sábado, 28 de abril de 2007
SOSIEGO, SI ERES AGUA....
Sosiego, si eres agua...te haces sinfonía...
–
Sosiego, si eres agua
... te me haces sinfonía...
qué buscas ?
qué tienes?
qué no tienes?
es mi río en su andar
que te entretiene...
enjaulando mi trino?
rumores que salpican
movimientos y vida?
e inquietudes andando
que represas?
No fijas,
si es que tengo en un vaso
y cristalina
para esa sed sin burbujas
emanada y al pasar
mis cortos manantiales...
Sólo asomada
en brevedades
sin recortes necesarios
su fórmula cortita
y contenida
en hidrógeno dos
para mi único oxígeno;
que ha dado el ser
a soles que me siguen
por ahí
y regalando
en vertientes tan bellas...
lo mejor de sus vidas...
No hay tanta impureza
recorrida...
sin encontrar
perfecciones defendidas
con murallas de alivios
o en atajos...
los que quieres resguardar
de tantos tajos....
Hoy me salta entre rocas
que muy duras,
esparcidas hallé
caminando la vida...
cuando cercada
vi que al azar
y aún en puntas de pie
transparente te hacías
y esfumado ya...
perdido, entretenido,
vaya a saber en qué
amanecido rocío
no reflejas mi lago
tan tranquilo...
Tu fantasma
en agobios desmedidos
evaporas hermético
si callas por que callas
y sabes?
cuánto se habla
en lo callado???
cuánto gritan
y aturden tus resguardos?...
cuánto surge revelando...
en este pentagrama...
en que siento tu música,
hoy sin ecos...
en un silencio corto...
o en silencios más largos???
Todo en mi
hoy ya es sinfonía...
si a su arrullo
me presto...
ganándome por dentro...
hay espacios, hay tiempos
y hay silencios...
si es que escuchas en vos
vibrando claramente...
tu mejor sinfonía!!!
Teresita.-
RUPESTRE´S ART
STYLISTIC UNITS IN PREHISTORIC ART RESEARCH: ARCHEOFACTS OR REALITIES?
André Prous
Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte. Brasil. E-mail: mailto:aprous@dedalus.lcc.ufmg.br
1- Introduction
When modern western thinking divided knowledge in several strictly separated areas by 18th - century, then appeared the idea that "art" was a specific category, that I. Kant characterized as "its own finality". Actually, the concept of art doesn't exist in most cultures. Even in Latin, ars, artis means technological hability (the one of the craftsman - artisan, artesão, artesano in neo-latin languages) as well the capacity to create some lovely thing (proper of our artist).
Plato wrote upon Beauty, but he did not create an aesthetic. The very word "art", thus, when applied to a different cultural context, is very ethnocentric and problematic one. Should it be possible we study prehistoric productions like "Rock Art" from our mental categories without we speak exclusively about ourselves?
We can see two main groups among the many western scholars that have studied the artistic phenomen from the begginning of the 20th - Century. In the first one we find mostly artists and aestheticians, that study non western objects from an aesthetic point of view, as if there were universal categories; in the second one, and mainly from the second half the 19th - century, some archaeologists and ethnologists have tried to discover ethnic realities. But even the concept of ethnicity has been created - as a political instrument - in western culture, during the 19th - Century...
We can say that archaeologists that have studied prehistoric art have worked in three main directions:
- archaeometric studies: trying to date the objects, to identify technics of elaboration, raw materials, etc.
- temptatives to discover what was the significance of the artefacts or graphisms for theirs authors.
- the search of implicit information (ethnic, sociological, aesthetic, economic, perception of reality...) that we can find about the authors through their so called "artistic" production. Prehistoric people were, putatively, not always conscient of this type of informations.
In this paper, we shall consider only this last orientation and, mainly, the temptatives that have been made to identify ethnic, social or gender groups. Concepts like "style", "tradition" (and, in Brazil, "variety" or "facies", are generally used to characterized the production of such putative populations.
This way, it is important to know if these categories express objective realities, or if they are only the expression of our ethnocentrism. Are Rock Art descriptive units archaeofacts, or realities?
To discuss this point, we need understand what were the objectives of the differents archaeologists when they proposed stylistic units. We also can try to test the validity of these categories looking at western historical art. With concrete examples, we'll also try to show how (and with what limitations) ethnographic examples can be used by archaeologists.
2 - Prehistoric Art Research: a short History
First steps
Since the 16th- Century, "tourist" guides mentionned the painting of Niaux cave, in France. Obviously, they were not considered of prehistoric age (this concept did not exist yet ), but they people thought they had been made by peasants that did not know well how to paint - within the naturalistic manner of Renaissance period. There were, thus, object of curiosity but not of investigation or of aesthetic pleasure.
Sketch of the animals painted on Altamira cave by José de Argumosa,1880.
The first scientific interest arose in Europe on the late 19-th Century, when engraved bones were found on paleolithic levels. People was amazed by the fact that prehistoric Man should have time enough to waste on artistic productions; early Man, and even the so called "primitive" living populations were seen as poor people that had to cope with a world too hard to allow high intellectual activities. In any case, the first scholars did not think that prehistoric art needed to be studied: they interpreted it as the expression of purely aesthetic expression, in conformity with the neo classic or Parnassian ideas about art.
The comparativist and evolutionnist period: magic and hunting
On the beginning of the XX century, as the same time there were a worldwide expansion of ethnological research, prehistorian remained evolutionnists and thought that the behaviour of modern "primitives" should explain past societies belonging to the same "evolutionnary stage". The time of analogy had come. Some aboriginal populations were said to paint animals before they hunt them, to catch their souls - and later, their body - in a "sympathic" magic way. So, scholars like H. Breuil pointed the frequence of animals in the just discovered rock art of Franco-Cantabrian Caves to interpret them in a hunting perspective. Linear geometric figures were supposed to be weapons and circular ones, representations of wounds. Every animal with a round belly would be the representation of pregnant female, to increase the reproduction of the preys. These explanations were used for the whole palaeolithic art of Europe.
"The sorcerer". Tracing by H.Breuil.
Differences in the way animals were painted were mainly seen as the result of an evolution: primitive artists would have progressively discovered the laws of perspective from Aurignacian to Magdalenian period.
Rich rock art was soon discovered in non European regions like Tassili, where H. Lhote identified successive chronological periods, each one characterized by thematics: the first one, of hunter-gatherers - depicted wild animals (Bubalin period); during another one, pastoralists painted their livestock (Bovidian period); last, horse herders of bronze period represented charriots.
From such few regional sequences, evolutionists developped the idea (implicit or explicit) that each type of rock art should show the evolutionary stage of its authors. Such idea remain alive and is very clear for example, in Anati«s works (1993: 47) that lists what should be the dominant characteristics of archaic hunters art (wild animals, masked humans figures, psychograms; scenes rares), evolved hunters (anecdotal scenes, imaginary beings), pastoral breeders graphems (domestic animals, idealization of forms) and complex economies art (implements and weapons, mythological scenes, schematic and abstract graphems)...
Reaction against ethnographic comparativism: the structuralist approach
A new era began in the 1960', from the independent works of A. Laming-Emperaire and A. Leroi-Gourhan (that went on in a direction predicted by M. Raphael in the 40'). Both didn't accept naive ethnographic analogy; they considered than indigenous populations were not fossilized "primitive" and should not offer keys to interpret paintings made thousand years ago and thousand kilometers away. They pointed out that scholars like Breuil used, in their publications, always the same figures, to comprove their ideas; on fact, most of palaeolitical animals depicted are not wounded or pregnant...
As it was not possible anymore to use living people in order to explain prehistoric art, it was necessary to find in the very prehistoric corpus informations that should not be inspired by any ethnic discourse: nor european, nor aboriginal.
The new goal was to understand what themes were chosen by prehistoric Men, what ones were excluded, and the way they should be a coherent expression of organized symbols. Specific interelationship between horse and bovidian representations (later, Leroi-Gourhan added deer/goats), or between linear/round shaped geometric forms were recognized. They intended to find relationship between some type of symbols and topographic feature (horses and bovidians in central places; dots at the entry of corridors, "dangerous", animals at the end of corridors...). This associations, generally binary, were seen as oppositions in a structuralist way of thinking, influenciated by Boole's algebra. So, we should ask if this is really an universal or an historically determined vision of the world.
Though Leroi-Gourhan (like Breuil before him) recognized the existence of chronological modifications during the millenia (he proposed the existence of 4 successive styles), his approach let him to privilegiate statistics using the whole corpus of palaeolithic figures, as if they were the product of only one thinking. This was probably to underestimate possible variability during millenia and from one place to another one.
Male symbols. Typology by Leroi-Gourhan.
After they showed some forms of organization in european palaeolithic rock art, Laming-Emperaire and Leroi-Gourhan tried to understand their meaning (for example, when they see the association bovidian/ equidian as the expression of male/female duality). This way, they were not anymore searching "objective" structures, but making subjective interpretations. Anyway, all the subsequent semiotic works on rock art (like those of Sauvet and Wlodenczyck, 1977) continue on the way opened by both French scholars.
Diversification of approaches on the late XX century
During the 70' and 80', hundreds of new sites were discovered in all continents; it was not anymore possible to study them in the same way and many new approaches appeared.
One of them, is ethnographic interpretation, where indigenous traditions might putativly offer informations about the traditional meaning of regional rock art; in western Canada or northern Australia, this has been used for regional purposes. But some interpretations are being also tentatively proposed as general keys for other places; for example, many scholars used the ideais of J. Lewis-William and T. Dowson that many paintings or engravings should depict visions of shamans when their conscience was altered by hallucinogenic mushrooms or other technics. Most geometric figures, found everywhere, should be phosphenes and for this reason, universal. As Lewis William accepted that south african animal representations were made to improve good results during hunting parties, the presence of geometric figures as phosphenes reinforced old BreuilÕs theories. At the same time, this idea contemplate our modern obsesssion with drugs; so, in several parts of the world began the search for hallucinogenic vegetal representations and like phosphene forms: San Pedro cactus was identified on Chavin sculptures in Peru; An old Salish woman explained north american engravings from visions and dreams of starving youngs during initiation phases (A. York, R. Daly and C. Arnett ,1993)...
In any case, it appeared that the Shamanistic theory should not explain all forms of rock art (Clottes & Lewis-William 1996).
The "information" theory of the 90' tried to show (mainly from european rock art examples) that prehistoric figures were didactic representation to improve hunting success (type of tracks, for example) also prooved not to be an all embracing-theory explanation. In any case, from this approach we know that some palaeolitical european paintings were far more naturalistic that has been thought before; sazonal diferences and behaviour are shown from antlers, fur and gestures, (Bouvier & Dubourg, 1997). Medical problems and specific pathologies are also pointed out in anthropomorphic figures (Duhard, 1993).
On the early 70', Marschack's and Ouy's works on european art, Prous' ones on southern brazilian cultures (Marshack, 1972. Ouy & Ouy-Parcszewska, 1972; Prous, 1977) tried to demonstrate the existance of mathematical or rythmic records. On the same period, archaeoastronomy turned fashionable, searching for celestial phenomenons (comets, supernova explosions...). Very recently have appeared observations upon acoustic properties of some sites (Dauvois 1992); there are also ethnographic evidences that Californian historical tribes used places with special sound propagation for ritual purposes (K. Hedges, 1993). Gender point of view was introduced, for instance in the study of the palaeolithic "Venus" body (McCoid & Mc Dermott, 1996).
Systematic experiences to replicate and analyse prehistoric preparations of pigments, that began with Couraud (Couraud & Laming-Emperaire, 1979) have had a great developpment in last years (Menu, Clottes, 1990) with chemist and archaeologist grewing cooperation. Chemists found how to extrate diminute quantities of organic material to be dated by AMS (Russ, Hyman, Shaffer & Rowe 1990): direct dating of some rock paintings and engraving turned thus possible. At the same time, the gesture and chronology of groove making on walls and bones was studied through the micro analysis of the grooves (d'Errico, 1989).
But what we should name "ethnicity research" turned a very important approach. Where evidences like frequent superimpositions showed that successive populations had painted the sites, each in a different way, scholars work to establish the chronology of styles or traditions, like Lhote had done in Sahara, Chaloupka in Australia, Prous in central Brazil... In Australia, ancient tribal territories identification from the study of their mythological representations, turned a priority, when aboriginal peoples where allowed to come back and claim their right to control the sites that symbolize their cultural identity. Notwithstanding, some ethoarchaeological studies refute the putative one-to one correspondance between styles and ethnic units (Franklin, 1989).
In Europe, regional styles are being valorized and the new dates allow the scholars to analyse the technic and thematic modifications during Late Palaeolitihic. They have speak of a "post stylistic era" (Lorblanchet), to make clear that the unilinear view of european rock art that characterized Breuil and Leroi-Gourhan periods is finished. But this doesn't mean that the style concept will not be used anymore, as it remains usefull when applied in a more restricted context.
Main approaches of rock art in Brazil
Artists and naturalists discussed the meaning of brazilian rock art from early XIX century: J. B. Debret (in 1839, from the drawings of Spix & Martius, that he retouched for this purpose) or T. Sampaio (op. cit. 1918) interpreted the paintings as description of travels, battles or funerary inscriptions.
On the late 1960', D. Aytai published a remarkable structuralist paper about Itapeva rock art (S‹o Paulo state), where he tried to find an organization of the pictographs in a way that remember Leroi-Gourhan's works - though he did not know the papers on rock art of this scholar; Aytai also suggested an interpretation, using Gê indians' mythologies (Aytai, 1969). This ethnographic analogy was renewed recently, when M. Beltrão explains some paintings of Bahia state from indigenous traditions (Beltrão, 1994); but she uses the ones of Tukano, a western amazonian tribe that live thousand kilometers far from the sites - what is rather problematic (moreover, the painting are claimed to be very ancient - some of them, of Pleistocene age). Even where there are indigenous traditions about the rock art existing in their present territory (as occurs with the Krenak indians, in Minas Gerais state), it is quite sure that their speech is a recent interpretation that helps them to built a new ethnic identity and not a fossilized original interpretation (A. Baeta 1998). For this reason, most of Brazilian scholars, even if they sometime mention interesting local ethnographic similarities (A. Victor, 1997), generally avoid this approach.
On the 70', scholars prefered a stylistic treatment, that should indicate social and cultural units (territories, ethnic groups...). In this moment, it was clear for V. Calderon (Bahia State), N. Guidon (Piaui state) and A. Prous (Minas Gerais state) that rock art was very different from one region to another. In the last state, we also pointed out drastic chronological modifications in the many places we were studying (Lagoa Santa region, Peruaçu valley, Montalvânia...) and tried to establish regional chronostylistic sequences. We also began to see how buried pigments could be characterized and used in a comparison with rock art (Prous, 1991); chemical analysis began to be made, in Piaui (Lages 1990) and Minas Gerais (Costa & alii 1989) states.
On the 80', it seemed possible to know who had made what; homogenous thematic complexes should be credited to authors which use a same code (código) and should be differenciated from other complexes, putatively made by other tribes. Traditions were defined to express cultural continuity; for example, one characterized by the dominance of specific geometrical drawings; another by human beings organized on ritual scenes, a third one by the association of some kinds of animals...
Technical attributes (the way of drawing, the morphology of the figures) or minor variations in thematic have been used to define stylistic sub-unities (varities, styles, facies) typical of a small region or periods within one tradition. The result should be seen, in a some way, as a like culture/historical approach (I. Wüst, 1991). This type of classification, that began with Prous and Guidon, has be very successful, in the sense that quite 200 traditions, styles etc. were created in one decenium. M. Consens and P. Seda discussed then this multiplication of "stylistic units", generally very poorly characterized; for example, the definition of one of them was: "engravings on boulders near/on waterflows", without other specific information (Consens & Seda 1989). In several papers, Prous and its collaborators also discussed what should be the meaning of differences and similarities that they used to create the stylistic units; for them, it was clear that they were not only ethnic markers (Solá, Prous & Silva 1981; Prous 1997).
3- The definition of stylistic units: what are the "good" criteria?
It is time to reflect upon the classifications that we, archaeologists, make, and upon the significance of the attributes we choose to make them.
Similarity and difference
When they create classifications for bones, ceramics, stones or petroglyphs, the archaeologists compare the artefacts, seeking theirs similarities and differences. The first question is: are we looking at what prehistoric man would have see? Or: what is significant for us, would be significant for prehistoric people too? The second question is: if our classifications would have made no sense for prehistoric "artists", are they worthy or not to increase our knowledge of the past?
About the first question, I'ld like to tell a story that happened to an anthropologist, when he was in a brazilian tribe. One indian showed two girls to him, saying they looked like very much each other. Looking at their faces, the Whiteman saw no similarity and told it. The indian answered "look at the shape of the breast". Obviously, we use to see the similarities between people mainly in the naked part of them: hands and face. Indians see others parts, because they don't hide their body; probably, in a traditional iranian village, people should compare the general silhouette, the way the girls would walk...
This way, we can see that, if we want perceive what was significant for one prehistoric culture, we must be ready to look at a great number of attributes, with the hope that some of them were really important (something like the so called emblemic categorie, in Wiessner sense) and that our study shall be able to demonstrate it. We must not use exclusively one or a few aspects, like iconography, to characterize a stylistic unit.
What attributes could be important?
In order to make comparisons among graphic complexes (regional complexes, sites of the same region; pannels in the same site; chronological levels in the same pannel...), we must look not only at the drawings themselves, but also at the natural and cultural context in which they appear.
The reasons of the choice of a site by prehistoric people has to be considered. It may be for its visibility on the landscape, upstanding topographic position, proximity of water supply, orientation and exposure to the sun... And we can judge this point only with caution; in 1976, we found 20 rock art sites during a survey in Montalvânia (Brazil), and pointed out that all had the same orientation; next year, we discovered more 30 in other geological alignements and it appeared that their orientation had not been an important point.
Inside a site, the selection of the wall to be worked is not neutral. In Lapa Vermelha dolina, near Lagoa Santa, the many wide, flat, smooth and well illuminated walls that every western modern man should have used were not decorated (Baeta, Silva & Prous 1992). Prehistoric artists prefered much less regular surfaces. In Peruaçu valley, each tradition had its own preferences: S. Francisco people chose the higher part of large and flat surfaces; in the same sites, Piolho do Urubu painted the lower part of the same pannels; Desenhos artists also used lower places, but mostly chose fallen blocks; Nordeste people used discrete and generally marginal places... In fact, it is so much important to know why a site or a pannel has not be used as it is to know why another one was choosen.
In the same way, when we study the iconograpy, it is not sufficient to point out what are the dominant and secondary themes; it is also worthy to identify what has not been depicted. In central Brazil, the more praized animals fot indian hunters are deer, peccari (wild american pigs) and tapir. But in the rock art of Minas Gerais state, deer are the dominant painted animals in Planalto tradition, while pecaris are quite completely absent and tapir cannot be seen; the same occurs in the subsistance refuse on archaeological layers: would one of them be good to be drawn and eaten, but not the other ones? Obviously, a dominant iconographic theme only is not sufficent to create a tradition; on the contrary, Planalto tradition would exist over several continents, where numerous deer are also depicted...
The way that the figures are made is full of informations, even if they might be more assertive than emblemic. In Brazil, for instance, anthropomorphic figures of Planalto Tradition are generally very little (more little than the associated animals) and schematic, but in Agreste tradition they are greatest and more naturalistic.
The very disposition of figures may be typical of a stylistic unit. For example, spear throwers appear always on the hand of a hunting human being in Nordeste tradition; in S. Francisco one, they are far from anthropomorphic figures; they can be isolated (in Januaria style) or they can make alignement (Montalvania facies).
Some aspects of the sensibility of prehistoric people can be found. In central Brazil, São Francisco people liked splendid drawings and bright colours that can be seen at distance; Nordeste liked to express movement in their little figures that must be seen from a very short distance; logic spatial and iconographic organization is characteristic of Montalvânia facies petroglyphs; Planalto paintings use to be profusely cast on the walls in a confuse manner.
We can go further than main great stylistic units (tradition, style, facies, variety...) that are supposed to characterize wide social groups. It is not an irrealistic goal to identify individuality through the observation of idiosyncratic patterns. May be the present moment of brazilian archaeology doesn't justify the high investment to reach this level of study, but it has occured that we recognized immediatly the manner of some artists in deer representation of serra do Cipó (Prous & Baeta, 1992/3).
4- The significancy of archaeological categories
What reality, if some, do our classifications reflect ?
We saw that the stylistic units that have been proposed in Brazil were, consciously or not, a temptative to identify prehistoric people, through what A. Leroi-Gourhan named "ethnic style".
Is it possible to do so? On the last years, it became clear that archaeology cannot help us to find cultures ou ethnies in the modern sense, but only the remains of some behaviours.
Let us consider historical examples. If we look at an european and a Viet Nam Catholic churches, we hope that iconography will be the same (Cross, Mary, some Saints) because they belong from the same tradition (this word in the way we use it in Brazil); but some stylistic patterns might be differents, that introduce oriental conventions (in this case, they should characterize an oriental or, at least, a southeastern asiatic) facies. We use to associate eastern culture not with Catholic religion (or iconography), but with stylistic patterns. But Viet Nam Catholics have quite the same rituals and ideas upon God that their european brothers in Faith, but are different of them in many ways. On the same manner, we cannot be sure that Nordeste rock art tradition was produced by one tribe, one linguistic or racial technological group; nor even we can suppose they have the same lithic technology... Even thus, the stylistic unit create by the archaeologist means something important: it expresses a kind of sensibility, of knowledge and thinking that is the same for every Nordeste drawing people.
On the contrary, we cannot be sure that every type of social unit must have only one stylistic expression. For example, there is, among Brazilian tribes, a great difference between womenÕs art and menÕs one, even in drawings made with a pencil on paper. The former produce angular geometric figures, that point out one detail to signify the whole reality. The Men draw generally curvilinear figures that fit better in our concept of "realism". Scholars explanation of this particularity is that coiling and baskettry activities, that allow only geometric figures, are strictly women technics and should have determined their perception of reality (Prous, 1977).
Such gender differenciations do exist in our culture: in France, baby girls traditionally uses mostly pink and baby boys, mostly blue clothes. Classic Ballet has been considered a feminine - or better, not male - activity from XIX century... In our society, there are also many styles that co-exist: classic music was for old people and rock, for youngs, in the 60'. Rock and classic belong to the same modern western tradition (heptatonic temperate tonal music from XVIII Century) but they are different styles, one of them showing non european influences. Would some brazilian rock art styles express the same thing?
To be sure that the styles we create are really chronological ones, we have to be sure that their figures are separated by a long time. In Lapa Vermelha dolina (Baeta, Silva e Prous, op. cit), we thus tried to see if different styles should have coexisted. I shall use once more an historic analogy. The iconography of Christian churches is not homogenous, even in the Western World: both Catholics and Orthodox pray the Virgin, but the Greek Church prays Saints (like St John Chrysostome) that don't appear in western Europe (where St. Francisco or St. Anton are typical Latin Saints). We can say that there are geographical facies in Christian mediterranean art. Other differences are less geographic, like the one between catholic and protestants churches: we'll not see the Virgin or Saints in the later ones, though both churches can be found in the same territory. We can also point out more subtle differences, like that we can see between churches that are of the same period, same region and belong to the same faith, like brightly decorated clunisian monuments and ascetic and plain cistercian ones. They express varieties within the same medieval christian community. Diversity can also be funcionals: in Ouro Preto, a barroque Brazilian town, two churches, both consacrated to St. Mary, exhibit the images of distinct Saints because one (Sta Maria do Rosário) was the temple of Blackpeople congregation and the other, the one of aristocrat's godmother (Sta Maria do Carmo). The same thing may have occured in prehistoric times and it is quite possible that moities, clans, genders, age classes etc... have left distinctive marks on the shelters. Obviously, there is also the progressive modifications of fashion during the millenia: a roman sculpture is different from a gothic one, that stays in the same church); the products of all these kinds of variation can be used by archaeologists to create stylistic units (styles, varieties) within a tradition.
It is sometimes possible to study the relationship between different traditions (Prous & Seda, 1987). In Peruaçu valley, we found an evidence of respect when figures of Caboclo style are painted on the periphery of eldest Januaria pictograms. We see neutrality among Januaria paintings, that don't avoid superimposition; but the authors of Desenhos petroglyphs expresses a negative appreciation of the eldest traditions, hiding them under a red layer of dye before they pecked zoomorphic figures. In Lagoa Santa and Serra do Cipo regions, the "artists" of a new tradition sometimes peeled the rock to destroyed previous works.
Attitudes like recovering or renewalling of ancient paintings are also frequents; the first one occurs when an ancient painting is put in a new context. Example of recovering should be an ancient isolated zoomorphic figure, that receives a new interpretation when surrounded by anthropomorphic ones, as if it were hunted; or, in Peruaçu valley, a geometric figure that has been transformed into a vegetal. Renewal occurs when some part of a figure is reinforced, like many old and patinated that received a new layer of dye (frequently, other colour) in Lagoa Santa; or the eyes of animals that were painted and painted again in australian desert.
These attitudes are the same we know from art history in Europe: when there is a social continuity, "classic" masterpieces that glorify the elites are preserved by their successors. But when there is an ideological gap, we see Protestants breaking the statues of Saints, French revolution breaking king images, Catholics and Hebreus destroy idols. But we also see missionaries recovering pagan sacred places, by a cross engravig.
The many possible classifications for one social group A question we have heard many times is "how can we justify the creation of rock art traditions, the works which have been produced by people that have also been classified from their stone or ceramic production? For example, would not be stupid we have two labels for the same people that made Serranopolis phase lithic instruments and should have painted São Francisco pictograms? First, we have to remember that it is very hard to make chronological correlation among art, technology etc. and we need classifications for all these kinds of reality. Last, but non the least, we use parallel classification for our own historic framework ; the same people or culture is said to be Catholic (religious concept) and mercantilist (economic one). We also know that nor every catholic is mercantilist, and nor every mercantilist is catholic. Today, the same person belongs to different memberships: family, social class, religious congregation, politic party etc. and can be analized within the different categories that are used to study each subject. It would be tragic if archaeology were more totalitarist than the others fields of knowledge and wanted lock up a multiface reality within only one rigourously labelled drawer...
5- Conclusion
As wrote Consens & Seda (op. cit., 1990) about the hundreds created stylistic units, if brazilian scholars have seen differences, these should be real. The archaeological categories probably express some kind of reality, if they are well defined. To give a name to the phenomena we can see is correct and usefull to discover cultural or social identities, but is not sufficient.
The problem is how to interpret these units. We have seen that the differences between rock art corpora are significant of several kinds of reality. Some of them may be similar to what we name ethnic groups. In fact, people that live in XIV century on southwestern part of France did not find them "ethnically" or politically "french", nor "english", nor even, maybe, "gascon" in the modern sense of these concepts. They know they were to-day subjects of the king of France and should be to-morrow those of the king of England, but really depended of the Earl of Pau; they belonged to an universal religion, had membership within a little peasant community and spoke regional dialect. On the same way, most people that lived in Gallia on the V century AD didn't know they were on the doorstep between Antiquity and Medieval periods (Prous, 1967); this fact doesnÕt invalidate these concepts that are ours, as they are useful from our point of view. What matters is we know that similarities and differences may expresses realities that are not those of our society.
Even if we diversify our observations, we can't be sure we'll be able to perceive what was essential for prehistoric indians. But even our typologies are valids if are useful to the approach we have chosen. We are not anymore searching for the old adaequatio rei et intellectu, but for an adequatio instrumentis et quaestionis. Our work is not an illusion, as he helps us to contrast our values with those of others cultures. We know that our point of view is not the only possible, but it can produce significant observations about the phenomena of which prehistoric men were not aware. Surely, our view of rock art manifestations is much more aware of their "artistic" aspect that prehistoric people's one was. This is because we express our linkage with a consumerist society in which art is a per se product. In its "art", Karajá indians should express their gender complementarity; other tribes should project their clanic o class values.
The archaeologists have, thus, to avoid three dangers. The first one is to create a great number of little significant stylistic units (a real danger in this moment of Brazilian archaeology). The second is to trust that these units are objectives realities; it is necessary we use them as simple instruments, used as long they are worthy, but to be cast when they are not anymore useful. A fossilization of the classifications would break the energy of the research. The third danger, maybe the worst in this post modern era, should be to desist because of the impossibility to fully understand the cultures of the past. This attitude will conduce, or to a sterile scepticism in relation to archaeological discourse, or to the ideia that we are free to make a subjective discurse without serious implications for a real - though partial - knowledge of the past.
As we intend to participate in the expansion of some kind of knowledge, we are not afraid if we have to use stylistic units that are archaeofacts (create by the archaeologist) for research purposes that express the kind of interest we have about the past. The descriptive units may change, but the reality that they express is not an illusion. This way, we reconcile the consciousness we have of our subjectivity with our scholarly exigency. We are not engaging an empty discurse upon ourselves, to excuse the pretext of an invented Other.
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Cómo citar este artículo: PROUS, andré . Stylistics units in prehistoric art research. Archeofacts or realities?. en Rupestre/web, http://rupestreweb.tripod.com/prous.html
2002
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André Prous
Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte. Brasil. E-mail: mailto:aprous@dedalus.lcc.ufmg.br
1- Introduction
When modern western thinking divided knowledge in several strictly separated areas by 18th - century, then appeared the idea that "art" was a specific category, that I. Kant characterized as "its own finality". Actually, the concept of art doesn't exist in most cultures. Even in Latin, ars, artis means technological hability (the one of the craftsman - artisan, artesão, artesano in neo-latin languages) as well the capacity to create some lovely thing (proper of our artist).
Plato wrote upon Beauty, but he did not create an aesthetic. The very word "art", thus, when applied to a different cultural context, is very ethnocentric and problematic one. Should it be possible we study prehistoric productions like "Rock Art" from our mental categories without we speak exclusively about ourselves?
We can see two main groups among the many western scholars that have studied the artistic phenomen from the begginning of the 20th - Century. In the first one we find mostly artists and aestheticians, that study non western objects from an aesthetic point of view, as if there were universal categories; in the second one, and mainly from the second half the 19th - century, some archaeologists and ethnologists have tried to discover ethnic realities. But even the concept of ethnicity has been created - as a political instrument - in western culture, during the 19th - Century...
We can say that archaeologists that have studied prehistoric art have worked in three main directions:
- archaeometric studies: trying to date the objects, to identify technics of elaboration, raw materials, etc.
- temptatives to discover what was the significance of the artefacts or graphisms for theirs authors.
- the search of implicit information (ethnic, sociological, aesthetic, economic, perception of reality...) that we can find about the authors through their so called "artistic" production. Prehistoric people were, putatively, not always conscient of this type of informations.
In this paper, we shall consider only this last orientation and, mainly, the temptatives that have been made to identify ethnic, social or gender groups. Concepts like "style", "tradition" (and, in Brazil, "variety" or "facies", are generally used to characterized the production of such putative populations.
This way, it is important to know if these categories express objective realities, or if they are only the expression of our ethnocentrism. Are Rock Art descriptive units archaeofacts, or realities?
To discuss this point, we need understand what were the objectives of the differents archaeologists when they proposed stylistic units. We also can try to test the validity of these categories looking at western historical art. With concrete examples, we'll also try to show how (and with what limitations) ethnographic examples can be used by archaeologists.
2 - Prehistoric Art Research: a short History
First steps
Since the 16th- Century, "tourist" guides mentionned the painting of Niaux cave, in France. Obviously, they were not considered of prehistoric age (this concept did not exist yet ), but they people thought they had been made by peasants that did not know well how to paint - within the naturalistic manner of Renaissance period. There were, thus, object of curiosity but not of investigation or of aesthetic pleasure.
Sketch of the animals painted on Altamira cave by José de Argumosa,1880.
The first scientific interest arose in Europe on the late 19-th Century, when engraved bones were found on paleolithic levels. People was amazed by the fact that prehistoric Man should have time enough to waste on artistic productions; early Man, and even the so called "primitive" living populations were seen as poor people that had to cope with a world too hard to allow high intellectual activities. In any case, the first scholars did not think that prehistoric art needed to be studied: they interpreted it as the expression of purely aesthetic expression, in conformity with the neo classic or Parnassian ideas about art.
The comparativist and evolutionnist period: magic and hunting
On the beginning of the XX century, as the same time there were a worldwide expansion of ethnological research, prehistorian remained evolutionnists and thought that the behaviour of modern "primitives" should explain past societies belonging to the same "evolutionnary stage". The time of analogy had come. Some aboriginal populations were said to paint animals before they hunt them, to catch their souls - and later, their body - in a "sympathic" magic way. So, scholars like H. Breuil pointed the frequence of animals in the just discovered rock art of Franco-Cantabrian Caves to interpret them in a hunting perspective. Linear geometric figures were supposed to be weapons and circular ones, representations of wounds. Every animal with a round belly would be the representation of pregnant female, to increase the reproduction of the preys. These explanations were used for the whole palaeolithic art of Europe.
"The sorcerer". Tracing by H.Breuil.
Differences in the way animals were painted were mainly seen as the result of an evolution: primitive artists would have progressively discovered the laws of perspective from Aurignacian to Magdalenian period.
Rich rock art was soon discovered in non European regions like Tassili, where H. Lhote identified successive chronological periods, each one characterized by thematics: the first one, of hunter-gatherers - depicted wild animals (Bubalin period); during another one, pastoralists painted their livestock (Bovidian period); last, horse herders of bronze period represented charriots.
From such few regional sequences, evolutionists developped the idea (implicit or explicit) that each type of rock art should show the evolutionary stage of its authors. Such idea remain alive and is very clear for example, in Anati«s works (1993: 47) that lists what should be the dominant characteristics of archaic hunters art (wild animals, masked humans figures, psychograms; scenes rares), evolved hunters (anecdotal scenes, imaginary beings), pastoral breeders graphems (domestic animals, idealization of forms) and complex economies art (implements and weapons, mythological scenes, schematic and abstract graphems)...
Reaction against ethnographic comparativism: the structuralist approach
A new era began in the 1960', from the independent works of A. Laming-Emperaire and A. Leroi-Gourhan (that went on in a direction predicted by M. Raphael in the 40'). Both didn't accept naive ethnographic analogy; they considered than indigenous populations were not fossilized "primitive" and should not offer keys to interpret paintings made thousand years ago and thousand kilometers away. They pointed out that scholars like Breuil used, in their publications, always the same figures, to comprove their ideas; on fact, most of palaeolitical animals depicted are not wounded or pregnant...
As it was not possible anymore to use living people in order to explain prehistoric art, it was necessary to find in the very prehistoric corpus informations that should not be inspired by any ethnic discourse: nor european, nor aboriginal.
The new goal was to understand what themes were chosen by prehistoric Men, what ones were excluded, and the way they should be a coherent expression of organized symbols. Specific interelationship between horse and bovidian representations (later, Leroi-Gourhan added deer/goats), or between linear/round shaped geometric forms were recognized. They intended to find relationship between some type of symbols and topographic feature (horses and bovidians in central places; dots at the entry of corridors, "dangerous", animals at the end of corridors...). This associations, generally binary, were seen as oppositions in a structuralist way of thinking, influenciated by Boole's algebra. So, we should ask if this is really an universal or an historically determined vision of the world.
Though Leroi-Gourhan (like Breuil before him) recognized the existence of chronological modifications during the millenia (he proposed the existence of 4 successive styles), his approach let him to privilegiate statistics using the whole corpus of palaeolithic figures, as if they were the product of only one thinking. This was probably to underestimate possible variability during millenia and from one place to another one.
Male symbols. Typology by Leroi-Gourhan.
After they showed some forms of organization in european palaeolithic rock art, Laming-Emperaire and Leroi-Gourhan tried to understand their meaning (for example, when they see the association bovidian/ equidian as the expression of male/female duality). This way, they were not anymore searching "objective" structures, but making subjective interpretations. Anyway, all the subsequent semiotic works on rock art (like those of Sauvet and Wlodenczyck, 1977) continue on the way opened by both French scholars.
Diversification of approaches on the late XX century
During the 70' and 80', hundreds of new sites were discovered in all continents; it was not anymore possible to study them in the same way and many new approaches appeared.
One of them, is ethnographic interpretation, where indigenous traditions might putativly offer informations about the traditional meaning of regional rock art; in western Canada or northern Australia, this has been used for regional purposes. But some interpretations are being also tentatively proposed as general keys for other places; for example, many scholars used the ideais of J. Lewis-William and T. Dowson that many paintings or engravings should depict visions of shamans when their conscience was altered by hallucinogenic mushrooms or other technics. Most geometric figures, found everywhere, should be phosphenes and for this reason, universal. As Lewis William accepted that south african animal representations were made to improve good results during hunting parties, the presence of geometric figures as phosphenes reinforced old BreuilÕs theories. At the same time, this idea contemplate our modern obsesssion with drugs; so, in several parts of the world began the search for hallucinogenic vegetal representations and like phosphene forms: San Pedro cactus was identified on Chavin sculptures in Peru; An old Salish woman explained north american engravings from visions and dreams of starving youngs during initiation phases (A. York, R. Daly and C. Arnett ,1993)...
In any case, it appeared that the Shamanistic theory should not explain all forms of rock art (Clottes & Lewis-William 1996).
The "information" theory of the 90' tried to show (mainly from european rock art examples) that prehistoric figures were didactic representation to improve hunting success (type of tracks, for example) also prooved not to be an all embracing-theory explanation. In any case, from this approach we know that some palaeolitical european paintings were far more naturalistic that has been thought before; sazonal diferences and behaviour are shown from antlers, fur and gestures, (Bouvier & Dubourg, 1997). Medical problems and specific pathologies are also pointed out in anthropomorphic figures (Duhard, 1993).
On the early 70', Marschack's and Ouy's works on european art, Prous' ones on southern brazilian cultures (Marshack, 1972. Ouy & Ouy-Parcszewska, 1972; Prous, 1977) tried to demonstrate the existance of mathematical or rythmic records. On the same period, archaeoastronomy turned fashionable, searching for celestial phenomenons (comets, supernova explosions...). Very recently have appeared observations upon acoustic properties of some sites (Dauvois 1992); there are also ethnographic evidences that Californian historical tribes used places with special sound propagation for ritual purposes (K. Hedges, 1993). Gender point of view was introduced, for instance in the study of the palaeolithic "Venus" body (McCoid & Mc Dermott, 1996).
Systematic experiences to replicate and analyse prehistoric preparations of pigments, that began with Couraud (Couraud & Laming-Emperaire, 1979) have had a great developpment in last years (Menu, Clottes, 1990) with chemist and archaeologist grewing cooperation. Chemists found how to extrate diminute quantities of organic material to be dated by AMS (Russ, Hyman, Shaffer & Rowe 1990): direct dating of some rock paintings and engraving turned thus possible. At the same time, the gesture and chronology of groove making on walls and bones was studied through the micro analysis of the grooves (d'Errico, 1989).
But what we should name "ethnicity research" turned a very important approach. Where evidences like frequent superimpositions showed that successive populations had painted the sites, each in a different way, scholars work to establish the chronology of styles or traditions, like Lhote had done in Sahara, Chaloupka in Australia, Prous in central Brazil... In Australia, ancient tribal territories identification from the study of their mythological representations, turned a priority, when aboriginal peoples where allowed to come back and claim their right to control the sites that symbolize their cultural identity. Notwithstanding, some ethoarchaeological studies refute the putative one-to one correspondance between styles and ethnic units (Franklin, 1989).
In Europe, regional styles are being valorized and the new dates allow the scholars to analyse the technic and thematic modifications during Late Palaeolitihic. They have speak of a "post stylistic era" (Lorblanchet), to make clear that the unilinear view of european rock art that characterized Breuil and Leroi-Gourhan periods is finished. But this doesn't mean that the style concept will not be used anymore, as it remains usefull when applied in a more restricted context.
Main approaches of rock art in Brazil
Artists and naturalists discussed the meaning of brazilian rock art from early XIX century: J. B. Debret (in 1839, from the drawings of Spix & Martius, that he retouched for this purpose) or T. Sampaio (op. cit. 1918) interpreted the paintings as description of travels, battles or funerary inscriptions.
On the late 1960', D. Aytai published a remarkable structuralist paper about Itapeva rock art (S‹o Paulo state), where he tried to find an organization of the pictographs in a way that remember Leroi-Gourhan's works - though he did not know the papers on rock art of this scholar; Aytai also suggested an interpretation, using Gê indians' mythologies (Aytai, 1969). This ethnographic analogy was renewed recently, when M. Beltrão explains some paintings of Bahia state from indigenous traditions (Beltrão, 1994); but she uses the ones of Tukano, a western amazonian tribe that live thousand kilometers far from the sites - what is rather problematic (moreover, the painting are claimed to be very ancient - some of them, of Pleistocene age). Even where there are indigenous traditions about the rock art existing in their present territory (as occurs with the Krenak indians, in Minas Gerais state), it is quite sure that their speech is a recent interpretation that helps them to built a new ethnic identity and not a fossilized original interpretation (A. Baeta 1998). For this reason, most of Brazilian scholars, even if they sometime mention interesting local ethnographic similarities (A. Victor, 1997), generally avoid this approach.
On the 70', scholars prefered a stylistic treatment, that should indicate social and cultural units (territories, ethnic groups...). In this moment, it was clear for V. Calderon (Bahia State), N. Guidon (Piaui state) and A. Prous (Minas Gerais state) that rock art was very different from one region to another. In the last state, we also pointed out drastic chronological modifications in the many places we were studying (Lagoa Santa region, Peruaçu valley, Montalvânia...) and tried to establish regional chronostylistic sequences. We also began to see how buried pigments could be characterized and used in a comparison with rock art (Prous, 1991); chemical analysis began to be made, in Piaui (Lages 1990) and Minas Gerais (Costa & alii 1989) states.
On the 80', it seemed possible to know who had made what; homogenous thematic complexes should be credited to authors which use a same code (código) and should be differenciated from other complexes, putatively made by other tribes. Traditions were defined to express cultural continuity; for example, one characterized by the dominance of specific geometrical drawings; another by human beings organized on ritual scenes, a third one by the association of some kinds of animals...
Technical attributes (the way of drawing, the morphology of the figures) or minor variations in thematic have been used to define stylistic sub-unities (varities, styles, facies) typical of a small region or periods within one tradition. The result should be seen, in a some way, as a like culture/historical approach (I. Wüst, 1991). This type of classification, that began with Prous and Guidon, has be very successful, in the sense that quite 200 traditions, styles etc. were created in one decenium. M. Consens and P. Seda discussed then this multiplication of "stylistic units", generally very poorly characterized; for example, the definition of one of them was: "engravings on boulders near/on waterflows", without other specific information (Consens & Seda 1989). In several papers, Prous and its collaborators also discussed what should be the meaning of differences and similarities that they used to create the stylistic units; for them, it was clear that they were not only ethnic markers (Solá, Prous & Silva 1981; Prous 1997).
3- The definition of stylistic units: what are the "good" criteria?
It is time to reflect upon the classifications that we, archaeologists, make, and upon the significance of the attributes we choose to make them.
Similarity and difference
When they create classifications for bones, ceramics, stones or petroglyphs, the archaeologists compare the artefacts, seeking theirs similarities and differences. The first question is: are we looking at what prehistoric man would have see? Or: what is significant for us, would be significant for prehistoric people too? The second question is: if our classifications would have made no sense for prehistoric "artists", are they worthy or not to increase our knowledge of the past?
About the first question, I'ld like to tell a story that happened to an anthropologist, when he was in a brazilian tribe. One indian showed two girls to him, saying they looked like very much each other. Looking at their faces, the Whiteman saw no similarity and told it. The indian answered "look at the shape of the breast". Obviously, we use to see the similarities between people mainly in the naked part of them: hands and face. Indians see others parts, because they don't hide their body; probably, in a traditional iranian village, people should compare the general silhouette, the way the girls would walk...
This way, we can see that, if we want perceive what was significant for one prehistoric culture, we must be ready to look at a great number of attributes, with the hope that some of them were really important (something like the so called emblemic categorie, in Wiessner sense) and that our study shall be able to demonstrate it. We must not use exclusively one or a few aspects, like iconography, to characterize a stylistic unit.
What attributes could be important?
In order to make comparisons among graphic complexes (regional complexes, sites of the same region; pannels in the same site; chronological levels in the same pannel...), we must look not only at the drawings themselves, but also at the natural and cultural context in which they appear.
The reasons of the choice of a site by prehistoric people has to be considered. It may be for its visibility on the landscape, upstanding topographic position, proximity of water supply, orientation and exposure to the sun... And we can judge this point only with caution; in 1976, we found 20 rock art sites during a survey in Montalvânia (Brazil), and pointed out that all had the same orientation; next year, we discovered more 30 in other geological alignements and it appeared that their orientation had not been an important point.
Inside a site, the selection of the wall to be worked is not neutral. In Lapa Vermelha dolina, near Lagoa Santa, the many wide, flat, smooth and well illuminated walls that every western modern man should have used were not decorated (Baeta, Silva & Prous 1992). Prehistoric artists prefered much less regular surfaces. In Peruaçu valley, each tradition had its own preferences: S. Francisco people chose the higher part of large and flat surfaces; in the same sites, Piolho do Urubu painted the lower part of the same pannels; Desenhos artists also used lower places, but mostly chose fallen blocks; Nordeste people used discrete and generally marginal places... In fact, it is so much important to know why a site or a pannel has not be used as it is to know why another one was choosen.
In the same way, when we study the iconograpy, it is not sufficient to point out what are the dominant and secondary themes; it is also worthy to identify what has not been depicted. In central Brazil, the more praized animals fot indian hunters are deer, peccari (wild american pigs) and tapir. But in the rock art of Minas Gerais state, deer are the dominant painted animals in Planalto tradition, while pecaris are quite completely absent and tapir cannot be seen; the same occurs in the subsistance refuse on archaeological layers: would one of them be good to be drawn and eaten, but not the other ones? Obviously, a dominant iconographic theme only is not sufficent to create a tradition; on the contrary, Planalto tradition would exist over several continents, where numerous deer are also depicted...
The way that the figures are made is full of informations, even if they might be more assertive than emblemic. In Brazil, for instance, anthropomorphic figures of Planalto Tradition are generally very little (more little than the associated animals) and schematic, but in Agreste tradition they are greatest and more naturalistic.
The very disposition of figures may be typical of a stylistic unit. For example, spear throwers appear always on the hand of a hunting human being in Nordeste tradition; in S. Francisco one, they are far from anthropomorphic figures; they can be isolated (in Januaria style) or they can make alignement (Montalvania facies).
Some aspects of the sensibility of prehistoric people can be found. In central Brazil, São Francisco people liked splendid drawings and bright colours that can be seen at distance; Nordeste liked to express movement in their little figures that must be seen from a very short distance; logic spatial and iconographic organization is characteristic of Montalvânia facies petroglyphs; Planalto paintings use to be profusely cast on the walls in a confuse manner.
We can go further than main great stylistic units (tradition, style, facies, variety...) that are supposed to characterize wide social groups. It is not an irrealistic goal to identify individuality through the observation of idiosyncratic patterns. May be the present moment of brazilian archaeology doesn't justify the high investment to reach this level of study, but it has occured that we recognized immediatly the manner of some artists in deer representation of serra do Cipó (Prous & Baeta, 1992/3).
4- The significancy of archaeological categories
What reality, if some, do our classifications reflect ?
We saw that the stylistic units that have been proposed in Brazil were, consciously or not, a temptative to identify prehistoric people, through what A. Leroi-Gourhan named "ethnic style".
Is it possible to do so? On the last years, it became clear that archaeology cannot help us to find cultures ou ethnies in the modern sense, but only the remains of some behaviours.
Let us consider historical examples. If we look at an european and a Viet Nam Catholic churches, we hope that iconography will be the same (Cross, Mary, some Saints) because they belong from the same tradition (this word in the way we use it in Brazil); but some stylistic patterns might be differents, that introduce oriental conventions (in this case, they should characterize an oriental or, at least, a southeastern asiatic) facies. We use to associate eastern culture not with Catholic religion (or iconography), but with stylistic patterns. But Viet Nam Catholics have quite the same rituals and ideas upon God that their european brothers in Faith, but are different of them in many ways. On the same manner, we cannot be sure that Nordeste rock art tradition was produced by one tribe, one linguistic or racial technological group; nor even we can suppose they have the same lithic technology... Even thus, the stylistic unit create by the archaeologist means something important: it expresses a kind of sensibility, of knowledge and thinking that is the same for every Nordeste drawing people.
On the contrary, we cannot be sure that every type of social unit must have only one stylistic expression. For example, there is, among Brazilian tribes, a great difference between womenÕs art and menÕs one, even in drawings made with a pencil on paper. The former produce angular geometric figures, that point out one detail to signify the whole reality. The Men draw generally curvilinear figures that fit better in our concept of "realism". Scholars explanation of this particularity is that coiling and baskettry activities, that allow only geometric figures, are strictly women technics and should have determined their perception of reality (Prous, 1977).
Such gender differenciations do exist in our culture: in France, baby girls traditionally uses mostly pink and baby boys, mostly blue clothes. Classic Ballet has been considered a feminine - or better, not male - activity from XIX century... In our society, there are also many styles that co-exist: classic music was for old people and rock, for youngs, in the 60'. Rock and classic belong to the same modern western tradition (heptatonic temperate tonal music from XVIII Century) but they are different styles, one of them showing non european influences. Would some brazilian rock art styles express the same thing?
To be sure that the styles we create are really chronological ones, we have to be sure that their figures are separated by a long time. In Lapa Vermelha dolina (Baeta, Silva e Prous, op. cit), we thus tried to see if different styles should have coexisted. I shall use once more an historic analogy. The iconography of Christian churches is not homogenous, even in the Western World: both Catholics and Orthodox pray the Virgin, but the Greek Church prays Saints (like St John Chrysostome) that don't appear in western Europe (where St. Francisco or St. Anton are typical Latin Saints). We can say that there are geographical facies in Christian mediterranean art. Other differences are less geographic, like the one between catholic and protestants churches: we'll not see the Virgin or Saints in the later ones, though both churches can be found in the same territory. We can also point out more subtle differences, like that we can see between churches that are of the same period, same region and belong to the same faith, like brightly decorated clunisian monuments and ascetic and plain cistercian ones. They express varieties within the same medieval christian community. Diversity can also be funcionals: in Ouro Preto, a barroque Brazilian town, two churches, both consacrated to St. Mary, exhibit the images of distinct Saints because one (Sta Maria do Rosário) was the temple of Blackpeople congregation and the other, the one of aristocrat's godmother (Sta Maria do Carmo). The same thing may have occured in prehistoric times and it is quite possible that moities, clans, genders, age classes etc... have left distinctive marks on the shelters. Obviously, there is also the progressive modifications of fashion during the millenia: a roman sculpture is different from a gothic one, that stays in the same church); the products of all these kinds of variation can be used by archaeologists to create stylistic units (styles, varieties) within a tradition.
It is sometimes possible to study the relationship between different traditions (Prous & Seda, 1987). In Peruaçu valley, we found an evidence of respect when figures of Caboclo style are painted on the periphery of eldest Januaria pictograms. We see neutrality among Januaria paintings, that don't avoid superimposition; but the authors of Desenhos petroglyphs expresses a negative appreciation of the eldest traditions, hiding them under a red layer of dye before they pecked zoomorphic figures. In Lagoa Santa and Serra do Cipo regions, the "artists" of a new tradition sometimes peeled the rock to destroyed previous works.
Attitudes like recovering or renewalling of ancient paintings are also frequents; the first one occurs when an ancient painting is put in a new context. Example of recovering should be an ancient isolated zoomorphic figure, that receives a new interpretation when surrounded by anthropomorphic ones, as if it were hunted; or, in Peruaçu valley, a geometric figure that has been transformed into a vegetal. Renewal occurs when some part of a figure is reinforced, like many old and patinated that received a new layer of dye (frequently, other colour) in Lagoa Santa; or the eyes of animals that were painted and painted again in australian desert.
These attitudes are the same we know from art history in Europe: when there is a social continuity, "classic" masterpieces that glorify the elites are preserved by their successors. But when there is an ideological gap, we see Protestants breaking the statues of Saints, French revolution breaking king images, Catholics and Hebreus destroy idols. But we also see missionaries recovering pagan sacred places, by a cross engravig.
The many possible classifications for one social group A question we have heard many times is "how can we justify the creation of rock art traditions, the works which have been produced by people that have also been classified from their stone or ceramic production? For example, would not be stupid we have two labels for the same people that made Serranopolis phase lithic instruments and should have painted São Francisco pictograms? First, we have to remember that it is very hard to make chronological correlation among art, technology etc. and we need classifications for all these kinds of reality. Last, but non the least, we use parallel classification for our own historic framework ; the same people or culture is said to be Catholic (religious concept) and mercantilist (economic one). We also know that nor every catholic is mercantilist, and nor every mercantilist is catholic. Today, the same person belongs to different memberships: family, social class, religious congregation, politic party etc. and can be analized within the different categories that are used to study each subject. It would be tragic if archaeology were more totalitarist than the others fields of knowledge and wanted lock up a multiface reality within only one rigourously labelled drawer...
5- Conclusion
As wrote Consens & Seda (op. cit., 1990) about the hundreds created stylistic units, if brazilian scholars have seen differences, these should be real. The archaeological categories probably express some kind of reality, if they are well defined. To give a name to the phenomena we can see is correct and usefull to discover cultural or social identities, but is not sufficient.
The problem is how to interpret these units. We have seen that the differences between rock art corpora are significant of several kinds of reality. Some of them may be similar to what we name ethnic groups. In fact, people that live in XIV century on southwestern part of France did not find them "ethnically" or politically "french", nor "english", nor even, maybe, "gascon" in the modern sense of these concepts. They know they were to-day subjects of the king of France and should be to-morrow those of the king of England, but really depended of the Earl of Pau; they belonged to an universal religion, had membership within a little peasant community and spoke regional dialect. On the same way, most people that lived in Gallia on the V century AD didn't know they were on the doorstep between Antiquity and Medieval periods (Prous, 1967); this fact doesnÕt invalidate these concepts that are ours, as they are useful from our point of view. What matters is we know that similarities and differences may expresses realities that are not those of our society.
Even if we diversify our observations, we can't be sure we'll be able to perceive what was essential for prehistoric indians. But even our typologies are valids if are useful to the approach we have chosen. We are not anymore searching for the old adaequatio rei et intellectu, but for an adequatio instrumentis et quaestionis. Our work is not an illusion, as he helps us to contrast our values with those of others cultures. We know that our point of view is not the only possible, but it can produce significant observations about the phenomena of which prehistoric men were not aware. Surely, our view of rock art manifestations is much more aware of their "artistic" aspect that prehistoric people's one was. This is because we express our linkage with a consumerist society in which art is a per se product. In its "art", Karajá indians should express their gender complementarity; other tribes should project their clanic o class values.
The archaeologists have, thus, to avoid three dangers. The first one is to create a great number of little significant stylistic units (a real danger in this moment of Brazilian archaeology). The second is to trust that these units are objectives realities; it is necessary we use them as simple instruments, used as long they are worthy, but to be cast when they are not anymore useful. A fossilization of the classifications would break the energy of the research. The third danger, maybe the worst in this post modern era, should be to desist because of the impossibility to fully understand the cultures of the past. This attitude will conduce, or to a sterile scepticism in relation to archaeological discourse, or to the ideia that we are free to make a subjective discurse without serious implications for a real - though partial - knowledge of the past.
As we intend to participate in the expansion of some kind of knowledge, we are not afraid if we have to use stylistic units that are archaeofacts (create by the archaeologist) for research purposes that express the kind of interest we have about the past. The descriptive units may change, but the reality that they express is not an illusion. This way, we reconcile the consciousness we have of our subjectivity with our scholarly exigency. We are not engaging an empty discurse upon ourselves, to excuse the pretext of an invented Other.
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Cómo citar este artículo: PROUS, andré . Stylistics units in prehistoric art research. Archeofacts or realities?. en Rupestre/web, http://rupestreweb.tripod.com/prous.html
2002
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Colombian rock art motifs: some ideas for interpretation
Harry A. Marriner harrymarriner@unete.com
INTRODUCTION:
During the Spanish conquest of Colombia, most shamans, and other persons (chiefs or caciques, zipas, zaques, and jeques) that had been indoctrinated into secret societies, were killed before anyone bothered to ask about the meanings of the rock art motifs found in nearly all areas of Colombia. These religious and political leaders were probably the unknown artists who painted or engraved rocks that we find scattered throughout Colombia today. Most likely the jeques or high priests were the painters of the majority of the works we see today. They were the ones who could predict the future, talk to the spirits of dead ancestors, change themselves into animals, go on shamanic flights, control the movement of the sun, bring rain, stop floods, balance the cosmos, and heal the sick.
A complex preparation for Muisca priesthood most certainly affected the candidate's perception of the world and the cosmos for the rest of his life. Attempts to interpret Colombian rock art should take this altered perception into consideration. Young boys were selected for priesthood when they were ten years old and isolated in a hut for four to six years. They were only allowed to eat one meal per day consisting of toasted corn, small potatoes and wild herbs. No salt was allowed. Their beverage was a local fermented corn beer called chicha. Candidates were not allowed to leave the hut during daylight hours and were served food through a small hole. After eating, the only parts of the body that could be washed were the fingers. When the candidate finally completed his many years of schooling, he was washed with cold water, dressed in a white manta or cloak, and presented to the chief for consecration. The final test before being ordained was one of sexual abstination. The candidate had to sleep next to two fourteen year old girls for four months and not touch them. If he failed this test he was killed during the early Muisca period. During the later Muisca times the boy who couldn't control himself was simply allowed to return to his former place in society. Successful candidates were ordained as jeques and spent most of their time masticating coca mixed with organic lime during the night near a cave or hut that was isolated, but only a short walking distance from the tribal center. Here they performed their priestly duties and went on vision quests. After returning from their vision quests, initiations, rites, or shamanic trances, the learned ones would record their visions or other information important to them or their tribe, by creating pictographs or petroglyphs at sacred sites that would be there for future reference or mantric use. These were important sites, reused over and over again for ceremonies such as: marriages, initiation, prayers and celestial observation. The Catholic Church insisted that every priest in charge of
indoctrinating a tribe interrogate the Indians to find out who were the "mohanes, chupaderos and hechiceros" and what "harm" they did. Every way possible was used to separate the Indians from following their traditional beliefs and ceremonies. When this proved impossible, Spanish priests mounted Christian crosses on top of rocks containing native rock art, held mass at sacred Indian ceremonial sites, and even painted Catholic abbreviations such as "IHS" (Zipacon, Cundinamarca) and religious sayings in Latin such as "Ipse Jubet Mortis Nos" (The same person gives us life and death) (Facatativa, Cundinamarca) (Munoz1:18) on the rock using the same colors and dyes used by the Indians to show the power of the Catholic Church over native religions.
Indians who survived the Spanish onslaught obviously weren't the ones entrusted with the secret signs, symbols and cosmic knowledge of their tribe. All the survivors would say was that the paintings and engravings were there long before they were born and that their meaning was unknown to them. The few who had some insight into rock art meanings kept their mouths shut to avoid being tortured or killed for beliefs in the "devil."
Studies of the meanings behind rock art motifs in Colombia have been frustrated by the lack of knowledge of even which culture made them since most Indigenous populations and their settlements disappeared rapidly when the Spaniards arrived. Today, for example, we can only say that rock art in the Savanna of Bogota and in the mountainous terrain leading down to the Magdalena River valley is in what we call the historic Muisca and Panche cultural zones. In the Panche zone, the province of Tocaima was decimated from 15,000 taxpaying Indians in 1542 to only 1,300 during a forty year period up until 1582. Close to 800 rock art sites have been identified by Gipri in this limited area, with few clues to identify the artists. Since the few remaining natives lost most of their cultural heritage when they were absorbed into the Spanish culture, it's difficult to prove, using available resources, whether the Muiscas, Panches or a previous culture provided the artists who put their marks on stone in these areas. The situation is similar for most Colombian rock art zones, but migration of customs and beliefs may sometimes be traced if rock art motifs are closely examined and compared to other areas.
One example of cultural iconographic migration may be seen in the San Agustin area of southern Colombia where a large number of anthropomorphic stone statues clearly show sharp canine teeth associated with the transformation of shamans into jaguars. This indicates a possible connection to the area-specific Amazonian jungle jaguar cult beliefs. Another clue that may be used to associate this culture with another area is possible portrayal of phlegm coming from the mouth with a head at the end. This "substance" leaving the mouth has been described variously as an "anthropomorphic figure" (Rouillard 36) an "animal" (Fig.1) and related to the action of "licking, sucking, spitting or ritual vomit" (Sotomayor plate 39) (Figs. 2&3). It's interesting to note that shamans located to the south of San Agustin in the Peruvian upper Amazon River guard one aspect of their power as a thick white phlegm (yachay) in their upper stomach. This represents power as knowledge. Part of this phlegm is regurgitated and given to a student shaman to drink, thereby passing on knowledge and power (Fig. 4) (Vitebsky 24). This act appears to be represented in some of the San Agustin statues and may indicate a link to the Peruvian upper Amazon culture.
Ritual vomit
Stylistic, symbolic, and technical similarities of gold artifacts of birdmen of the Tairona and the Muisca cultures suggests a possible physical and cultural migration from the Caribbean coastal area of the Tairona to the Andean highlands area of the Muisca around 600 AD, possibly via the Magdalena River (Legast 92). Cultural influences from the lowland plains area east of the Muisca territory may have filtered into the highlands since the acuatic jungle anaconda (large snake) myth is seen in the highland Muisca area represented on ceramics with its distinctive black circular markings. Other influences from the west in the Calima (bird-shaped pectorals) and Cauca (crested bird motif) areas show up in some Muisca-made gold artifacts.
North American Indian cultures, expressed many abstract ideas pictorially writing on bark, hides and rocks. These ideas were universally understood for centuries from coast to coast. Indians traveling from one tribe to another had no trouble understanding basic universal symbols, although the largest volume of their picture writing probably represented personal and tribal names (Mallery vol 2 pg 584). Colombian rock art appears to use the same symbol in many different areas, but a personal or tribal name doesn't appear to have been used in Colombia in the same manner as in North America. The meaning of many other symbols may have been almost universal throughout the Americas.
The intent of this paper is to present some Colombian rock art motifs and suggest possible meanings using ethnographic comparisons. Interpretation of Colombian rock art symbols is very risky and the author doesn't claim to have "the last word" but, desires to present some ideas based on over twenty years studying Colombian rock art and indigenous history. Hopefully the suggestions presented here will provide a basis for future researchers to further explore the meanings behind symbols painted and engraved on rocks at sites sacred to the ancient inhabitants of Colombia.
Several thousand years ago indigenous cultures in the northern part of South America shared a complex system of shamanic beliefs with Central American cultures. This area can be defined as a triangle between Costa Rica, the lower Orinoco River and the northwest Amazon region (Reichel-Dolmatoff:80). Many times (but not always) we can obtain ideas from meanings and uses of rock art signs, emblems and symbols in other cultures to lead us to approximate their use and meaning in the current study area. "Signs" were used to commemorate, instruct, indicate direction, or warn of danger or natural resources close by. "Emblems" were tribal, clan, or secret society designs used to identify tribal boundaries, trade routes, or special sites. "Symbols" were used to represent universal concepts or ones only known to a specific tribe, cult, shaman or individual rock artist. The majority of Colombian rock art appears to be in the symbol category.
It should be noted that most Colombian pictographs were painted with a red pigment made from cinnabar, ochre, or iron oxide mixed with fat or other substance to form a watery, but glutinous paste. Most pictographs appear to be "finger painted," but Muisca cotton cloaks were known to have been painted with brushes made from sticks fixed to animal fur. Red may have represented blood (menstruation=life=fertility), or a blood relation covenant in a literal sense related to secret societies. This color may have had a special symbolic meaning
associated exclusively with priests or chiefs communicating with their gods. Some white, yellow, and black pictographs also occur, but these are a minority. A black pictograph at a high altitude windswept site near Subachoque, Cundinamarca resembles dark storm clouds possibly associated with a site that may have been used to invoke rain from the sky god.
Carved and painted rock statues in the San Agustin, Huila area indicate the probability that many (possibly all?) petroglyphs were also painted. In some areas today Indians accent the petroglyph grooves with vegetable pigments (Gelemur pg 19). In the Mataven River region of the Orinoco, Indians continue to retouch ancient petroglyphs occasionally by deepening the grooves and removing the darker patina.
Hopefully future researchers use the ideas presented here as the basis for a deeper study into the meaning of Colombian rock art motifs and that more ethnographic information pertaining to Indian rock art in Colombia is found to confirm these suggested interpretations.
SPIRALS
Spirals in rock art are found throughout the world. Many North American Indian cultures associate counterclockwise spirals (starting from the center) with the concept of rising, and the clockwise spiral with the concept of descending. In Colombia, both clockwise and counterclockwise spirals are found in petroglyphs. Most of these are found at altitudes lower than 2,600 meters above sea level. Pictographs of spirals in Colombia are almost always angular. Petroglyphs of spirals are found in both curvilinear and angular styles, but curvilinear spiral petroglyphs are much more common (Figs. 5 & 6).
One pictograph in Macheta, Cundinamarca is formed of four angled spirals in the general shape of a diamond (Fig. 7).
Spirals
Recent archaeological studies indicate that Colombian petroglyphs may have been made during early Carib or Arawak migrations along major river systems such as the Magdalena, Cauca, Amazon and Orinoco. Later, their Carib coastal relations in Colombia and Venezuela settled many Caribbean islands including Hispanola, Dominica and Puerto Rico.
While many similar motifs are found in both pictographs and petroglyphs in some inland cultural zone border areas, the basic design structure of pictographs and petroglyphs is completely different. Most petroglyphs are curvilinear while the majority of pictographs are angular. While there are many exceptions, this basic difference strongly indicates an origin from different cultures. Some identical symbols crossed tribal border zones and are found represented in both pictograph and petroglyph form. This is not surprising since women and children were frequently captured from neighboring tribes, and naturally carried their tribal beliefs with them.
Petroglyph spirals appear to be related with the summer or winter solstice in some instances. Sometimes a spiral appears to have been used as an indicator for cyclical solar events. This is seen at the Ainsuca site, Sasaima, Cundinamarca where the shadow of a stick placed in the first of a line of small cupules marks the winter solstice sunrise (Marriner 42) by passing through the center of a spiral forming part of a double spiral (Fig. 8). At the Media Luna site, Nilo, Cundinamarca, a shadow also indicates the summer solstice sunrise. Here, the shadow of a rock post begins in the middle of concentric circles, then follows a wavy "tail" of the concentric circles until it meets the ground (Fig. 9). The spiral motif, as well as many variations of circle motifs, was many times used to symbolize the sun at solstice in Colombian rock art. The concept of time being associated with the spiral is not new. It was viewed in the North American Dakota tribe as a snail shell and fully described as being a petroglyph used in the recording and computation of time (Mallery V. 2: 746). The North American Ojibwa used the spiral to record sacred spots or places along a line on a petroglyph story map where a shaman conducted rites during an epic migration (Mallery vol. 2: 566).
It's interesting to consider (at least in the northern hemisphere between the equator and the tropic of Cancer), that the clockwise spiral might represent the sun's path from it's rebirth at winter solstice to the zenith passage date. After that date, an observer would face north and see the sun's path as an increasing counterclockwise spiral. The double spiral motif may show an incorporation of both summer and winter solstice symbols in one motif. The winter solstice was
considered to be a very special time for shamanic trips making its date very important in the annual calendar of events. Solstices in highland Colombia mark the beginning of the two dry seasons (Dec-Feb and June-Aug). As a hidden or esoteric device, at the same time, these portrayals may have represented a shaman's spirit helper or the shaman himself transformed into an animal capable of bringing back specific knowledge from another spiritual world or balancing the wet and dry periods needed for agricultural production.
Oster (1970) listed the counterclockwise spiral as one of the more common phosphenes, or designs seen during a shamanic trance. A similar, but clockwise spiral is drawn by the Tukano Indians of the Amazon basin during a special ceremony (Reichel Dolmatoff, 1978). This may be similar to North American Indian sand painting ceremonies which frequently incorporated spirals to build power or energy (Medicine Hawk 133).
In the ancient Samoga (now Bonafort) zone of Caldas, Colombia, Indian chief Merardo Largo of the ancient Umbra cultural zone accompanied University of Caldas researchers in 1995, and may be one of the few living Colombians who has inherited some of the knowledge locked in the engraved stones we are attempting to decipher. Largo views petroglyphs as sacred writing under the protection of a shaman, similar to the stone tablets of Moses containing the ten commandments. Periodically the shaman takes selected tribal members to the rock art site for instruction. In other words, it's a book written on rock, or "hard" knowledge describing a life cycle of birth, baptism, initiation, matrimony and death. He interprets rock art spirals in the following different ways, depending on their location in the grouping, symbols joining them, size, and other subtle differences:
1. THINKING/INHERITED POWER/TRANCE STATE. Merardo interpreted the spiral to be the symbol for a person thinking, but in the same petroglyph group he interprets another spiral as representing inherited power that will be given to a son. If it's true that the Colombian spiral symbolizes "thinking", then it's logical to believe that it could also have been used as a mandala, or a visual device used by a shaman to enter a trance state through prolonged, concentrated staring (thinking) at it at a sacred site at a sacred time of the year.
2. PUBERTY RITE. Chief Largo also interpreted another petroglyph group with two spirals joined with a "V" and a triangular shape in the center, as a site for puberty initiations (Fig. 10). The triangle represents an ax head, associated with males and the capacity to transform and reproduce. The "V" represents union or marriage (possibly a vulva symbol), and the two spirals represent two persons "thinking" about matrimony, but only in the future sense since the puberty initiation rite is a public ceremony announcing that the participant is now ready for marriage. The isolated spiral represents a Tamara, or shaman-priest, in the Escopetera-Pirza (was Samoga) zone who presides over tribal ceremonies. Cupules represent small sauce pans symbolizing a fertile woman.
3. MARRIAGE RITE. A third group including spiral petroglyphs at La Rochela, lower Quimbaya area (Fig. 11), was viewed by Largo as an ancient Umbra marriage site. Here, he said, in the early morning, the Tamara or Kurarka (priest) presented the bride to the groom on the flat top of the rock, where the petroglyphs were engraved. Guests sat on the ground, pressed close to the rock, with their backs to the participants. A gully, with a flowing stream, is below the guests. When the sun rose, everyone turned to greet it. When the ceremony was finished, the groom descended and joined the bride. Together they walked down to the stream, and bathed, symbolizing purification.
In the center top of the petroglyph grouping is a circle with two parallel lines joined to it (f.). This is the Umbra symbol for the number "12" meaning maude ombea, literally 10 + 2. The petroglyph motif is formed by the "O" meaning "ten" and the two lines meaning "two." This is the only number interpreted so far in Colombian petroglyphs as phonographic writing . It was a reminder that marriages had to take place on the 12th day of the month. The Umbra year consisted of six months. Two of their years (6 months+6 months=12 months) equals one of our modern years. A different date was designated as special for baptisms.
A very important and unusual portrayal of an instrument used for astronomical observations is depicted in the middle of the spirals in this grouping (g.). This scientific instrument, made of gold, was used by the Tamara or shaman, as a sighting device to observe the rising sun on the day of the marriage, to confine or limit it's movement, orient its rays, and to make predictions (possibly also to stop the sun's movement south at the winter solstice?).
At Carmelo, Piedra del Lomo, in the Quimbaya Media area, there is a rock art site that was used for Chami culture marriages until 1947. It has a petroglyph motif portraying (according to Largo) two participants standing back to back (spirals formed of two lines each) during the marriage ceremony (indicated by a "V")(Fig. 12). Chamis and Umbras have common ancestry and the similarity of designs suggests a common meaning. A petroglyph at Apulo in the Panche zone of two anthropomorphs seated back to back suggests a similar ceremony (Fig. 13).
The origin of the Chami matrimonial symbol of two spirals joined by a "V" originates from a hand-sign held over the head during the wedding ceremony. Each participant places their two thumbs together with the last joint containing the thumbnail apart from the other thumb, forming the "V" symbol for matrimony. Both index fingers are closed forming two spirals (Figs. 14 and18). This important discovery is the first confirmation that some Colombian rock art was based on sign language. Note the position of the upraised arms in the previously mentioned Apulo petroglyph . The silhoutte of a "V" formed between the heads, and the curling arms, form a shape similar to the matrimony symbol at the Chami marriage site. The Chami sign language may have been previously based on the shape formed when the participants sit or stand back to back during the marriage ceremony with their arms raised. The only bas relief symbol at the Piedra del Sol petroglyph at Media Luna, Nilo, Cundinamarca is a large "V" indicating that this may be a Panche zone marriage site (Fig. 15). In 1938 Dario Rozo made an attempt to translate Muisca (Chibcha) pictographs based on separating their components, but his efforts were not accepted by the scientific community (Mitologia y Escritura de los Chibchas). Another look should be taken at his works considering recent discoveries.
