental disruptions of the digital upgrade of cinema, and the expanding means through which film content can be experienced, will be explored in relation to the pressing need for film theory to reassess itself.

Drawing on a plethora of empirical and non-empirical research, this dissertation is a highly progressive expression of how film experience has always been about transcendence and, as a result of its digital re-birth and diversifications, it is now becoming even more so.

Abstract Dhambalin, a sandstone rock shelter, was discovered in autumn 2007. The unique site holds polychrome paintings including the first sheep paintings in Somali archaeology. There is an extraordinary originality in the paintings, particularly those of the sheep and goats. ...

​ ​ The art in the ​ Cueva de La Pasiega​ (Cave of La Pasiega) ​ appears to be based on ancient asterisms, signs, or constellations. Star charts are for 40,600 BC. Observatory: Cueva de La Pasiega, Spain. Coordinates: 43.2889° N, 3.9658° W. This series of graphics shows that a particular design such as the bison can be used in multiple places in the sky.

Our Palaeolithic ancestors did not make good representations of themselves on the rocky surfaces of caves and barring certain exceptions – such as the case of La Marche (found on small slabs of stone or plaquettes) or the Cueva de Ambrosio – the few known examples can only be referred to as anthropomorphs. As such, only hand stencils give us a real picture of the people who came before us. Hand stencils and imprints provide us with a large amount of information that allows us to approach not only their physical appearance but also to infer less tangible details, such as the preferential use of one hand over the other (i.e., handedness). Both new and/or mature technologies as well as digital processing of images, computers with the ability to process very high resolution images, and a more extensive knowledge of the Palaeolithic figures all help us to analyse thoroughly the hands in El Castillo cave. The interdisciplinary study presented here contributes many novel developments based...

Our Palaeolithic ancestors did not make good representations of themselves on the rocky surfaces of caves and barring certain exceptionssuch as the case of La Marche (found on small slabs of stone or plaquettes) or the Cueva de Ambrosiothe few known examples can only be referred to as anthropomorphs. As such, only hand stencils give us a real picture of the people who came before us. Hand stencils and imprints provide us with a large amount of information that allows us to approach not only their physical appearance but also to infer less tangible details, such as the preferential use of one hand over the other (i.e., handedness). Both new and/or mature technologies as well as digital processing of images, computers with the ability to process very high resolution images, and a more extensive knowledge of the Palaeolithic figures all help us to analyse thoroughly the hands in El Castillo cave. The interdisciplinary study presented here contributes many novel developments based on re...

Our Palaeolithic ancestors did not make good representations of themselves on the rocky surfaces of caves and barring certain exceptionssuch as the case of La Marche (found on small slabs of stone or plaquettes) or the Cueva de Ambrosiothe few known examples can only be referred to as anthropomorphs. As such, only hand stencils give us a real picture of the people who came before us. Hand stencils and imprints provide us with a large amount of information that allows us to approach not only their physical appearance but also to infer less tangible details, such as the preferential use of one hand over the other (i.e., handedness). Both new and/or mature technologies as well as digital processing of images, computers with the ability to process very high resolution images, and a more extensive knowledge of the Palaeolithic figures all help us to analyse thoroughly the hands in El Castillo cave. The interdisciplinary study presented here contributes many novel developments based on re...

Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco de los proyectos de investigacion HAR 2009-13723 “VIII y IV milenios cal. BC. Arte rupestre, poblamiento y cambio cultural entre las cuencas de los rios Jucar y Segura” y HAR 2012-37710 “III y II milenios cal. BC: poblamiento, ritualidad y cambio social entre las cuencas de los rios Jucar y Segura”, financiados por el Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad.