Ten mysterious examples of ancient rock art

Rock paintings and sculptures are one of the oldest art forms in the world, and their diversity is the same as the vast culture and civilization that produced them.

The description of elegant portraits, colorful animals, unusual figures combining human and animal characteristics and meticulous geometric patterns continues to inspire people's admiration for its exquisite and powerful form and meticulous expression, and provides a window for the daily life of our ancient ancestors.

Here, we show some of the most amazing and mysterious examples of rock art from all over the world, although there are thousands of rocks that are equally impressive.

The sandstone cliff in Sego Canyon is a spectacular outdoor rock painting art gallery, which was painted and carved by Native Americans in about 8 years and thousands of years.

They are characterized by more than 80 magnificent ghost-sized figures with sunken or lost eyes, usually without arms and legs.

Some people claim that these mysterious figures are evidence of our ancient alien visits, while scholars believe that these strange creatures represent shamanism hallucinations in a trance.

The evidence that Sego Canyon is inhabited can be traced back to ancient times (6000- 100 BC).

However, supporters of the ancient astronaut theory of the Anasazi, fremont and Ute tribes later believed that the strange figures of the rock art of the Barrier Canyon depicted aliens who had visited the earth.

They point out that huge, sunken eyes and triangular heads prove that these characters are not human. However, some people, such as researcher Polly Schaaffs Ma (1999), said that they represented the Shamanism art related to the sacrificial activities of the ancients.

Ms. Schaaffs Ma pointed out that in fact, these "soul figures" often have snake-shaped tattoos, and their trunks sometimes have symbols that give water/life.

The appearance of these relations (figures/animals) patterns is considered as evidence of the existence of shamanism tradition in these ancient westerners. At least in a certain period, archaeologists discovered a rare example of prehistoric rock art in the Scottish highlands last year.

Researchers believe that there are many cups and rings on this boulder, which may reflect the use of ceremonies, the imprint of the territory or the map.

The carving on this boulder found in Rothschild, Scotland is thought to date back to the Neolithic Age or the Bronze Age 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.

However, it is difficult to determine the exact age of this work of art: even if the Stonehenge monument can date it, this work of art may have been added later.

John Vaubel, a researcher from the Archaeological Society of Northern Scotland (NOSAS), called the discovery an "amazing discovery" and explained that it was one of the few decorative gems in Scotland.

Cup ring seal is a form of prehistoric art, which consists of pits with a diameter of no more than a few centimeters. It is carved on the rock surface, often surrounded by concentric circles, and also carved on the stone.

This decoration appears on natural boulders and outcrop rock carvings. On boulders, such as slates, stone circles and passage tombs, such as Klava's tomb, and the top stone of New Grand West, cup-shaped and ring-shaped traces can often be found on upright stones and stone circles. These places are considered to be places used for religions and ceremonies in the past.

Sculptures often appear on outcrops of rocks, and the remains here seem to be deliberately chosen to observe the surrounding countries continuously.

Some people say that they correspond to constellations, or that they are records of land ownership or reflect boundaries.

Last year, archaeologists discovered a rock in Kharja Oasis, 65,438+075 kilometers west of Luxor, which is believed to date back to the pre-dynasty era, about 4000 BC or 4000 BC.

Egyptian archaeologist Salima Ekram claimed that rock art is the depiction of spiders, cobwebs and insects trapped by spiders, and this theory dominated the mainstream news reports. However, since then, other researchers have proposed another explanation.

Dr Derek Cunningham, the author of 400,000 Stone Age Sciences, believes that comb-shaped graphics are actually an ancient astronomical writing form.

He found that the angular deviation of the spider's body and many lines drawn on the panel were consistent with astronomical values that were thought to accurately predict the center of the solar eclipse.

For example, the suggested spider rotation 13.

In the vertical direction, 66 degrees is equivalent to the calculation of half a star and moon. Michael Ledo, the author of The Earth Is So Heavy: The Common Root of the Bible, and other works provide another explanation for this unusual rock panel.

According to Ledo, these figures represent the ecliptic and other constellations. The Taj Mahal is known as the best prehistoric open-air museum in the world. It is located on a vast plateau in the southeast of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, bordering Libya, Niger and Mali, with an area of 7. 5%.

Tahiri, covering an area of 20,000 square kilometers, is home to paintings and sculptures with special density, which recorded the climate change, animal migration and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara desert from 65,438 BC to 00,000 BC.

For thousands of years, people have left many archaeological remains, dwellings, mounds and fences.

However, it was the rock art first discovered in 1933 that made Ta Silan Gill famous all over the world.

This art includes more than 65,438+05,000 paintings and sculptures on the rock surface, including pictures of wild animals and livestock, humans, geometric patterns, ancient figures and mythical creatures, such as people with animal heads and creatures with gods or spirits.

This art covers five different periods, each corresponding to a specific animal, which can be described by style differences.

Although thousands of paintings and prints by Cilangere have been recorded, it is likely that more works have not been discovered.

These images reveal the life of ancient Saharans, but they also leave us with many questions, such as who painted them and what they mean.

20/kloc-in July, 2004, the Ministry of Archaeology and Culture of the State Council, India sought the help of Indian Space Research Organization to study a group of ancient rock paintings found in a cave near Chalama Town, Kankel District, basta tribal area. This art reflects the belief of ancient people that we are not the only one in the universe.

JR Bhagat, an archaeologist who has studied rock art, claims that the description of the new discovery can be traced back to about 10000 years ago, although the dating method is not clear.

Bagat thinks that these images may depict aliens and UFOs, because these paintings include large humanoid creatures descending from the sky, some people wearing things that look like helmets or antennas, and disc-shaped planes that emit three kinds of lights (or legs) from the bottom.