Marriage symbol variation
Reichel-Dolmatoff (143) suggests that, in the case of Tairona gold figurines, this "back to back" spiral motif represents the power of fertility, in the sense of growth and vegetal renewal. He also mentions that spirals are decoration details on figurines indicating a shaman in ecstatic flight (thinking or dreaming). It's interesting to note the similarity of the Chami marriage rite hand sign and the Tairona solstice icon pectoral to the shape of a bat in flight. Bats were sacred to the Tairona and many other Colombian cultures (Figs. 16 and 19).
SHAMAN-In this same group of marriage-related symbols, the Tamara or shaman is said to be represented at the top right by the largest single spiral, showing that he is different and more important than the others (Fig. 11). He is alone "thinking." The Tamara is the one who guides man, all living things, and nature. He lives alone, celibate at this rock.
The role of the shaman in the Desana culture in the Vaupes department is similar to the role of most shamans worldwide. It is to be a societal interpreter and spokesperson for the community before the unknown. The shaman is the intermediary between nature the giver and culture the taker; he is the mediator between the production of food and the consumer, the messenger of the sun and the controller of power that maintains the equilibrium of the jungle world, and the intermediary between the hunter and the owners of nature's productive elements. The shaman doesn't just ask for one animal for one hunter, but negotiates with the "master of the animals" for an abundance of one kind of animal during the hunting season. In return, as payment, he promises to deliver the spirits of humans when they die. (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1986:107, 155-156).
PROCREATION OF ANIMALS-The upper left spiral in this grouping is shown to have a "head," and is said to represent the procreation of animals. The glyph below is supposed to represent two animals mating, a fertility symbol (Fig. 11b.).
THE MARRIED COUPLE-Below the coupling animals are two double-spiral motifs (Fig. 11c. and d.) opposing each other. The bottom one (Fig. 11a.) begins at the two lines in center of the right spiral. One line represents the man and the other the woman. Note that they are separate at the beginning, but run parallel to each other until the end of their life. The double-spiral above this motif represents the consummated marriage of the couple who live together for life. Another portrayal of the married couple is located at the lower right of the grouping, but with the addition of a triangle with a circle inside (Fig. 11i.). The triangle represents the mother's uterus and the circle represents the child at the moment of birth. It is a prediction of happiness in the near future.
Designs of Tairona gold "winged objects" are similar in form to the "married couple" petroglyph and may have a common ancestral origin. Reichel-Dolmatoff (149, 156) (Fig. 17) assigned this motif the name of "Icon D, the solstitial icon" and believes it relates to shamanistic practices involving the sun, procreator and father of all living things.
THE CHILD-At the bottom left of the group, a small spiral (Fig. 11e) represents a child, the expected result of matrimony. The spiral at the upper right (Fig. 11h.) represents the everpresent solitary Tamara or shaman.
OTHER ROCK ART SPIRALS
Tails of monkeys and coiled snakes are almost certainly portrayed in some Colombian spiral petroglyphs such as those found in Tibacuy, Cundinamarca (Figs. 19 and 20). Muisca gold offerings confirm the importance of animals associated with spirals in tribal cultures (Fig. 21).
Spirals
In some cultures (for example the Dakota of north America) the spiral represents the shell of a snail or conch, and is related to the recording and computation of time (Mallery 2:746). Time was very important to all shamans.
Wind, whirlpools, and whirlwinds are occurrences in nature and should also be considered when attempting an interpretation of Colombian spiral rock art designs. Hopi Indians used the spiral as a symbol of migration to new lands. The Ojibwa used the spiral to indicate physical, sacred places along a line on a pictorial map showing the route of their migration mixing religion and myth. Each sacred site located by a spiral is a place where a shaman held a ceremony or conducted a rite. This migratory path starts from a circle with a dot in the center. The circle represented the world and it's horizon, while the dot represented an imagined island or original home of the human race (Mallery 2:566).
It is important to note that a symbol represents a general concept. Interpretation of rock art symbols involve deciphering a meaning that is extended from that general concept. For example, the basic concept of a circle and a dot is held in one place. The dot indicates a fixed spot, while the circle represents holding. In sign language, this symbol is made by encircling arms. Extending this concept by looking at the symbol in context with others on the panel, this symbol may be interpreted to mean many other things such as: waterhole, unable to get out, corralled, out of reach, within, a good place, pinned down, etc. (Martineau 37).
Moki Indians of northeastern Arizona say the single spiral is the symbol of Ho-bo-bo, the twister, who shows his power in the whirlwind. Their myth states that a stranger came among the people when a great whirlwind blew all the water and vegetation off the earth. Using a flint he carved spiral symbols on a rock and told them he was the keeper of the breath and that the air which men breathe comes from his mouth. (Fig. 22).
The association of the spiral form with wind continues southward. In Mesoamerica a "Wind Jewel" was worn around the neck and hung as a pectoral by priest members of the Quetzalcoatl cult. It was made by cutting a marine conch shell crosswise to reveal the spiral within. The spiral represented Ehecatl (wind), a complex aspect of Quetzalcoatl-Xolotl (venus as morning and evening star). Ehecatl symbolized the air
and sky as mediator between the heavens, earth, and underworld, and wind in the form of moving air, be it breeze or wind storm, and on a more esoteric level he represented the breath of life. Ehecatl also set the sun and heavenly bodies in motion (Labbe 15, 17).
Further south, in the case of the Muiscas, a "walking spiral" with "feet" at the end of "spikes" protruding from the spiral is frequently seen painted on ceramics (Fig 23). This motif may indirectly represent the sun, but more directly may be a depiction of the marine conch, used as a horn in sacred ceremonies (Fig. 24). The U'wa, genetically related to the Muisca, use conch shells in healing ceremonies and also as musical horns to invite the tribe and the gods to a celebration. The symbolism of the spiral and conch probably also represents lime powder made by grinding conch or large land snail shells, that is mixed with powdered coca leaves for religious purposes. Conch shells, spirals and their representation in rock art obviously are associated with the shaman who uses the coca mixture to communicate with parallel worlds and give tribute to the sun during special ceremonies.
Spirals
Summary: The spiral in Colombian petroglyphs in many cases, may symbolize a shaman, his activities, or other person, in a trance state, or in heavy, serious concentration during a sacred ritual or ceremony. It probably was also used as a practical device at some sites to indicate the time of a winter or summer solstice ceremony incorporating sunrise shadows. When used to represent an animal such as a serpent, or part of an animal, such as the tail of a monkey, the spiral may have indicated a shamanic spirit helper or the shaman himself transformed into that animal. A variation of the spiral motif with "legs" may also be related to shamanistic healing ceremonies and ceremonial activities involving coca and lime consumption. Associating Colombian spirals with the wind has not been confirmed as in central and northern America, but studies are continuing in this area.
SACRIFICIAL ROCK
Chief Largo describes a Picará sacrifice as follows: "The victim, a prisoner, was laid on his back on the rock with his face upwards. The priest, using a polished rock knife, opened the victim's chest and grasped the pulsating heart. This was the way the priest gave homage to deceased brave chiefs. Water was then agitated in large gourds with holes. The noise imitated the sound of the jaguar. The heart was then placed in another gourd and a toast was made to the jaguar god" (Gelemur 94).
A petroglyph site located at the base of the Quimbayo or Picara Hill, at Monte Oscuro, in the Escopetera-Pirza Indian Reservation, was described by Gelemur and Rendon (Fig. 25) as a sacrificial site containing petroglyphs engraved by both Picaras and "Chibchas." The term "Chibcha" is actually a term used in modern times by most Colombian anthropologists to describe a language spoken by many different, but linguistically related Colombian cultures (Kogi, Muisca, U'wa, Cuna, and Guane). Gelemur references the high plains Chibchas, who are normally designated by the name Muiscas. She states that "Chibchas" visited and engraved the sacrificial rock using a different style from the Picaras, and used it for fertility rites. In fact, Muisca zone pictographs differ greatly from Picara petroglyphs, and the Monte Oscuro petroglyphs are not considered by this author to have been made by Muiscas. The triangular head (Fig. 26) and other aspects of the sacrificial rock petroglyphs appear to be more similar to petroglyphs found in the Panche cultural zone bordering the Muiscas (e.g. Piedra de Las Cabezas Triangulares (Fig. 27), Cachipay, Cundinamarca). Triangular heads may represent shamanic activity incorporating the weasel or "comedreja" abundant in the Panche/Muisca zone. Weasels were sometimes represented in the form of Muisca gold "tunjo" offerings. An unusual exception is one pictograph of triangular heads at Las Petacas, Tenjo, Cundinamarca in the Muisca zone (Fig. 28) that may represent the three forms (Trinity) of the Muisca god Bochica; or possibly it represents the goddess Bachue and her offspring. She originally populated the Muisca nation through an incestuous relationship with her son.
Triangular heads
One aspect of the Monte Oscuro site does appear to confirm the thesis that it was a sacrificial site; some anthropomorphic figures are upside down. This method of portraying a dead person or sacrificial victim was common in North American Ojibwa, Chumash, Plains and Iroquis, and in Central American Aztec cultures (Martineau 139; Hudson and Lee 43,
Mallery 660) and appears to be a universal concept continued into Colombia. At Piedra del Fraile, San Francisco (Panche zone), Cundinamarca, one anthropomorphic petroglyph figure is portrayed upside down in the midst of many figures engaged in some sort of ceremony (Marriner, Rupestre No. 2:27) (Fig. 29). Ritual death and rebirth is a universal concept associated with the activities of shamans and their initiation rites, so the context of the upside down figure in relation to the entire panel needs to be closely examined in order to determine if the figure represents death in battle, a sacrifice, or a ritual death and rebirth. We also see at Piedra del Fraile two figures with a common foot, that Gelemur suggests in the Picara zone represents a shaman and his sacrificial victim. A Tibacuy zone petroglyph also shows two connected figures (Fig. 30). An additional aid to identification of the Picara site as being sacrificial is the portrayal of two decapitated victims next to one upside down. Their heads are separated from their bodies by the arm of the shaman extended into the form of a spiral. The shaman holds a stone knife. A curved instrument supposedly also used for the sacrifice touches the shaman. (See Fig. 25., Middle of right side).
Sacrifice and death
OWL
The owl is prominent in both Muisca and Embera-Chami mythology. Gelemur (Gelemur, 125) gives convincing evidence of the portrayal, at a site called La Curva, of an Embera Chami legend about the creation of an owl (Currucutao) from the unfaithful wife of the moon. Cupules at the east side of the petroglyph group supposedly represent the moon (Fig. 31), while an owl is represented on an object supposed to be a nest. These moon symbols may show the full, 1/2 and crescent moon phases (Fig. 32). Two joined spirals may represent the movement of the moon in this grouping. This interpretation is logical since this classical depiction of the spiral symbolizes the orbit of the moon according to Marius Schneider (Cirlot, pg 305).
At Ainsuca, Sasaima, Cundinamarca, the owl may have been represented in another way (Fig. 33). This petroglyph is in the Panche cultural zone, bordering the Muiscas who tell the legend of the rebel goddess Huitaca who was turned into an owl by the powerful god Bochica as punishment for flooding the Bogota savanna. A more realistic petroglyph of owls is seen in soft sandstone at Perico, Honda, Cundinamarca (Fig. 34).
Owls
In the Amazon area, a Ticuna Indian legend attributes four young owls with lifting a small dim sun to a great height where it was converted into a powerful light. It's possible that the four owls may refer to the helical rising of a stellar constellation. At El Fraile, San Francisco, Cundinamarca a petroglyph of a bird lifting a sun may represent a similar legend (mentioned further in this study) in the Panche/Muisca zone where blackbirds created the first light.
JAGUAR
Felines such as the jaguar (felis onca), puma (felis concolor) and tigrillo have been identified in both petroglyphs and pictographs in Colombia. Natives sometimes use the word "tiger" and "jaguar" interchangeably. In Chiribiquete, Amazonas many felines such as jaguars are depicted in red pictographs with vertical lines, horizontal dashes, circles, circles with dots in the center, or squares with dots in the center (Fig. 35).
Jaguars are very important to shamans since they are believed to be the only animals who dominate the earth, water and sky, however their primary function is to guard the jungle. Much Amazonian mythology revolves around the jaguar and his creation by the sun to be the sun's principal representative on earth. It is also a symbol of sexual strength and represents the fecundity of the universe. All Amazonian shamans believe they can call and change themselves into jaguars. The Desana and Guahibo use a large dose of snuff to effect this transformation. Others use singing spells, put on jaguar ornaments, teeth and skins for the same purpose. Some shamans believe they are permanently transformed into a jaguar when they die. Chiribiquete representations of the jaguar may symbolize the protective power of the jaguar and its role as regenerator of animal life as well as representing the transformed shaman himself.
The jaguar in petroglyph form is found at the Batero, Caldas site as a feline with vertical lines (Fig. 36). The Jaibaná (shaman) in the Embera-Chami culture is very closely associated with the jaguar. They believe that the first men lived inside trees with jaguars who protected the men. After death the shaman is believed to be converted into a mythical being with the body of a man and the head and claws of a jaguar.
Jaguars
An Umbra myth associates the jaguar with the moon. During nights with moonlight a beautiful young woman continuously dreamed of being courted by a special young man. Her friends told her to paint her hands with a black dye. When the young man came and had sexual relations with her during a dark night, her hands streaked his back with the dye. The next morning when everyone left to work, she saw that the man was her brother, so she ran the Cauca River and drown herself. The brother, when he saw he was painted with stripes like a feline, realized what he had done and ran after her. The moon appeared painted after this incident, then disappeared, and the brother was converted into a wolf (Gelemur 132).
A careful study of Umbra cosmology may show a relationship between the wolf and a certain star or constellation, and the jaguar and the moon. This jaguar petroglyph could very well have been engraved as a reminder of the Umbra myth as well as indicating a sacred place where a shaman went into a trance to transform himself into a jaguar.
SUN AND MOON
A pictograph at Suacha (Sua=sun; Cha=son), Cundinamarca, may represent the Muisca sun god Sua or an important Muisca chief or shaman since Muisca chiefs believed they were the sons of the sun, (Fig. 37a). This shaman or chief costumed as an eagle, vulture or condor may represent something similar to the Mesoamerican concept of a "sun" vulture sending sacrificial offerings to the awaiting sun. Huitoto Indians of the Colombian Amazon wore a headdress resembling the Suacha pictograph for the "pulling of the hairs" puberty ceremony for girls. The moon goddess Chia may be portrayed next to the Suacha sun figure as an anthropomorph with a circle for the head. A dark circle next to a series of vertical lines may represent a lunar cycle at Altania, Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Fig. 38).
