16,000 to 12,000 years ago Magdalenian Sacred Ritual and Symbols

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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16,000-15,500 years old Etched deer teeth, with a motif of five symbols like, “II, ^, III, X, & IIII”, from St-Germain-de-la-Rivière, France a recurring motif on walls. Found with other artifacts in a young woman’s grave. ref

“The St. Germain-la-Rivière teeth – France. These teeth are part of a collection of forty-eight deer teeth decorated with geometric signs. Found in a 16,000-year-old burial in France, these artifacts are thought to have originally been part of a necklace included as grave goods.” ref 

“Scientists such as Richard Klein, of Stanford University, Nicholas Conard, of Tübingen University in Germany, and others argue that advanced human behavior – involving the use of complex symbols, art, and sophisticated tools – did not appear until about 35,000 years ago.  Do any of those symbols appear in earlier forms of art found in South Africa? According to von Petzinger, the answer is probably yes. Many of the swirls, crosses, circles, open angles, and crosshatches seen in France are also found in far earlier works from Africa. For example, the open-angle symbol can be seen on engravings at Blombos cave in South Africa, where artistic artifacts about 75,000 years old have been found.” ref

The Origin of Language: Starts in Symbolism Around 100,000 years ago, to Early Proto-Writing 44,000-5,000 years ago with Unrealized Connections

“The thirty-two signs depicted in this typology are the main abstract shapes created by early humans living in Europe during the Ice Age (10,000 to 40,000 years ago). There are distinct patterns across space and time for each of the signs, suggesting that they were part of a system – possibly one of the oldest systems of graphic communication in the world.” ref 

“There is definite patterning in the way these signs were used.” In other words,  these markings are no mere abstract scribbles but appear to be a code. This is not writing as we know it or language as we understand it. However, in these caves, we are looking at the patterning of symbols, and if we can unravel that, we can get to their meaning.” Yet the evidence is striking. For example, is the set of five symbols – “II ^ III X IIII” – to be especially common, appearing on walls like a recurring motif. Intriguingly, found the sequence at St Germain de la Rivière, north of Bordeaux, the skeleton of a young woman – dated as being around 15,500 years old discovered with a necklace made of the teeth. So the five common symbols appearing on a necklace.” ref 

At this time, it is thought the necklace teeth came from Spain, possibly as items of trade between different tribes. Obsidian and other goods are also known to have been exchanged by groups from these regions. But if the necklace pieces arrived by this route, were the symbols carved on to them before or after they arrived in France? If it was the former, this suggests a crude form of written language may have already linked the different groups of hunter-gatherers then living in southern Europe. Perhaps the symbols make up the letters of a name or it’s possible they contained a religious message. It suggests that the five symbols represent three specific units of meaning. We couldn’t tell that from the cave paintings, where they appear lumped together. This may not be writing as we know it but equally, these are not random doodles on a wall.” ref

Etched deer teeth from Saint-Germain-de-la-Rivière, France

“The necklace of red deer teeth was found among other artifacts in the grave of a young woman who died some 16,000 years ago in Saint-Germain-de-la-Rivière, in south-west France and many of the teeth had geometric designs carved into them. The X and straight lines were symbols she had seen together and separately on various cave walls. Now here they were, with the X sandwiched between two lines to form a compound character. Each tooth turned over, yet exposed more and more decorations.” ref

“Collar” or “necklace” of red deer canines from the Mirande collection (buccal view).  of red deer canines from the Mirande collection. The 22 deer teeth spits that make up this “necklace” have an excellent state of preservation. Although at first glance these spits did not seem to bear traces of ocher, the microscopic analysis of the perforations reveals their presence in the form of micro-residues. Unlike those of the burial ground, these spits do not have sediment crusts. This collection consists of 12 male deer spits and 10 deer crusts (tab.3). An opposition is observed in their lateralization: doe craches are mostly straight, those of male almost all left. No matches could be identified.” ref

“In the end, 48 were etched with single signs or combinations, many of which were also found in caves. Whether or not the symbols are actually writing depends on what you mean by “writing”. Strictly speaking, a full system must encode all of human speech, ruling the Stone Age signs out. But if you take it to mean a system to encode and transmit information, then it’s possible to see the symbols as early steps in the development of writing. That said, cracking the prehistoric code (see “What do they mean?“) may prove impossible. “Something we call a square, to an Australian Aborigine, might represent a well.” ref

“It is proposed that we will never understand the meaning of the symbols without also considering the animal depictions they are so often associated with. It is clear that the two make sense together. Similarly, cuneiform is composed of pictograms and counting tallies. A ration, for instance, is represented by a bowl and human head, followed by lines to denote quantity. Another reason to believe the symbols are special is the ability to realistically draw a horse or mammoth is totally impressive but anybody can draw a square, right? To draw these signs you are not relying on people who are artistically gifted.” In a sense, the humble nature of such shapes makes them more universally accessible – an important feature for an effective communication system.” ref

“With the exception of three spits of males with double perforation, all the other teeth have a single perforation, located in the center of the root. No significant difference is observed between the perforations performed on the spits of both sexes. Despite the reduced size of perforations on biforated cracks, the technique of perforation is comparable: production of two parallel grooves near the collar followed by a rotation performed with an extremely fine flint tip. Paired spits have nearly identical perforations in shape and size, suggesting that the same artisan was responsible for the perforation of each pair.” ref

“Two-thirds of the male deer spit and one-third of the deer spit were decorated on the occlusal surface. The decoration consists of a series of three to six parallel cuts or braces formed by two or three notches. Three pieces combine the two motifs. All of the cuts were made by the back and forth motion of an unretouched edge as indicated by their narrow and deep morphology, their symmetrical section, and the absence of “steps” caused by the sharp edges of a sharp edge. On some pieces, this technique leaves sharp indentations, on others the accidental exits of the cutting edge or the difficulty of starting the furrow on the enamel produced, next to nicks deep, several parallel or slightly off-axis streaks. Four of the six pairs are decorated and it is interesting to note that the craftsman did not make any symmetrical decoration on the two spits coming from the same animal. There is even an example where only one spit of the pair has been decorated. The position of the decoration on the tooth also attracts attention: these decorations are visible only if the mesial or vestibular face is oriented towards the observer.” ref

Grave goods from the Saint-Germain-la-Rivière burial: Evidence for social inequality in the Upper Palaeolithic

Funeral furniture

“Eighty-six objects from this burial, a cypress, a reindeer metatarsal, a fox jaw, and four lithic pieces. Among the perforated teeth, we identified exclusively deer spits. It is likely that the ” reindeer canines” actually correspond to doe spit. In addition, the mistaken idea that only male deer have spits has been widely and even quoted in a publication directly related to this collection. The comparison between spits of the site reveals mixed with the spits, an elongated pearl in steatite. As well as phalanx of Saiga antelope, also seems to be part of the funeral furniture. The spits identification of sex reveals a strong preponderance of male deer spits (88%). Taking into account these pairings gives a minimum number of individuals of 58 males and 8 does or 66 individuals in total. Of these, 84% are represented only by their canine left or right.” ref

“Archaeozoological and technological analyses of the grave goods associated with the Saint-Germain-la-Rivière burial (15,570 ± 200 B.P.) and their comparison with ornaments and faunal assemblages from contemporary Magdalenian sites and burials reveal the exceptional character of this inhumation. The great number of perforated red deer canines and the preference for teeth from young stags contrast with the virtual absence of red deer in southwestern French faunal assemblages dated to the same period as the burial.” ref

The rarity and probable exotic origin of these teeth, the small number of paired canines, and the technological and morphological homogeneity of the collection suggest that the teeth were obtained through long-distance trade and represented prestige items. As observed in a number of hunter–gatherer populations and contrary to the supposed egalitarian character of Upper Palaeolithic societies, these items may have materialized the integration of this individual into a privileged social group. Results suggest that application of the integrated approach followed in this study to the remainder of Upper Palaeolithic burials may be useful in identifying other societies in which prestige items represented the tangible expression of social inequality.” ref 

“The Mirande collection also includes several isolated ornaments. A pierced tooth was discovered in an ocher zone revealed in the trench excavated in front of the upper shelter. A ” spit pierced with a hole “, ” a small shell “, ” a fragment of bone ” and ” a scallopshell“Also drilled, are part of the inventory without establish provenance. Though there is not mention, of any object of adornment coming from the layers of habitatation of the site. However, we found seven objects of adornment in the material labeled Saint-Germain-la-Rivière ” Magdalenian III “. ref

“They are described as ” a reindeer incisor ” (layer C), ” three reindeer incisors ” (C / C1 interface), “a reindeer incisor “,” a soapstone bead “,” a sea urchin “,” pecten fragments“and” an indeterminable fossil “(layer C1); ” Two bone beads ” (C1 / C2 interface); ” Apierced Pecten shell ” and ” a double perforated steatite bead that mimics a reindeerincisor ” (layer C2), ” a sawed reindeer incisor ” and a ” perforated Pecten fragment ” for the C2 / interface C3; ” A sea urchin ” and ” two vestigial metapods of reindeer ” (layer C3); ” A fox canine ” and “a vestigial reindeer metapod carrying a perforation test ” as well as ” a second right superior premolar ” human perforated (C2 / C3 interface).” ref

Archeostratigraphic sequence

The occupations of the ancient Magdalenian

“An early Magdalenian, dated between 17,000 and 16,000 BP (Table 1), is identified in the trench trench excavated in the embankment at the front of the large shelter (layers C3-C4). The lithic industry is “not laminar but lamellar, rich in backed slats” and splinters. The bone industry includes needles, whole, and fragmented spears, a fragment of pierced stick, a wand, and pieces of reindeer antlers with sawing marks. Some of these objects have incisions or grooves. The Saiga Antelope dominates the faunal assemblage, which is completed by the Reindeer, the Horse, and the Bovines. The layer that overcomes this set (layer C2) results from excavators of a mixture between the under- and overlying layers.” ref

The occupations of the Middle Magdalenian

“A first Middle Magdalenian ensemble, dated between 16,500 and 14,000 years ago, is observed in the Trécolle trench (layers C1-C) and in the large shelter (lower layer). The laminar lithic industry includes scrapers, scrapers, chisels, beakers, atypical notches, short blades, often large and thick, backed slats, denticulated slats, and scalene triangles. The bone industry consists of needles, spears, and fragments of spearheads (some with oval section, double bevel, and one of biconical shape), chopsticks, spatula, and bones with incisions, grooves, or polishes. The furniture art includes a stylized reindeer engraved on a piece of reindeer antler. The fauna is similar to that of the ancient Magdalenian. A possible wall, limestone blocks with rings and cuvettes, a pebble used, oxides of manganese, yellow and red ochres, and a piece of resin are inventoried by Blanchard. A second Middle Magdalenian ensemble in the large shelter and shelter of the upper terrace.” ref

“The lithic industry is distinguished from the first group by the scarcity of scrapers and denticulate lamellae and the greater variety of chisels. The bone industry is richer and includes chopsticks, punches, needles, scissors, single and double-beveled spears, a bone tube, a pierced stick, and various tools made of bone and reindeer antler. The art of furniture consists of an ibex forearm carved on a pierced stick and various bone objects with decorations in the form of deep grooves, crosses, triangles, ovals, and various lines. Limestone blocks with cups and two rollers having a flat surface also come from this set. The two sets of Magdalenian are separated under the large shelter by a sterile layer.” ref

“The Azilian in Vasco-Cantabria occupied a similar region to the Magdalenian, and in very many cases the same sites; followed the Magdalenian culture. Archaeologists think the Azilian represents the tail end of the Magdalenian as the warming climate brought about changes in human behavior in the area. Typically the Azilian remains are fewer and rather simpler, than those from the Magdalenian occupation beneath, indicative of a smaller group of people. Special pebbles with abstract decoration are the main type of Azilian art, showing a great reduction in scale and complexity from the Magdalenian Art of the Upper Palaeolithic.” ref

Azilian pebbles

“Painted, and sometimes engraved pebbles (or “cobbles”) are a feature of core Azilian sites; some 37 sites have produced them. The decoration is simple patterns of dots, zig-zags, and stripes, with some crosses or hatching, normally just on one side of the pebble, which is usually thin and flattish. Large numbers may be found at a site. The colors are usually red from iron oxide, or sometimes black; the paint was often mixed in Pecten saltwater scallop shells, even at Mas d’Azil, which is far from the sea. Attempts to find a meaning for their iconography have not got very far, although “the repeated combinations of motifs does seem to some extent to be ordered, which may suggest a simple syntax.” ref

“The Azilian types of artifact have been defined more precisely, and similar examples from beyond the Franco-Cantabrian region are generally excluded and reassigned, although references to “Azilian” finds much further north than the Franco-Cantabrian region still appear in non-specialized sources. Terms like “Azilian-like” and even “epi-Azilian” may be used to describe such finds. The Azilian coexisted with similar early Mesolithic European cultures such as the Tjongerian and the Ahrensburg culture of Northern Europe, the Swiderian of North-Eastern Europe, and the Creswellian in Britain.” ref

Occupations of Upper Magdalenian or Azilian

“The discovery of a harpoon double row of barbs. And a faunal assemblage dominated by the horse and also comprising the Stag and Boar suggests an occupation of the Upper Magdalenian or the Azilian at the top of the sequence in the shelter of the upper terrace.” ref

Rock art

“The engraved frieze was discovered under the scree, on the wall in the western zone of the large shelter, and among the features a rear part of acephalous horse and an indeterminable animal. On the other hand, could be identified as an anthropomorph, and the features remaining as belonging to the hindquarters of another acephalous animal, perhaps a Bovid, associated with signs.” ref

Human remains

A first skeleton was found in front of the shelter of the upper terrace. This folded skeleton was poorly preserved and only a few fragmentary remains of the cranial cap and mandible were recovered. A study shows that they belong to a 40-50 year old man. The second burial, known as Dame de Saint-Germain-la-Rivière, was discovered directly above the vault of the shelter of the upper terrace (Fig. 1), about ten meters away. further north of the first. The skeleton was attributed to a young adult woman, which has been confirmed by research. Fragments of skulls and mandibles belonging to a man, a young woman, and three children aged 6 to 8 come from the upper layer of the sector between the large block and the wall of the large shelter. As well as a complete inventory of all human remains lists at least twelve individuals, including six adults and six children.” ref

The “necklaces” Mirande

“Two sets of ornaments, one consisting of “22 biforated deer spits” and the other of “55 reindeer incisors perforated with a hole”, are part of the Mirande collection. The stratigraphic provenance of these sets is not fully known, but the necklaces were believed to have been found in the large shelter below the great rock.” ref

