Prehistoric cave art reveals ancient use of complex astronomy
Some of the world's oldest cave paintings have revealed how ancient people had relatively advanced knowledge of astronomy.
The artworks, at sites across Europe, are not simply depictions of wild animals, as was previously thought. Instead, the animal symbols represent star constellations in the night sky, and are used to represent dates and mark events such as comet strikes, analysis suggests.
They reveal that, perhaps as far back as 40,000 years ago, humans kept track of time using knowledge of how the position of the stars slowly changes over thousands of years.
The findings suggest that ancient people understood an effect caused by the gradual shift of Earth's rotational axis. Discovery of this phenomenon, called precession of the equinoxes, was previously credited to the ancient Greeks.
Around the time that Neanderthals became extinct, and perhaps before mankind settled in Western Europe, people could define dates to within 250 years, the study shows.
The findings indicate that the astronomical insights of ancient people were far greater than previously believed. Their knowledge may have aided navigation of the open seas, with implications for our understanding of prehistoric human migration.
Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Kent studied details of Palaeolithic and Neolithic art featuring animal symbols at sites in Turkey, Spain, France and Germany.
They found all the sites used the same method of date-keeping based on sophisticated astronomy, even though the art was separated in time by tens of thousands of years.
Researchers clarified earlier findings from a study of stone carvings at one of these sites—Gobekli Tepe in modern-day Turkey—which is interpreted as a memorial to a devastating comet strike around 11,000 BC. This strike was thought to have initiated a mini ice-age known as the Younger Dryas period.
They also decoded what is probably the best known ancient artwork—the Lascaux Shaft Scene in France. The work, which features a dying man and several animals, may commemorate another comet strike around 15,200 BC, researchers suggest.
The team confirmed their findings by comparing the age of many examples of cave art—known from chemically dating the paints used—with the positions of stars in ancient times as predicted by sophisticated software.
The world's oldest sculpture, the Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, from 38,000 BC, was also found to conform to this ancient time-keeping system.
This study was published in Athens Journal of History.
Dr. Martin Sweatman, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering, who led the study, said: "Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last ice age. Intellectually, they were hardly any different to us today.
"These findings support a theory of multiple comet impacts over the course of human development, and will probably revolutionise how prehistoric populations are seen."
More information: Decoding European Palaeolithic art: Extremely ancient knowledge of precession of the equinoxes, arXiv:1806.00046 [physics.hist-ph] arxiv.org/abs/1806.00046
Provided by University of Edinburgh
Sanaa ya mapango ya kabla ya historia inaonyesha matumizi ya kale ya elimu ya nyota tata Baadhi ya michoro ya mapango ya kale zaidi ulimwenguni imefunua jinsi watu wa kale walivyokuwa na ujuzi wa juu wa elimu ya nyota. Kazi za sanaa, katika maeneo kote Ulaya, si tu michoro ya wanyama wa porini, kama ilivyodhaniwa hapo awali. "Kwa mfano, alama za wanyama zinawakilisha nyota katika anga la usiku, na hutumiwa kuwakilisha tarehe na kuashiria matukio kama vile mgomo wa kometi. """ "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""hapa ni miaka 40,000 iliyopita, wanadamu walifuatilia wakati kwa kutumia maarifa ya jinsi nafasi ya nyota ilivyobadilika polepole kwa maelfu ya miaka.""" Matokeo ya utafiti huo yanaonyesha kwamba watu wa kale walielewa athari inayosababishwa na mabadiliko ya hatua kwa hatua ya mhimili wa kuzunguka kwa Dunia. Ugunduzi wa jambo hilo, linaloitwa precession of the equinoxes, hapo awali ulidhaniwa kuwa ulifanywa na Wagiriki wa kale. Wakati Neanderthal walipoangamia, na labda kabla ya wanadamu kuishi Ulaya Magharibi, watu waliweza kuamua tarehe kwa miaka 250 hivi. Ugunduzi huo unaonyesha kwamba watu wa kale walikuwa na uwezo mkubwa wa kuchunguza nyota kuliko walivyoamini hapo awali. Huenda ujuzi wao ulisaidia kuendesha meli baharini, na hilo linaweza kutusaidia kuelewa jinsi watu walivyohama-hama kabla ya historia. Watafiti kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Edinburgh na Chuo Kikuu cha Kent walichunguza maelezo ya sanaa ya Paleolithic na Neolithic iliyo na alama za wanyama katika maeneo ya Uturuki, Uhispania, Ufaransa na Ujerumani. Watafiti hao waligundua kwamba maeneo hayo yote yalitumia njia ileile ya kuweka tarehe, ingawa wakati uliotumiwa kutofautisha tarehe hizo ulikuwa umepita miaka elfu kadhaa. Watafiti walifafanua matokeo ya awali kutoka kwa utafiti wa kuchonga mawe katika moja ya maeneo haya - Gobekli Tepe, katika Uturuki ya kisasa - ambayo inaeleweka kama kumbukumbu ya mgongano wa kometi ya uharibifu karibu 11,000 KK. Ilidhaniwa kwamba shambulio hilo lilianzisha kipindi kidogo cha barafu kinachoitwa kipindi cha Younger Dryas. Pia walifichua kile ambacho labda ni kazi ya sanaa ya kale inayojulikana zaidi - Lascaux Shaft Scene nchini Ufaransa. Mchoro huo unaonyesha mtu anayekufa na wanyama kadhaa, na huenda ukatumiwa kuadhimisha shambulio jingine la kometi karibu mwaka 15,200 KK. Timu hiyo ilithibitisha matokeo yao kwa kulinganisha umri wa mifano mingi ya sanaa ya pango - inayojulikana kutoka kwa tarehe ya kemikali ya rangi zilizotumiwa - na nafasi za nyota katika nyakati za kale kama ilivyotabiriwa na programu ya kisasa. "Mfano wa kwanza wa sanamu ya kihistoria ni ""Mwanamume Simba"" kutoka Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave, ambayo ilibuniwa mwaka 38,000 KK, na inaonyesha kwamba sanamu hiyo ilitengenezwa kwa kutumia mfumo wa zamani wa kuweka saa." Utafiti huo ulichapishwa katika gazeti la Athens Journal of History. "Martin Sweatman, mtafiti wa Chuo Kikuu cha Edinburgh, alisema: ""Hata hivyo, kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba watu walipata ujuzi wa hali ya hewa wakati wa barafu ya mwisho." Kwa kiakili, hawakuwa tofauti na sisi leo. "Ugunduzi huu unasaidia nadharia ya athari nyingi za kometi katika mwendo wa maendeleo ya binadamu, na labda utafanya mapinduzi jinsi idadi ya watu wa kabla ya historia inavyoonekana. """ "Kutoka kwa ""Uchoraji wa Kale wa Ulaya: Ujuzi wa Kale wa Precession ya Equinoxes"" (Arxiv 1806.00046) na ""Uchoraji wa Kale wa Ulaya: Ujuzi wa Kale wa Precession ya Equinoxes"" (Arxiv 1806.00046) na ""Uchoraji wa Kale wa Ulaya: Ujuzi wa Kale wa Precession ya Equinoxes"" (Arxiv 1806.00046) na ""Uchoraji wa Kale wa Paleolithic"" (Arxiv 1806.0006)."