Sun and Moon
Petroglyphs representing the sun are found in varying styles at sites such as: Santandercito, Cundinamarca (Fig.39), Media Luna, Nilo, counterclockwise spiral (starting from the middle)Cundinamarca (Figs. 40, 45 and 46), La Herrada, Quimbaya Baja region of Caldas and Covadonga, Cesar. In places like Covadonga, the ceremonial sun mask may have been represented in rock art. The actual mask uses feathers to represent the rays of the sun (Rupestre 3 pg 23). The Kaggaba Indians of this region are prohibited by tradition to look at the sunrise at certain times of the year. Anyone looking at the sunrise is transformed into a petroglyph. Emblems of J'ui (the sun) engraved on rocks in this area may remind tribal members of this prohibition (Fig. 41). The La Herrada site is said to contain a petroglyph group of the sun in an annual eclipse with the moon next to it (Fig. 42) (Gelemur 151). A depiction of the moon (Jedeko) over the head of a mythological being is supposedly engraved at La Herrada (Fig. 43) and the moon in four different phases as mentioned previously at Currucutao, Caldas (Fig. 31) (Gelemur 151, 163, and 125).
At Sachica, Boyaca the sun may have been depicted in pictograph form as three concentric circles alone or with spiked rays. A painted Muisca cloth from Belen, Boyaca shows the sun as two concentric circles with spiked rays (Fig. 37b). In many cultures, portrayal of a head with emanating rays (head of the sun) has been confirmed to represent a spirit or a man "enlightened" from on high, such as a shaman with special knowledge (Mallery 2:474).
Contemporary Yagua shamans of the Colombian Amazon draw the moon as a shaded-in circle while the sun is represented as a shaded-in circle with short lines extending outward (Fig. 44).
Sun and Moon
SHAMAN'S LADDERS
Many native cultures believe that the first men were able to communicate with the celestial world and it's inhabitants by climbing a ladder to the sky. Various myths describe how angered gods destroyed this ladder. Privileged shamans in trance state communicate with the upper world by being carried by bird spirit helpers or themselves being transformed into birds. At other times they climb trees, or notched single or double log ladders to the sky world. Some shamans shoot arrows into the sky to form ladders to allow a dead person's trapped soul to travel from the sun to join dead kinfolk in the underworld (Vitebsky 17).
These different types of ladders may have been portrayed in rock art at the following sites in Colombia: Cachipay (Fig. 47), Suacha (Fig. 38), Media Luna (Fig. 48), and Bojacá (Fig. 49).
Shaman's ladders
PARALLEL WORLDS AND EMERGENCE
Nearly all religions believe in parallel words. The number of worlds and the location of the home of gods and souls of the dead varies with each culture, but generally there is one world (the earth) where humans live, one world (sky) where the gods live, and one world (underworld) where the dead live. Tribal origin myths may also include the concept of "emergence" from one world to other. One common element in all of these cultures and religions is "communication between worlds." This communication may be symbolized as a ladder as mentioned above, a spiral or a dumbbell shape.
DUMBBELL: The dumbbell or barbell motif is seen frequently in the southwest USA and south into Mexico, where it has been interpreted as speech (a line) between two persons (2 circles) or as a symbol pointing to hidden rock art panels (Fig. 50), and also as the sun moving from solstice to solstice (Fig. 51). In Colombia this motif is encountered as a petroglyph in places such as El Fraile, San Francisco (Fig. 52), and at the Mataven River, Orinoco (Fig. 53). This symbol may represent any of a variety of ideas relating to communication or movement from one place to another, such as: two people talking, a shaman moving from one world to another, the sun moving from one solstice to another; or a road from one village to another. The general idea, however, is communication via thought, speech or movement from one place to another. It may represent the shaman visiting a parallel world in some cases.
Dumbbell
SPIRAL: We have suggested some possible interpretations for the spiral earlier in this paper. The spiral is used in southwest USA at times to symbolize the emergence of man onto the earth from another parallel world. In Colombia the spiral appears to be more closely related to shamanic trance-induced journeys. When there is only one spiral motif on a rock, it may indicate a direction (up or down) to be taken to find water, or an important site nearby. A indicates "going up" like an eagle or condor gaining altitude, while a clockwise spiral indicates descent or going down (Martineau 19). At sites associated with shamanic trance journeys, the direction of the spiral might indicate whether he was travelling to the sky world or into the underworld.
OPPOSING TRIANGLES: Muisca pictograph and petroglyph sites occasionally include a motif composed of two opposing triangles, apex to apex (Figs. 57, 58, 59a, 60). Sometimes these figures include two eyes and a mouth, making it logical to assume they are anthropomorphic figures (Fig. 55). Similar North American Indian pictographs have been interpreted by native speakers as "headless bodies."(Fig. 54) In Colombia they are more like "bodiless heads." Some options for interpretation include:
1. A shaman visiting the sky world and the underworld.
2. The male and female aspects.
3. The sky god above and the earth god below.
4. Father sun and mother earth.
5. A couple mating. This interpretation stems from the concept of the sun's rays (male) fertilizing the earth (female). Another way this concept may be symbolized is merging two triangles to form a six-pointed "star of David" as seen in Canica Baja, Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Fig. 56a). A six-pointed star was found on a sun disk in Yucatan. This symbol represented the rays of the sun to the Maya and Aztec cultures.
6. A stellar constellation, possibly Pisces.
8. Aca, the number 9. In the Muisca Chibcha language, the number 9 is formed using opposing triangles representing a frog whose tail is beginning to form another tail. It is also the symbol of the moon. Croaking frogs announce the coming of rain to the Muiscas and signal the time to begin planting crops.(Fig. 58).
9. A symbol of war. Opposing arrowheads in North American rock art many times represent war. The association of this motif with faces in Colombia weakens support for this interpretation, but doesn't discount it entirely.
8. Symbol for the double gourd lime container (poporo).( Fig. 59b.)This container is used by the Kogi Indians of the Sierra Nevada, Magdalena region to store lime made from ground marine conch shells. Lime is used in conjunction with coca chewing (mambeando). Sexual and mythological associations have been described by investigators of the Kogi culture. Mexican Huichol Indians use the same symbol for a double water gourd (Fig. 60). The gourd is used by the hikuli (peyote) seekers on their journey as drinking vessels, as well as to hold the sacred water they take home with them (Fig. 61).
Opposing triangles
CONCEPT OF TIME: In pictographs, at Altania Alta, Subachoque, 27 vertical lines next to a dark circle, may be day markers counting the number of days the moon is visible in one lunar cycle (Fig. 38). As petroglyphs, at Media Luna, Nilo, one horizontal line of seven circles joined by one horizontal line across the diameters, may symbolize a seven day lunar phase (Fig. 62).
Concept of time
ANIMALS: Portrayals of animals are found in both pictographs and petroglyphs in Colombia. A few of the many animals depicted in Colombia follow:
Birds are realistically portrayed in many areas such as the Orinoco where long beaked petroglyphs resemble the North American Thunderbird (Figs. 63 and 64). At the Pacific Ocean island of Gorgona there is one petroglyph of a crested bird (Fig. 65). In the Panche area of San Francisco, Cundinamarca we find a bird rising from a circle with a dot in the center. The bird glyph of San Francisco (Fig. 66) may represent not
Muisca cultural spillage over the border in the form of a bird bringing the first light to humans. Chiminigagua was the god who first gave light to the earth by sending many large black birds to all points of the sky breathing light into the primeval darkness.
Birds associated with spirals at the Piedra del Sacrificio mentioned above probably represent spirit or protector animals of a particular shaman.
Animals
Frogs or toads are believed by many Colombian anthropologists to have been depicted symbolically as red diamond shape pictographs in the Muisca area (Figs 80-83). A few are realistically portrayed as petroglyphs (Figs. 67, 68). This rhomboid may represent the distinctive wide body shape of the Bufonidae frog or the Atelopus with its sharply pointed nose. Realistic gold frog votive artifacts of the venomous Atelopus and wide-bodied Bufonidae have been found in the Muisca zone indicating a sacred interest in this animal. Cochranella frogs (both terrestrial and amphibious stages) have been found engraved on stone matrices used to make beaten gold adornments, and Centrolenido frogs are seen as Muisca ceramic bowl decorations, especially the large species Centrolene Geckoideum.
Frogs in some Chibcha language family groups (Kogi and Muisca) are feminine, and are closely associated with lakes and rain. This association of frogs and water is still seen today in the Colombian capital. The frog symbol is the official symbol of the Bogota Water Company (Acueducto de Bogota) and is seen on the metal lid covering the water meter at every house. The Kogi believe small black frogs are daughters of the lakes. When these frogs begin to call for water, the tribe must sing to the mother of the rain to bring showers. The beginning of the rainy season is said to be announced by croaking frogs. The author has personally heard the first seasonal croaking of the small green Bogota savanna frog anticipating the first rainfall of the wet season by twelve hours. A Kogi origin myth relates that the Sun's first woman was a toad who was banished for being unfaithful. The Bufo Marinus is a generic frog symbol for that area and continues today to represent a negative, dangerous aspect of the femenine sex to the Kogi.
Diamond designs
Fertility, prosperity and crop abundance are also associated with frogs by country folk living in the Muisca territory today. Diamond shaped symbols were, and still are painted to bring rain, good luck and abundant crops. Today these symbols are painted on house fronts just as their ancestors painted them on rock faces (Figs. 69 and 70). There is some indication that pictograph portrayals of frogs in different positions may symbolize different moon phases (Barradas 1941:53). Palm fronds woven into a single or double diamond shapes are placed in planted fields in Muisca territory on Palm Sunday to protect crops, calm storms and even to ease the pain of childbirth (Fig. 71). One diamond placed on top of another diamond is the origin of the Chibcha word aca (meaning number 9) and represents the wet season symbolized by one frog on top of another. The wet season is when frogs reproduce and is also the time to plant crops. The symbol for Cujupcua, the number 7, is somewhat similar to the symbol for number 9. Cujupcua symbolizes two ears or two basket handles associated with a harvest. Variations of this symbol only the ruling class was allowed to eat deer meat. Rabbits, curi and birds were may have been painted as pictographs at Suacha, Facatativa and Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Figs. 57a., b., c.). Miguel Triana, a pioneer Colombian rock art investigator, believed that most diamond shapes were frog depictions (Fig. 72). Ticuna Indians of the Amazon paint the diamond shape on wooden buildings for good luck and also as a basket decoration, but their literal translation of the symbol is a vulva (Figs. 73 and 74). Kogis associate the open mouth of a frog with the vulva. In modern day handsign language the word "vagina" is signed by touching the right index finger to the left index finger and the right thumb to the right thumb (Fig. 75). A diamond within a diamond may indicate pregnancy and the associated nine lines on one pictograph (Fig. 83) may indicate a nine month gestation period.
Frogs and diamonds
Interpretations mentioned above
Harry A. Marriner harrymarriner@unete.com
INTRODUCTION:
During the Spanish conquest of Colombia, most shamans, and other persons (chiefs or caciques, zipas, zaques, and jeques) that had been indoctrinated into secret societies, were killed before anyone bothered to ask about the meanings of the rock art motifs found in nearly all areas of Colombia. These religious and political leaders were probably the unknown artists who painted or engraved rocks that we find scattered throughout Colombia today. Most likely the jeques or high priests were the painters of the majority of the works we see today. They were the ones who could predict the future, talk to the spirits of dead ancestors, change themselves into animals, go on shamanic flights, control the movement of the sun, bring rain, stop floods, balance the cosmos, and heal the sick.
A complex preparation for Muisca priesthood most certainly affected the candidate's perception of the world and the cosmos for the rest of his life. Attempts to interpret Colombian rock art should take this altered perception into consideration. Young boys were selected for priesthood when they were ten years old and isolated in a hut for four to six years. They were only allowed to eat one meal per day consisting of toasted corn, small potatoes and wild herbs. No salt was allowed. Their beverage was a local fermented corn beer called chicha. Candidates were not allowed to leave the hut during daylight hours and were served food through a small hole. After eating, the only parts of the body that could be washed were the fingers. When the candidate finally completed his many years of schooling, he was washed with cold water, dressed in a white manta or cloak, and presented to the chief for consecration. The final test before being ordained was one of sexual abstination. The candidate had to sleep next to two fourteen year old girls for four months and not touch them. If he failed this test he was killed during the early Muisca period. During the later Muisca times the boy who couldn't control himself was simply allowed to return to his former place in society. Successful candidates were ordained as jeques and spent most of their time masticating coca mixed with organic lime during the night near a cave or hut that was isolated, but only a short walking distance from the tribal center. Here they performed their priestly duties and went on vision quests. After returning from their vision quests, initiations, rites, or shamanic trances, the learned ones would record their visions or other information important to them or their tribe, by creating pictographs or petroglyphs at sacred sites that would be there for future reference or mantric use. These were important sites, reused over and over again for ceremonies such as: marriages, initiation, prayers and celestial observation. The Catholic Church insisted that every priest in charge of
indoctrinating a tribe interrogate the Indians to find out who were the "mohanes, chupaderos and hechiceros" and what "harm" they did. Every way possible was used to separate the Indians from following their traditional beliefs and ceremonies. When this proved impossible, Spanish priests mounted Christian crosses on top of rocks containing native rock art, held mass at sacred Indian ceremonial sites, and even painted Catholic abbreviations such as "IHS" (Zipacon, Cundinamarca) and religious sayings in Latin such as "Ipse Jubet Mortis Nos" (The same person gives us life and death) (Facatativa, Cundinamarca) (Munoz1:18) on the rock using the same colors and dyes used by the Indians to show the power of the Catholic Church over native religions.
Indians who survived the Spanish onslaught obviously weren't the ones entrusted with the secret signs, symbols and cosmic knowledge of their tribe. All the survivors would say was that the paintings and engravings were there long before they were born and that their meaning was unknown to them. The few who had some insight into rock art meanings kept their mouths shut to avoid being tortured or killed for beliefs in the "devil."
Studies of the meanings behind rock art motifs in Colombia have been frustrated by the lack of knowledge of even which culture made them since most Indigenous populations and their settlements disappeared rapidly when the Spaniards arrived. Today, for example, we can only say that rock art in the Savanna of Bogota and in the mountainous terrain leading down to the Magdalena River valley is in what we call the historic Muisca and Panche cultural zones. In the Panche zone, the province of Tocaima was decimated from 15,000 taxpaying Indians in 1542 to only 1,300 during a forty year period up until 1582. Close to 800 rock art sites have been identified by Gipri in this limited area, with few clues to identify the artists. Since the few remaining natives lost most of their cultural heritage when they were absorbed into the Spanish culture, it's difficult to prove, using available resources, whether the Muiscas, Panches or a previous culture provided the artists who put their marks on stone in these areas. The situation is similar for most Colombian rock art zones, but migration of customs and beliefs may sometimes be traced if rock art motifs are closely examined and compared to other areas.