The burial of the lady of Saint-Germain-la-Rivière

“The excavation of this burial, revealed a structure composed of four blocks supporting two slabs that seemed to protect the deceased. The largest slab has a ring directly above the skull. The small slab protected the lower limbs. Two additional blocks wedge the pillars supporting the large slab. The body was resting with the limbs flexed and lying on the left side of the bedrock, the head covered with the right hand to the east with the feet to the west. The conservation of anatomical connections suggests that the body was covered with sediment before it decomposed. As funerary furniture “two daggers” in antler, “a coast of Cervidae” split and perforated which he interprets as a “pass-link”, “Trivia”, “a Cypraea”, “70 reindeer and perforated deer canines”, “flint instruments” (chisels, scrapers, blades, slats on board slaughtered, etc.) and “a large, lenticular-shaped nucleus”. The exact location of the funeral furniture is not known.” ref

“It was reported that ” teeth, shell, weapons rested with the level of which was the belly and the kidneys of the buried “. With claims that the bone tools were ” placed on the skeleton“, The shells found” at the height of the pelvis “, the perforated teeth” probably formed a necklace “, and the lithic tools seem to have been found mixed with the elements of the necklace. Moreover, that ocher was omnipresent on the skeleton, on the funerary furniture, on the numerous rodent bones discovered around them and permeated the surrounding sediment. With proposed links a funeral home and a number of bone remains found near the burial site to the burial rite. The hearth was apparently spread over and around the large slab covering the skeleton. The bone remains included “fragments of bovine horns “, a bovid frontal with its bony ankles,” horse slaughters, and reindeer antlers “. Touched by the complexity of the funerary structure and the richness of the furniture, it was proposed that the buried figure should be ” venerated by the tribe “. A 14C AMS date on a coast places the individual’s death at 15,780 ± 200 years ago.” ref

Site distribution map (black dots) and burials (white dots) dated 14 C between 16,500 and 15,000 years ago.

Exotic character of the adornment

“All these spit come from deer hunted by the Magdalenians of Saint-Germain-la-Rivière in southern regions or have been acquired by exchange. The second hypothesis seems the most likely. In fact, the closest contemporary deposits with a notable Cerf presence are located at least 186 miles from Saint-Germain-la-Rivière, in the Spanish Basque Country and in the Piedmont Languedoc. This distance is generally considered to be the maximum range of movement of hunter-gatherer groups around their base camps. It could be argued that the sites in northern Aquitaine marked the northern limit of this ray and that the groups that frequented them could hunt the deer in the southern part of their territory. However, this hypothesis is contradicted on the one hand by the studies on the occupation seasons of Saint-Germain-la-Rivière and Moulin-Neuf, which show that the Magdalenians of Gironde have occupied this region annually and on the other hand, by the 14 C datings available which indicate that no archaeological site is recorded in the Aquitaine Basin south of the Garonne between 16,500 and 15,000 years ago.” ref

“The first indications of a new occupation of this region are attested only from 14,800 years ago in sites such as Dufaure (Landes), Aurensan, Bois du Cantet, Bedeilhac (Pyrenees) and are accompanied by cold faunas (Reindeer, Horse) with rare deer remains. Although the reasons for the absence of sites in the southern Aquitaine Basin are yet to be determined, this absence suggests that the northern Magdalenian hunting territories do not extend to the south where deer may have been more widespread. The alternative hypothesis is that the spits associated with the burial are the result of a long accumulation of spits acquired by the Magdalenian Nords of Aquitaine during exceptional hunts to this species.” ref

“This hypothesis can not be ruled out, but the low number of pairings in the burial and deer remains in the archaeological layers of the region make an exclusively regional origin of spits unlikely. To pinpoint the region of origin of the spits obtained by exchange is, for the moment, problematic. The discovery of Mediterranean cyprus (Luria lurida and Z onaria pyrum ) in the contemporary burial of the “Crushed Man” of Laugerie Basse shows that ornaments from Aquitaine at that time came from France. Mediterranean. The presence of ornamental elements as characteristic as the beads on distal epiphysis of vestigial reindeer metacarp at Gazel Grotto in the Aude Corridor indicates similarities between these two regions. Whatever the region of origin, the exotic origin of all or most of the creeks seems likely.” ref

Standardized character of the adornment

“The contradiction between the abundant presence of spits in the burial ground and the faunal composition of the site and the contemporary sites of the region is even more striking considering the age groups represented and the proportion of deer. males compared to hinds. One would expect, in an environment where deer were rare, to see the Magdalenians enjoy all the spits available. However, even if we interpret the mortality curve in the form of “L” observed in males as the reflection of a non-selective hunting attacking throughout the year to a natural population, the fact remains that the spits of old males are underrepresented. The proportion of deer crusts corresponds to the lowest percentage observed in collections of perforated spits that we have been able to study. At Aven des Iboussières, where a hunt spectating hinds of reproductive age has been identified, the percentage of deer spit (35%) is three times higher than that of the “collar” of the burial of Saint-Germain-la-Riviere (12%).” ref

