"Botswana 'snake rock' may show Stone Age religion"

[bloom]

"Carvings about 70,000 years old on a snake-like rock in a cave in Botswana indicate that Stone Age people developed religious rituals far earlier than previously believed, a researcher said on Thursday.

Ancestors of Botswana's San people apparently ground away at a natural outcrop about 2 metres high and 6 metres long (6 by 20 ft) to heighten its similarity to a python's head and body, said Sheila Coulson, an associate professor at Oslo University.

"We believe this is the earliest archaeological proof of religion," Coulson, a Canadian expert in Stone Age tools, told Reuters of findings made during a trip in mid-2006 to the Tsolido Hills in northwestern Botswana.

The previous oldest archaeological evidence of religious worship is about 40,000 years old from European caves. The Botswana find bolsters evidence that modern humans originated in Africa, along with religion and culture....

At the back of the Botswanan cave was a well-worn chamber, large enough for a shaman to hide and to speak, perhaps in imitation of a snake."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L30693310.htm

[Donnachaidh]

1. any parseltounge scribblings?

yeah.I.watch.too.much.Hogwarts. :eyes:

[greyl]

2. Very cool, but "archaeological proof of religion"?

I don't think we can be certain that "religion" is what was taking place there. A specified definition of religion may very well be appropriate, but it almost certainly wasn't religion as we know it. We can be sure that the seeds of what could be called a creative impulse are evidenced by the carving, but we should be diligent with our interpretation.

This story adds a supporting pre-chapter to PBS's How Art Made the World series:

We live in a highly complex world, one that requires many different skills and abilities to make our way through it. One of these skills is to look at lines and shapes that we see around us and give meaning to them. This ability to read images is an essential part of our lives. If we didn't have it, life, as we know it, would be impossible; our world would be unrecognizable. But at some point in our ancient past, that's what the world was like — imageless. And then something changed. At some point in our human history, probably about 35,000 years ago, we began to create pictures and to understand what they meant. Archeologist call this period the "creative explosion." But why did people suddenly decide to start creating images of the world around them?

The discovery of the prehistoric cave paintings of Altamira gave 19th century experts a clue to this question—they first theorized the obvious, prehistoric humans painted simply to represent the world around them. But that was not a real answer, for these early artists only seemed to paint one thing—animals. And they painted their pictures in dark caves, too, well away from the eyes of admirers.

Scientists who study altered states of consciousness suggest the answer lies in the hard-wiring of the brain. People didn't just one day decide to invent making pictures. Rather, prehistoric artists where experiencing sensory deprivation deep within their caves—in a sort of trance state—resulting in powerful hallucinations. These hallucinations were of such powerful emotional importance they felt compelled to paint them on the walls. According to this theory, these artists were simply nailing down their visions.
http://www.pbs.org/howartmadetheworld/episodes/pictures/

[greyl]

3. also, regarding the patterns in the rock

So what makes people separated in time and geography create the same strange patterns? The answer lies not in the art, but in the brains of the artists. Dr. Dominic Ffytch of the Institute of Psychiatry in London treats people with a rare type of visual disorder. His patients have reported seeing peculiar shapes and patterns appearing before their eyes. But according to Dr. Ffytch, they don't have a problem with their eyes, but rather the part of their brain that deals with vision.
Check out the gallery
here

[bloom]

4. some things about serpents

It's interesting to think about serpents - what with their role in Judeo-Christian mythology and all. And as the first known worshiped symbol.

"The snake symbol runs through all the mythologies, stories, cultures, languages of southern Africa," Coulson said. The cave, with a floor of 26 square metres (280 sq ft), was not known to archaeologists until the 1990s.

In San mythology, humankind descended from a python, and ancient streambeds nearby were believed to have been created by a snake slithering around the hills in search of water."

From original link
_________

The Wisdom of the Serpent

"Ancient peoples did not understand the serpent as some deceitful embodiment of evil. On the contrary, the serpent was, and in some cultures still is, regarded as the source of great wisdom, for the serpent can shed its skin and go on living. Like the butterfly which bursts out of its own chrysalis to new life, the serpent was often regarded as a symbol of immortality. And more, perhaps because of this intimation of new life, the serpent was frequently regarded in the ancient world as the messenger from the great Goddess and the guardian of her sacred precincts" (see Eliade, Patterns 164-74; Sinha 45, 56).

http://southerncrossreview.org/38/williams.htm
__________

The Serpent as Divinity

"Even before the Sumerian legends we can find vases with a gigantic snake winding over the whole universe, or over the sun, moon and stars. The snake can also be found below a growing plant or above the belly of a pregnant woman. The snake is thus seen as a symbol of energy and life.

In some of the very earliest of figurine artifacts which have been found we have the fecund goddess with large belly and pendulous breasts, all of which are indicating fertility connotations. Almost always accompanying these figurines, either on the figurine itself or on associated material, we find the spiral. The spiral is one of the most widespread of the symbols of the goddess. It appears in American Indian, Asian, African, Australian and European art, most often as a coiled serpent. In some early Middle Eastern coins and plaques we see spiral designs around the heads of gods. This is usually regarded the symbol of superhuman life."

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/5789/serpent.htm

[xchrom]

6. i'm glad you put that is -- i was going to add that the snake is one

of the images of the earth mother.

our cave dwelling ancestors were not entirely limited to the cave -- they knew how to make temporary hunter gatherer lodges.
however the cave is also an allusion to birth and birthing.

[applegrove]

5. Our ancestors!!

[cosmik debris]

7. The bit about the shaman speaking through the mouth

Reminds me that con games are older than some may think too!