Prehistoric cave art reveals use of astronomy

[Still Waters]

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.

https://phys.org/news/2018-11-prehistoric-cave-art-reveals-ancient.html

[Essan]

Why is my woo-woo alarm going off? 


Edit: this is basically just a reinterpretation of various carvings and paintings made by different peoples in different places over thousands of years in order to support a modern idea.

Prove to me that any of these pictures represent constellations    Or, indeed, that any comet hit the Earth in the past 100,000 years (check the ice cores if you are not sure )

Edited November 27, 2018 by Essan

[Piney]

3 hours ago, Essan said:

Why is my woo-woo alarm going off? 


Edit: this is basically just a reinterpretation of various carvings and paintings made by different peoples in different places over thousands of years in order to support a modern idea.

Prove to me that any of these pictures represent constellations    Or, indeed, that any comet hit the Earth in the past 100,000 years (check the ice cores if you are not sure )

Meh, you beat me to it.

Soon as I saw the "comet part" of the article, I yelled "Bloody Hell! Again?"

[Carnoferox]

1 hour ago, Piney said:

Meh, you beat me to it.

Soon as I saw the "comet part" of the article, I yelled "Bloody Hell! Again?"

Younger Dryas and Gobekli Tepe? Wow.

[Piney]

12 minutes ago, Carnoferox said:

Younger Dryas and Gobekli Tepe? Wow.

We're about to get carpet bombed! 

[SHaYap]

Its not astronomy as Science as in Modern Science or Astronomy, its just saying people has been star gazing for a long time. I don't think comet 'strikes' means what it is defined as today, a comet streaking across the night sky was as good as a any stroke to the old stargazers in ancient China

I don't know where they they dug up that hoary number of 100.000 years though, maybe its just hedging the bet just in case Gobekli turns up more unexpected surprises.

~

[Calibeliever]

"Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last Ice Age," 

ugh, always sticks in my craw a bit when academics act surprised that pre-agricultural humans had any type of knowledge, as if we were all just knuckle dragging up until 4 or 5 thousand years ago. Yes, they had knowledge of something they looked at every single night for their entire lives. 

[Tatetopa]

Two Neanderthals meet at a mammoth kill.

  "Whats your sign dude? " 

"Lion-man,  Whats yours man?" 

"Aurochs, with plesippus rising.".

I have no trouble believing our ancient ancestors had some knowledge of astronomy and time keeping.  I am reaching for the connection between animals and constellations. I'll keep an open mind.

[Gecks]

8 hours ago, Calibeliever said:

"Early cave art shows that people had advanced knowledge of the night sky within the last Ice Age," 

ugh, always sticks in my craw a bit when academics act surprised that pre-agricultural humans had any type of knowledge, as if we were all just knuckle dragging up until 4 or 5 thousand years ago. Yes, they had knowledge of something they looked at every single night for their entire lives. 

Totally agree. They dont seem to be able to move past the stereotype do they that early man just grunted and clubbed a bride and dragged them off. 

 

[Tatetopa]

8 hours ago, Calibeliever said:

gh, always sticks in my craw a bit when academics act surprised that pre-agricultural humans had any type of knowledge, as if we were all just knuckle dragging up until 4 or 5 thousand years ago. Yes, they had knowledge of something they looked at every single night for their entire lives. 

I agree.  I thinkpossible  calendar sticks with moon phases have been found.   No doubt they knew the movement of the stars.  The part about comets might be conjecture.

[Nnicolette]

On 11/27/2018 at 1:38 PM, Essan said:

Why is my woo-woo alarm going off? 


Edit: this is basically just a reinterpretation of various carvings and paintings made by different peoples in different places over thousands of years in order to support a modern idea.

Prove to me that any of these pictures represent constellations    Or, indeed, that any comet hit the Earth in the past 100,000 years (check the ice cores if you are not sure )

Are you trying to say that there was no comet 13000 years ago? The impacts of this event were pretty widespread and devastating  to not have happened. The point is the painting may depict it. Not that it's the basis of our evidence.

[NCC1701]

What have these scientist been smoking?

[SHaYap]

I was curious (and still is, truth be told) about these little 'handbags' across the top carved on the monoliths at Gobekli

~

 

~

Doesn't it remind anyone of those curious little 'handbags' carried by those Apkallu back in old Babylon ?

 

~

Coincidence or Fashion of the GOds ?

~

[Eldorado]

1 hour ago, third_eye said:

I was curious (and still is, truth be told) about these little 'handbags' across the top carved on the monoliths at Gobekli

~

Coincidence or Fashion of the GOds ?

~

I thought those were big cans of beer.  Or rather, pails of beer.  Pail ale.  lol