“The latter seems to be characterized by a deliberate choice of spits of young adult males. These teeth, of similar morphology, are the ones that produce the strongest visual impact because of the large size of their crowns. An interest in finite objects of standardized form is confirmed by the technological analysis of spits. The study of the perforations on all the spits reveals, on the one hand, that several craftsmen and tools were involved in their realization and, on the other hand, that all these craftsmen were careful to produce relatively large perforations and localized at the center of the root. This standardization indicates that the spits have been perforated so as to obtain similar and interchangeable objects within a set. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that, in order to keep their value, these teeth must conform to canons shared by “producers” and “purchasers”. The fact that the pairs appear to have been punctured each time by a single individual indicates that the perforation was probably performed shortly after the slaughter of the animal and certainly within the group responsible for its hunting.” ref

“The finding of the low number of matches is consistent with our interpretation if we conceive of a circulation system in which the lot of spits available during the exchange is significantly greater than the number of spits acquired or involves a relatively large number of intermediaries. . The perforated spits found in ancient Magdalenian sites on the Cantabrian coast and in Languedoc do not contradict this hypothesis. In both cases, as in the case of the Dame de Saint-Germain-la-Rivière, they present medium to large perforations obtained by rotation and located in the middle of the root. As in the burial, some of the spits in both regions are decorated with engraved cuts on the occlusal surface of the crown. All of these similarities are difficult to explain as the simple result of a technical convergence. For example, none of the perforations of the 196 spits associated with the epipaleolitic multiple burials of the Aven des Iboussières shows the traces of a rotation boring and their dimensions are significantly smaller than those of Saint -Germain-la-Rivière.” ref

“Unlike this last site, the notches that decorate the spits of the Aven des Iboussières are mostly located on the roots and never form complex patterns such as those present on the spits of the grave and contemporary sites of the Lot and the Cantabrian coast. The spits associated with the Gravettian burial of Lagar Velho have even smaller perforations, located near the proximal edge of the root, a phenomenon absent in Saint-Germain-la-Rivière. All in all, these differences demonstrate that the category of “perforated spits” hides a range of possible choices that can, once identified by the intersection of archeozoological, technical, morphometric, and stylistic information, serve to delineate production and circulation territories. ‘objects.” ref

The adornment of “ others “

“No object of ornament discovered in stratigraphy in the contemporary occupation layers of the burial finds an analogue in the objects associated with it. The habitat layer is dominated by reindeer incisors and their steatite imitations as well as round beads made of steatite or using fossil sea urchins and reindeer metacarpuses. With the exception of steatite parts, the source of which is not established, all these objects are made of materials of local or regional origin. This and the fact that one finds in abundance these same objects in the other contemporary sites. As for burials, four burials attributed to the Magdalenian old / middle or dated by the 14 C of that time do not seem to have delivered objects of adornment. The last one (Laugerie Basse) included some twenty cypresses, some of them Mediterranean, a category of objects that was also part of the funerary furniture of Saint-Germain-la-Rivière. Archaeological data thus agree with the idea that certain groups of Southwest Magdalenian possessed common ornaments and exotic origins of prestige objects to accompany individuals in the grave.” ref

The ornament outside the stratigraphic context

“The objects of ornament discovered outside stratigraphy do not contradict our interpretative framework. Exotic objects are rare (isolated spits Mirande and Blanchard) or discovered in the form of finished objects (Mirande necklace) which could be part of a logic of subtraction similar to that identified for the burial or even, considering the little information we have about these objects, be associated with isolated human remains found in the same area of

the site.” ref

“The spits of the Mirande necklace, although apparently very different from those of the burial, may have played a similar role. Like the latter, they seem to have been acquired by the exchange as suggested by the absence of matches. This absence is all the more striking as the necklace, clearly built on symmetry, could have gained in brightness by the use of paired spits. But, unlike the spits of the single perforation burial, those of the necklace seem to have been perforated by the Magdalenians of the region, judging by the similarity of their perforations with those practiced on reindeer incisors and the absence of spits. biforées in neighboring regions. To this difference is added that generated by their shaping.” ref

“By modifying the caches by sawing and abrasion, the craftsman or craftsmen excluded them from the exchange network which supplied him with the objective of definitively integrating these objects into a set of ornaments that could probably only be exchanged as a whole. It is reasonable to think that the transfer of such “capital” should not be a trivial fact in the life of the community. In traditional societies possessing wealth, the transmission of such ornaments is done, for example, on the occasion of the acquisition of a woman or to pay the services of a shaman or the blood price. It is reasonable to think that the transfer of such “capital” should not be a trivial fact in the life of the community.” ref

“In traditional societies possessing wealth, the transmission of such ornaments is done, for example, on the occasion of the acquisition of a woman or to pay the services of a shaman or the blood price. It is reasonable to think that the transfer of such “capital” should not be a trivial fact in the life of the community. In traditional societies possessing wealth, the transmission of such ornaments is done, for example, on the occasion of the acquisition of a woman or to pay the services of a shaman or the blood price.” ref

Conclusion

“Overall research suggests that some members of the ancient / middle Magdalenian societies of South-West France possessed wealth consisting of rare, probably exotic, ornaments. As in some hunter-gatherer populations, and in contradistinction to the supposedly egalitarian character of Paleolithic human groups, these objects were probably used to mark the affiliation of certain individuals to privileged social groups.” ref