Bagat explained that the local people in this area have several beliefs.

Although few people worship these paintings, some people tell the story of "Lola people" they heard from their ancestors, that is, "little people".

Legend has it that the Lola people once descended from the sky in a circular flying object, taking away one or two villagers who never came back.

However, Bagat did admit, "We can't refute the possibility of prehistoric human imagination.

Bhagat did not mention the fact that, in other cases, archaeologists usually depict these paintings as shaman images of human beings, hybrids of human beings and animals, and geometric shapes.

August 20 13, in a group of shaman art of rock paintings in western Nevada, USA, figures with antlers, tentacles or spiritual rays are very common between 10500 and 14800, which is the oldest rock painting ever discovered in North America.

The oldest rock art in North America can be traced back to 6700 years and can be found in Longhu, Oregon.

Ancient rock carvings in Nevada were carved into limestone boulders. The art on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, which is now dry, includes not only simple rock paintings, such as straight lines and swirls, but also more complex rock paintings, similar to the textures of trees, flowers or leaves.

There are also a series of abstract designs that look like oval or diamond chains.

Deeply carved lines and grooves in geometric patterns are similar to rock paintings found in Oregon.

However, its meaning and symbolic meaning have not been deciphered. Cochno Stone, located in the west of Dumbarton, Scotland, has dozens of spiral grooves, carved dents, geometric shapes and various mysterious patterns, which is considered as the best example of cup ring carving in the whole European Bronze Age.

However, in the past 50 years, this stone has been buried under several feet of land and vegetation in a desperate attempt to protect it from destruction.

The size of this stone is 42 feet by 26 feet. It was first discovered by Pastor james harvey in the farmland near the current Faifley residential area near Clydebank in 1887.

It is covered with more than 90 nicks, which are called cup marks and ring marks.

The imprint of this cup and ring is thought to date back to 5000 years ago, accompanied by an oval pre-Christian cross and two pairs of carved footprints, with only four toes on each foot.

Because of a series of marks on it, Cocoa Stone is considered as an important national cultural relic and designated as a scheduled monument.

In 1960s, cocoa stones were destroyed by vandals many times, so in 1964, archaeologists from Glasgow University suggested burying them to prevent further destruction.

Since then, the stone has been covered.

However, the local Council is considering whether to lift the veil of this spectacular stone again.

One of the most fascinating and confusing legends of Australian aborigines is Wandjinas, the highest spiritual figure and creator of land and people.

The land, waters, oceans and islands in Kimberly region in northwest Australia have a long history, which can be traced back at least 60 thousand years ago, but it may be older.

Here, traditional indigenous laws and culture are still active. Woluola, Niu Renyin and Unumbu are three Wangjina tribes, which are the custodians of the oldest symbolic art distributed in Kimberly.

Perhaps the most interesting thing is that the figurative art of painting on rocks and caves is the way they draw wands-white face, no mouth, big black eyes, and the head is surrounded by a halo or some kind of helmet.

Wanjinas' oral narrative has been handed down from generation to generation like all aboriginal dream stories.

The story goes like this: Wanjina is "a creature in the sky" or "an elf in the cloud". They came down from the Milky Way in their dreams and created the earth and all its inhabitants.

Then Wangina looked at the residents, realized the difficulty of the task, and went home to bring more Wangina.

With the help of the dream snake, Wankina people descended and created, taught and became the indigenous gods they created in their dream time.

After a while, the Wankina people disappeared.

Since then, they have been living at the bottom of the water source associated with each painting.

There, they constantly produce new "children's seeds", which are considered to be the source of all human life.

Some Wanjina have also returned to the sky, and now they can see the moving highlights on the earth at night.

On the mountain in Jackson County, North Carolina, there is a huge mysterious rock covered with undiscovered rock carving codes.

For Cherokee Indians, this stone is of special importance, and the place where this stone is located is a sacred place where ceremonies were held in the past.

The name Judakula comes from the Cherokee people, who think it is an ancient creature that rules mountains.

Its name means "he leans on them" or "squint giant"-a powerful creature with superhuman ability, which can fly, once jumped from one mountain to another, and even controlled wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

This creature can bring ordinary people to the spiritual world and communicate with others.

It seems to be a kind of creature similar to the "god-like" mentioned in all myths in the world. It is said that Judakula once fell on a rock, leaving seven fingerprints.

This stone is an arc-shaped outcrop of soapstone, with more than 1500 rock paintings.

It is estimated that these rock paintings date from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. When excavating the surrounding stones, I found quarrying tools.

No other stones with similar marks have been found in this area, which makes the stones very mysterious.

The explanations of stone carvings are very rich.

They range from maps to religious symbols with secret messages or just ancient graffiti. 20 14 10 A study published in Nature shows that more than 100 paintings of ancient hands and animals found in seven limestone caves in Sulawesi, Indonesia, are as old as the famous prehistoric art in Europe.

Studies have shown that human beings produced rock paintings at both ends of the Pleistocene Eurasia 40,000 years ago.

Maxime oberth, the research director, archaeologist and geochemist of Griffith University in Australia, explained that before this discovery, experts had a Europe-centered view: and the place where humans began to make cave murals and other forms of figurative art.

However, Sulawesi people are also producing art. This fact shows that either human creativity appears independently around the world almost at the same time, or human beings have already possessed the ability and tendency of art after leaving Africa. By April holloway, April holloway was the co-owner, ancient editor and writer.

For privacy reasons, she once wrote The Origin of Ancient Times under the pseudonym April Holloway, but now she chooses to use her real name Joanna Gillan.

Joanna. Read Mor.