An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6044441
AutoresBennett Bacon (0000-0002-1554-8402, Oldham Council, autor correspondente), Azadeh Khatiri (Oldham Council), James Palmer (0000-0002-1151-1485, Oldham Council), Tony Freeth (0000-0001-9375-4247, University College London), P Pettitt (0000-0002-6195-9376, Durham University), Robert Kentridge, Robert W Kentridge (0000-0003-3688-3899, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)
Ano2023
Volume33
Fascículo3
Páginas371-389
Data de publicação2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774322000415
OpenAlexW4313500459
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas18
Referências citadas36

In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper PalaeolithicHomo sapiensgroups drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at least ~42,000bpand figurative images (notably animals) from at least 37,000bp. Since their discovery ~150 years ago, the purpose or meaning of European Upper Palaeolithic non-figurative signs has eluded researchers. Despite this, specialists assume that they were notational in some way. Using a database of images spanning the European Upper Palaeolithic, we suggest how three of the most frequently occurring signs—the line , the dot , and the —functioned as units of communication. We demonstrate that when found in close association with images of animals the line and dot constitute numbers denoting months, and form constituent parts of a local phenological/meteorological calendar beginning in spring and recording time from this point in lunar months. We also demonstrate that the sign, one of the most frequently occurring signs in Palaeolithic non-figurative art, has the meaning . Thepositionof the within a sequence of marks denotes month of parturition, an ordinal representation of number in contrast to the cardinal representation used in tallies. Our data indicate that the purpose of this system of associating animals with calendar information was to record and convey seasonal behavioural information about specific prey taxa in the geographical regions of concern. We suggest a specific way in which the pairing of numbers with animal subjects constituted a complete unit of meaning—a notational system combined with its subject—that provides us with a specific insight into what one set of notational marks means. It gives us our first specific reading of European Upper Palaeolithic communication, the first known writing in the history ofHomo sapiens

Archaeology · Cave · Genealogy · Geography · Homo sapiens · Linguistics · Literal and figurative language · Meaning (existential · Representation (politics · Sign (mathematics · Categorization, perception, and language · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · History · Mathematics · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Psychology