Early pre-writing script (found among the cave paintings), recovered from Magdalenian (possibly around 16,000 to 12,000 years ago) cave sites have similar characters to three early written languages: Indus valley signs, Greek and Scandinavian runic alphabet. ref, ref

(Magdalenian/Iberomaurusian) Connections to the First Paganists of the early Neolithic Near East Dating from around 17,000 to 12,000 Years Ago

“The majority of burials were of males, with only a few that contained women and children. Therefore it follows that any unusual burials need to be viewed in a different way. However, so-called shaman burials are extremely variable, with no obvious standard criteria, such as grave goods or markers to identify a shaman in the archaeological record.” ref

“Ethnological research about prehistoric shamans suggest they may:

• Had some association with spiritual or magical powers
• Conducted rituals or ceremonies within their clans and communities
• Engaged the help of spirits in some animal form
• Had hold of special and unique knowledge, different from their clan
• Performed a medicinal role and exhibited healing powers
• Used hallucinogenic or medicinal plants
• Had involvement with cave art
• Were held in high status within their clans and communities
• Had special treatment at death” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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I think this could represent totemistic-shamanism, seemingly a reincarnation scene from Lascaux Cave in southwestern France. Depicting a man with a bird head and a bison dating to around 17,000 years ago (Magdalenian Culture).

“The Magdalenian epoch represented by numerous stations, whose contents show progress in the arts and general culture. It was characterized by a cold and dry climate, the existence of humans in association with the reindeer, and the extinction of the mammoth. The use of bone and ivory for various implements, already begun in the preceding Solutrian epoch, was much increased, and the period is essentially a bone period. The bone instruments are quite varied: spear-points, harpoon-heads, borers, hooks, and needles.” ref  

“The culture spans from approximately around 17,000-12,000 years ago, toward the end of the last ice age. The Magdalenian tool culture is characterised by regular bladeindustries struck from carinated cores. Typologically, the Magdalenian is divided into six phases which are generally agreed to have chronological significance. The earliest phases are recognised by the varying proportion of blades and specific varieties of scrapers, the middle phases marked by the emergence of a microlithic component (particularly the distinctive denticulated microliths), and the later phases by the presence of uniserial (phase 5) and biserial ‘harpoons’ (phase 6) made of bone, antler, and ivory.” ref 

“There is extensive debate about the precise nature of the earliest Magdalenian assemblages, and it remains questionable whether the Badegoulian culture is, in fact, the earliest phase of the Magdalenian. Similarly, finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris often have been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian. The earliest Magdalenian sites are all found in France. The Epigravettian is a similar culture appearing at the same time. Its known range extends from southeast France to the western shores of the Volga River, Russia, with a large number of sites in Italy.” ref 

“The later phases of the Magdalenian are also synonymous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum during the Late Glacial Maximum. Research in Switzerland, southern Germany, and Belgium has provided AMS radiocarbon dating to support this. Being hunter gatherers, Magdalenians did not simply re-settle permanently in north-west Europe, however, as they often followed herds and moved depending on seasons.” ref 

“By the end of the Magdalenian, the lithic technology shows a pronounced trend toward increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points have the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence. As well as flint tools, the Magdalenians are best known for their elaborate worked bone, antler, and ivory that served both functional and aesthetic purposes, including perforated batons. Examples of Magdalenian portable art include batons, figurines, and intricately engraved projectile points, as well as items of personal adornment including sea shells, perforated carnivoreteeth (presumably necklaces), and fossils.” ref 

“The sea shells and fossils found in Magdalenian sites may be sourced to relatively precise areas of origin, and so have been used to support hypothesis of Magdalenian hunter-gatherer seasonal ranges, and perhaps trade routes. Cave sites such as the world-famous Lascaux contain the best known examples of Magdalenian cave art. The site of Altamira in Spain, with its extensive and varied forms of Magdalenian mobiliary arthas been suggested to be an agglomeration site where many small groups of Magdalenian hunter-gatherers congregated.” ref 

“In northern Spain and south-west France this tool culture was superseded by the Azilianculture. In northern Europe it was followed by different variants of the Tjongerian techno-complex. It has been suggested that key Late-glacial sites in south-western Britain also may be attributed to the Magdalenian, including the famous site of Kent’s Cavern, although this remains open to debate. And besides La Madeleine, the chief stations of the epoch are Les Eyzies, Laugerie-Basse, and Gorges d’Enfer in the Dordogne; Grotte du Placard in Charente and others in south-west France.” ref 

Elk ivory pendants in Alberta  

“Twelve elk tooth pendants from Alberta are examined here for sex, age, and method of manufacturing the pierce hole. Ethnographic and historic records are used to place the collection in context and understand the significance of elk ivories on the Northern Plains. Elk canine teeth were highly valued by Plains First Nations people for thousands of years. The teeth were carved and polished into pendant beads used in large numbers to adorn clothing for women and girls. Elk have only two canines and were not killed in large numbers like bison, therefore, collecting one or two hundred teeth to decorate a dress required great hunting skill. Elk ivories represented wealth, prestige, love, and long life. In the 1890s, First Nations people had limited access to elk but the tooth pendants were so important that they carved imitations out of bone and continued to decorate clothing with them.” ref 

“Elk (Cervus canadensis) are an important animal to First Nations people and have been for millennia. Elk male and female teeth are quite different with male teeth being larger and heavier.  Elk teeth remains are found in archaeological sites across Alberta and elk are depicted in rock art as petroglyphs at Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park and as a pictograph at Grotto Canyon. The shape and size of the body and antlers in rock art tells us these figures are elk. Their appearance in rock art and the skill with which they are carved and painted shows the importance of this animal to First Nations. Elk were hunted for food, their hide was used for clothing, their antlers were made into a variety of tools, and their eye teeth were shaped and polished into pendant beads used to decorate clothing. All elk have two upper canine or eye teeth. Sometimes called ivories, these teeth are vestigial tusks and are actual ivory found at archaeological sites in Alberta and their use by First Nations people into the Historic Period, including the use of bone imitation elk teeth on two Blackfoot dresses. The pendants range in date from 2,540 years ago to 150 years ago, based on associated radiocarbon dated material and archaeological find contexts, indicating that the use of elk teeth for ornaments is an ancient practice.” ref 

Historic references of elk tooth pendants from Alberta 

“What is the evidence for how these pendants were used in Alberta? Several early written accounts mention elk teeth and describe their value and importance. Grinnell (1913:240) discusses elk teeth and marriage arrangements of the Blackfoot: A chief’s daughter would already have plenty of good clothing, but if the girl lacks anything, it is furnished. Her dress is made of antelope skin, white as snow, and perhaps ornamented with two or three hundred elk tushes.…Elk tushes were highly prized, and were used for ornamenting women’s dresses. A gown profusely decorated with them was worth two good horses. Grinnell (1892:197) also notes that elk teeth were sometimes used for necklaces and bracelets. Maximilian (1843:249) also discusses women’s clothing: …it is a long leather shirt, coming down to their feet, bound round the waist with a girdle, and is often ornamented with many rows of elks’ teeth, bright buttons and glass beads.” ref 

“The girls are dressed in the same manner as the women, and their dresses are generally ornamented with elks’ teeth, for which the Indians pay a high price. Mandelbaum (1940:209) also notes the importance of elk teeth: Necklaces were made of buffalo teeth, elk tusks, or bearclaws strung on sinew. Women’s dresses were often ornamented with elk tusks and bearclaws in conjunction with a good deal of quillwork, beadwork, and some painting. Wissler and Duvall (1908:84) document an Elk Woman story of the Piegan in which a very powerful elk is angry with his wife and wishes to kill her with a medicine song. When he tries, she uses her power to turn into a woman and knock over a tree with a hooking motion of her head. The song she sang was, “My wristlets are elk-teeth; they are powerful.” The Elk Woman figure and the power the teeth give her, shows the connection to women and the spiritual power of the teeth.” ref 

“Densmore (1918:176) noted that because elk ivories are so durable, the Lakota equate them with long life. Loendorf (2010) connects the representations of elk ivories with love medicine among the Crow, and states that elk teeth are symbols of enduring love, therefore clothing with elk ivory pendants symbolized eternal love for the wearer. It is clear from these references that elk teeth were materially and spiritually very valuable to First Nations people, especially since one dress decorated with them could be “worth two good horses” (Grinell 1892:197). Elk were not killed in mass numbers in pounds or jumps like bison. Elk do not gather in such large numbers as bison and there are no known mass elk kill sites in Alberta. Many individual kills would be required to collect enough teeth to decorate a dress. Therefore, to acquire 200–300 teeth for a garment required great hunting skill and time. Perhaps the teeth were also traded in order to amass enough. By the early 1890s, First Nations people were confined to reserves. At this same time there were severe population declines of game animals, including elk.” ref 

“However, the importance of dresses decorated with elk teeth persisted. They were special garments reserved for ceremonies and celebrations and they continued to be made, but in the absence of available game, people carved imitations of elk teeth from bone, as evidenced by specimens at the Royal Alberta Museum. The Blackfoot people have always communicated important information through clothing. From a distance, a Blackfoot person could be identified by their style of dress. Colour, pattern, and trim conveyed information such as an individual’s status, family affiliation, or special relationships with certain animals (Wissler 1986). These garments were more than beautiful clothing. They embodied and expressed values and spiritual beliefs at the core of Blackfoot life (Berry, personal communication 2017).” ref  

PLATEAU STYLE ELK TOOTH DRESS

“This is a yoke of a original Plateau dress in a private collection. Often times the teeth used on these dresses were saved from older items and might be centuries old and passed down thru families. These dresses carried a tremendous amount of family prestige and pride to own one, as they indicated wealth, and the hunting capabilities of the men of the family. Among the Crow people the “Elks Tooth” dress is a standard of wear. Also on many of the old dresses you see teeth that have been etched and inscribed.” ref 

“The Crow Nation are Native Americans, who in historical times lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River.” ref  

 “In Native cultures where a girl or woman might wear the same dress for years, dresses were designed and decorated not only to be aesthetically pleasing but also to give specific information about the wearer. And certain symbols on a dress referred to the woman’s tribe, her marital status, and, for example, the prowess of her husband or father as a hunter or trader. Since elk have at most two eyeteeth, a dress adorned with dozens or even hundreds of elk eyeteeth signaled that the men in the family were skilled hunters. The historic dresses come from the Plains, Plateau and Great Basin regions of the United States and Canada, which are regions west of the Mississippi.” ref  

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

The “Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries”

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ Atheist Leftist @Skepticallefty & I (Damien Marie AtHope) @AthopeMarie (my YouTube & related blog) are working jointly in atheist, antitheist, antireligionist, antifascist, anarchist, socialist, and humanist endeavors in our videos together, generally, every other Saturday.

Why Does Power Bring Responsibility?

Think, how often is it the powerless that start wars, oppress others, or commit genocide? So, I guess the question is to us all, to ask, how can power not carry responsibility in a humanity concept? I know I see the deep ethical responsibility that if there is power their must be a humanistic responsibility of ethical and empathic stewardship of that power. Will I be brave enough to be kind? Will I possess enough courage to be compassionate? Will my valor reach its height of empathy? I as everyone, earns our justified respect by our actions, that are good, ethical, just, protecting, and kind. Do I have enough self-respect to put my love for humanity’s flushing, over being brought down by some of its bad actors? May we all be the ones doing good actions in the world, to help human flourishing.

I create the world I want to live in, striving for flourishing. Which is not a place but a positive potential involvement and promotion; a life of humanist goal precision. To master oneself, also means mastering positive prosocial behaviors needed for human flourishing. I may have lost a god myth as an atheist, but I am happy to tell you, my friend, it is exactly because of that, leaving the mental terrorizer, god belief, that I truly regained my connected ethical as well as kind humanity.

Cory and I will talk about prehistory and theism, addressing the relevance to atheism, anarchism, and socialism.

At the same time as the rise of the male god, 7,000 years ago, there was also the very time there was the rise of violence, war, and clans to kingdoms, then empires, then states. It is all connected back to 7,000 years ago, and it moved across the world.

Cory Johnston: https://damienmarieathope.com/2021/04/cory-johnston-mind-of-a-skeptical-leftist/?v=32aec8db952d  

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist (YouTube)

Cory Johnston: Mind of a Skeptical Leftist @Skepticallefty

The Mind of a Skeptical Leftist By Cory Johnston: “Promoting critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics by covering current events and talking to a variety of people. Cory Johnston has been thoughtfully talking to people and attempting to promote critical thinking, social justice, and left-wing politics.” http://anchor.fm/skepticalleft

Cory needs our support. We rise by helping each other.

Cory Johnston ☭ Ⓐ @Skepticallefty Evidence-based atheist leftist (he/him) Producer, host, and co-host of 4 podcasts @skeptarchy @skpoliticspod and @AthopeMarie

Damien Marie AtHope (“At Hope”) Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist. Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Poet, Philosopher, Advocate, Activist, Psychology, and Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Historian.

Damien is interested in: Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Equality, Ethics, Humanism, Science, Atheism, Antiteism, Antireligionism, Ignosticism, Left-Libertarianism, Anarchism, Socialism, Mutualism, Axiology, Metaphysics, LGBTQI, Philosophy, Advocacy, Activism, Mental Health, Psychology, Archaeology, Social Work, Sexual Rights, Marriage Rights, Woman’s Rights, Gender Rights, Child Rights, Secular Rights, Race Equality, Ageism/Disability Equality, Etc. And a far-leftist, “Anarcho-Humanist.”

I am not a good fit in the atheist movement that is mostly pro-capitalist, I am anti-capitalist. Mostly pro-skeptic, I am a rationalist not valuing skepticism. Mostly pro-agnostic, I am anti-agnostic. Mostly limited to anti-Abrahamic religions, I am an anti-religionist. 

To me, the “male god” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 7,000 years ago, whereas the now favored monotheism “male god” is more like 4,000 years ago or so. To me, the “female goddess” seems to have either emerged or become prominent around 11,000-10,000 years ago or so, losing the majority of its once prominence around 2,000 years ago due largely to the now favored monotheism “male god” that grow in prominence after 4,000 years ago or so. 

My Thought on the Evolution of Gods?

Animal protector deities from old totems/spirit animal beliefs come first to me, 13,000/12,000 years ago, then women as deities 11,000/10,000 years ago, then male gods around 7,000/8,000 years ago. Moralistic gods around 5,000/4,000 years ago, and monotheistic gods around 4,000/3,000 years ago. 

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

Axiological Atheist, Anti-theist, Anti-religionist, Secular Humanist, Rationalist, Writer, Artist, Jeweler, Poet, “autodidact” Philosopher, schooled in Psychology, and “autodidact” Armchair Archaeology/Anthropology/Pre-Historian (Knowledgeable in the range of: 1 million to 5,000/4,000 years ago). I am an anarchist socialist politically. Reasons for or Types of Atheism

My Website, My Blog, & Short-writing or Quotes, My YouTube, Twitter: @AthopeMarie, and My Email: damien.marie.athope@gmail.com