One example of cultural iconographic migration may be seen in the San Agustin area of southern Colombia where a large number of anthropomorphic stone statues clearly show sharp canine teeth associated with the transformation of shamans into jaguars. This indicates a possible connection to the area-specific Amazonian jungle jaguar cult beliefs. Another clue that may be used to associate this culture with another area is possible portrayal of phlegm coming from the mouth with a head at the end. This "substance" leaving the mouth has been described variously as an "anthropomorphic figure" (Rouillard 36) an "animal" (Fig.1) and related to the action of "licking, sucking, spitting or ritual vomit" (Sotomayor plate 39) (Figs. 2&3). It's interesting to note that shamans located to the south of San Agustin in the Peruvian upper Amazon River guard one aspect of their power as a thick white phlegm (yachay) in their upper stomach. This represents power as knowledge. Part of this phlegm is regurgitated and given to a student shaman to drink, thereby passing on knowledge and power (Fig. 4) (Vitebsky 24). This act appears to be represented in some of the San Agustin statues and may indicate a link to the Peruvian upper Amazon culture.
Ritual vomit
Stylistic, symbolic, and technical similarities of gold artifacts of birdmen of the Tairona and the Muisca cultures suggests a possible physical and cultural migration from the Caribbean coastal area of the Tairona to the Andean highlands area of the Muisca around 600 AD, possibly via the Magdalena River (Legast 92). Cultural influences from the lowland plains area east of the Muisca territory may have filtered into the highlands since the acuatic jungle anaconda (large snake) myth is seen in the highland Muisca area represented on ceramics with its distinctive black circular markings. Other influences from the west in the Calima (bird-shaped pectorals) and Cauca (crested bird motif) areas show up in some Muisca-made gold artifacts.
North American Indian cultures, expressed many abstract ideas pictorially writing on bark, hides and rocks. These ideas were universally understood for centuries from coast to coast. Indians traveling from one tribe to another had no trouble understanding basic universal symbols, although the largest volume of their picture writing probably represented personal and tribal names (Mallery vol 2 pg 584). Colombian rock art appears to use the same symbol in many different areas, but a personal or tribal name doesn't appear to have been used in Colombia in the same manner as in North America. The meaning of many other symbols may have been almost universal throughout the Americas.
The intent of this paper is to present some Colombian rock art motifs and suggest possible meanings using ethnographic comparisons. Interpretation of Colombian rock art symbols is very risky and the author doesn't claim to have "the last word" but, desires to present some ideas based on over twenty years studying Colombian rock art and indigenous history. Hopefully the suggestions presented here will provide a basis for future researchers to further explore the meanings behind symbols painted and engraved on rocks at sites sacred to the ancient inhabitants of Colombia.
Several thousand years ago indigenous cultures in the northern part of South America shared a complex system of shamanic beliefs with Central American cultures. This area can be defined as a triangle between Costa Rica, the lower Orinoco River and the northwest Amazon region (Reichel-Dolmatoff:80). Many times (but not always) we can obtain ideas from meanings and uses of rock art signs, emblems and symbols in other cultures to lead us to approximate their use and meaning in the current study area. "Signs" were used to commemorate, instruct, indicate direction, or warn of danger or natural resources close by. "Emblems" were tribal, clan, or secret society designs used to identify tribal boundaries, trade routes, or special sites. "Symbols" were used to represent universal concepts or ones only known to a specific tribe, cult, shaman or individual rock artist. The majority of Colombian rock art appears to be in the symbol category.
It should be noted that most Colombian pictographs were painted with a red pigment made from cinnabar, ochre, or iron oxide mixed with fat or other substance to form a watery, but glutinous paste. Most pictographs appear to be "finger painted," but Muisca cotton cloaks were known to have been painted with brushes made from sticks fixed to animal fur. Red may have represented blood (menstruation=life=fertility), or a blood relation covenant in a literal sense related to secret societies. This color may have had a special symbolic meaning
associated exclusively with priests or chiefs communicating with their gods. Some white, yellow, and black pictographs also occur, but these are a minority. A black pictograph at a high altitude windswept site near Subachoque, Cundinamarca resembles dark storm clouds possibly associated with a site that may have been used to invoke rain from the sky god.
Carved and painted rock statues in the San Agustin, Huila area indicate the probability that many (possibly all?) petroglyphs were also painted. In some areas today Indians accent the petroglyph grooves with vegetable pigments (Gelemur pg 19). In the Mataven River region of the Orinoco, Indians continue to retouch ancient petroglyphs occasionally by deepening the grooves and removing the darker patina.
Hopefully future researchers use the ideas presented here as the basis for a deeper study into the meaning of Colombian rock art motifs and that more ethnographic information pertaining to Indian rock art in Colombia is found to confirm these suggested interpretations.
SPIRALS
Spirals in rock art are found throughout the world. Many North American Indian cultures associate counterclockwise spirals (starting from the center) with the concept of rising, and the clockwise spiral with the concept of descending. In Colombia, both clockwise and counterclockwise spirals are found in petroglyphs. Most of these are found at altitudes lower than 2,600 meters above sea level. Pictographs of spirals in Colombia are almost always angular. Petroglyphs of spirals are found in both curvilinear and angular styles, but curvilinear spiral petroglyphs are much more common (Figs. 5 & 6).
One pictograph in Macheta, Cundinamarca is formed of four angled spirals in the general shape of a diamond (Fig. 7).
Spirals
Recent archaeological studies indicate that Colombian petroglyphs may have been made during early Carib or Arawak migrations along major river systems such as the Magdalena, Cauca, Amazon and Orinoco. Later, their Carib coastal relations in Colombia and Venezuela settled many Caribbean islands including Hispanola, Dominica and Puerto Rico.
While many similar motifs are found in both pictographs and petroglyphs in some inland cultural zone border areas, the basic design structure of pictographs and petroglyphs is completely different. Most petroglyphs are curvilinear while the majority of pictographs are angular. While there are many exceptions, this basic difference strongly indicates an origin from different cultures. Some identical symbols crossed tribal border zones and are found represented in both pictograph and petroglyph form. This is not surprising since women and children were frequently captured from neighboring tribes, and naturally carried their tribal beliefs with them.
Petroglyph spirals appear to be related with the summer or winter solstice in some instances. Sometimes a spiral appears to have been used as an indicator for cyclical solar events. This is seen at the Ainsuca site, Sasaima, Cundinamarca where the shadow of a stick placed in the first of a line of small cupules marks the winter solstice sunrise (Marriner 42) by passing through the center of a spiral forming part of a double spiral (Fig. 8). At the Media Luna site, Nilo, Cundinamarca, a shadow also indicates the summer solstice sunrise. Here, the shadow of a rock post begins in the middle of concentric circles, then follows a wavy "tail" of the concentric circles until it meets the ground (Fig. 9). The spiral motif, as well as many variations of circle motifs, was many times used to symbolize the sun at solstice in Colombian rock art. The concept of time being associated with the spiral is not new. It was viewed in the North American Dakota tribe as a snail shell and fully described as being a petroglyph used in the recording and computation of time (Mallery V. 2: 746). The North American Ojibwa used the spiral to record sacred spots or places along a line on a petroglyph story map where a shaman conducted rites during an epic migration (Mallery vol. 2: 566).
It's interesting to consider (at least in the northern hemisphere between the equator and the tropic of Cancer), that the clockwise spiral might represent the sun's path from it's rebirth at winter solstice to the zenith passage date. After that date, an observer would face north and see the sun's path as an increasing counterclockwise spiral. The double spiral motif may show an incorporation of both summer and winter solstice symbols in one motif. The winter solstice was
considered to be a very special time for shamanic trips making its date very important in the annual calendar of events. Solstices in highland Colombia mark the beginning of the two dry seasons (Dec-Feb and June-Aug). As a hidden or esoteric device, at the same time, these portrayals may have represented a shaman's spirit helper or the shaman himself transformed into an animal capable of bringing back specific knowledge from another spiritual world or balancing the wet and dry periods needed for agricultural production.
Oster (1970) listed the counterclockwise spiral as one of the more common phosphenes, or designs seen during a shamanic trance. A similar, but clockwise spiral is drawn by the Tukano Indians of the Amazon basin during a special ceremony (Reichel Dolmatoff, 1978). This may be similar to North American Indian sand painting ceremonies which frequently incorporated spirals to build power or energy (Medicine Hawk 133).
In the ancient Samoga (now Bonafort) zone of Caldas, Colombia, Indian chief Merardo Largo of the ancient Umbra cultural zone accompanied University of Caldas researchers in 1995, and may be one of the few living Colombians who has inherited some of the knowledge locked in the engraved stones we are attempting to decipher. Largo views petroglyphs as sacred writing under the protection of a shaman, similar to the stone tablets of Moses containing the ten commandments. Periodically the shaman takes selected tribal members to the rock art site for instruction. In other words, it's a book written on rock, or "hard" knowledge describing a life cycle of birth, baptism, initiation, matrimony and death. He interprets rock art spirals in the following different ways, depending on their location in the grouping, symbols joining them, size, and other subtle differences:
1. THINKING/INHERITED POWER/TRANCE STATE. Merardo interpreted the spiral to be the symbol for a person thinking, but in the same petroglyph group he interprets another spiral as representing inherited power that will be given to a son. If it's true that the Colombian spiral symbolizes "thinking", then it's logical to believe that it could also have been used as a mandala, or a visual device used by a shaman to enter a trance state through prolonged, concentrated staring (thinking) at it at a sacred site at a sacred time of the year.
2. PUBERTY RITE. Chief Largo also interpreted another petroglyph group with two spirals joined with a "V" and a triangular shape in the center, as a site for puberty initiations (Fig. 10). The triangle represents an ax head, associated with males and the capacity to transform and reproduce. The "V" represents union or marriage (possibly a vulva symbol), and the two spirals represent two persons "thinking" about matrimony, but only in the future sense since the puberty initiation rite is a public ceremony announcing that the participant is now ready for marriage. The isolated spiral represents a Tamara, or shaman-priest, in the Escopetera-Pirza (was Samoga) zone who presides over tribal ceremonies. Cupules represent small sauce pans symbolizing a fertile woman.
3. MARRIAGE RITE. A third group including spiral petroglyphs at La Rochela, lower Quimbaya area (Fig. 11), was viewed by Largo as an ancient Umbra marriage site. Here, he said, in the early morning, the Tamara or Kurarka (priest) presented the bride to the groom on the flat top of the rock, where the petroglyphs were engraved. Guests sat on the ground, pressed close to the rock, with their backs to the participants. A gully, with a flowing stream, is below the guests. When the sun rose, everyone turned to greet it. When the ceremony was finished, the groom descended and joined the bride. Together they walked down to the stream, and bathed, symbolizing purification.
In the center top of the petroglyph grouping is a circle with two parallel lines joined to it (f.). This is the Umbra symbol for the number "12" meaning maude ombea, literally 10 + 2. The petroglyph motif is formed by the "O" meaning "ten" and the two lines meaning "two." This is the only number interpreted so far in Colombian petroglyphs as phonographic writing . It was a reminder that marriages had to take place on the 12th day of the month. The Umbra year consisted of six months. Two of their years (6 months+6 months=12 months) equals one of our modern years. A different date was designated as special for baptisms.
A very important and unusual portrayal of an instrument used for astronomical observations is depicted in the middle of the spirals in this grouping (g.). This scientific instrument, made of gold, was used by the Tamara or shaman, as a sighting device to observe the rising sun on the day of the marriage, to confine or limit it's movement, orient its rays, and to make predictions (possibly also to stop the sun's movement south at the winter solstice?).
At Carmelo, Piedra del Lomo, in the Quimbaya Media area, there is a rock art site that was used for Chami culture marriages until 1947. It has a petroglyph motif portraying (according to Largo) two participants standing back to back (spirals formed of two lines each) during the marriage ceremony (indicated by a "V")(Fig. 12). Chamis and Umbras have common ancestry and the similarity of designs suggests a common meaning. A petroglyph at Apulo in the Panche zone of two anthropomorphs seated back to back suggests a similar ceremony (Fig. 13).
The origin of the Chami matrimonial symbol of two spirals joined by a "V" originates from a hand-sign held over the head during the wedding ceremony. Each participant places their two thumbs together with the last joint containing the thumbnail apart from the other thumb, forming the "V" symbol for matrimony. Both index fingers are closed forming two spirals (Figs. 14 and18). This important discovery is the first confirmation that some Colombian rock art was based on sign language. Note the position of the upraised arms in the previously mentioned Apulo petroglyph . The silhoutte of a "V" formed between the heads, and the curling arms, form a shape similar to the matrimony symbol at the Chami marriage site. The Chami sign language may have been previously based on the shape formed when the participants sit or stand back to back during the marriage ceremony with their arms raised. The only bas relief symbol at the Piedra del Sol petroglyph at Media Luna, Nilo, Cundinamarca is a large "V" indicating that this may be a Panche zone marriage site (Fig. 15). In 1938 Dario Rozo made an attempt to translate Muisca (Chibcha) pictographs based on separating their components, but his efforts were not accepted by the scientific community (Mitologia y Escritura de los Chibchas). Another look should be taken at his works considering recent discoveries.
Marriage symbol variation
Reichel-Dolmatoff (143) suggests that, in the case of Tairona gold figurines, this "back to back" spiral motif represents the power of fertility, in the sense of growth and vegetal renewal. He also mentions that spirals are decoration details on figurines indicating a shaman in ecstatic flight (thinking or dreaming). It's interesting to note the similarity of the Chami marriage rite hand sign and the Tairona solstice icon pectoral to the shape of a bat in flight. Bats were sacred to the Tairona and many other Colombian cultures (Figs. 16 and 19).
SHAMAN-In this same group of marriage-related symbols, the Tamara or shaman is said to be represented at the top right by the largest single spiral, showing that he is different and more important than the others (Fig. 11). He is alone "thinking." The Tamara is the one who guides man, all living things, and nature. He lives alone, celibate at this rock.
The role of the shaman in the Desana culture in the Vaupes department is similar to the role of most shamans worldwide. It is to be a societal interpreter and spokesperson for the community before the unknown. The shaman is the intermediary between nature the giver and culture the taker; he is the mediator between the production of food and the consumer, the messenger of the sun and the controller of power that maintains the equilibrium of the jungle world, and the intermediary between the hunter and the owners of nature's productive elements. The shaman doesn't just ask for one animal for one hunter, but negotiates with the "master of the animals" for an abundance of one kind of animal during the hunting season. In return, as payment, he promises to deliver the spirits of humans when they die. (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1986:107, 155-156).
PROCREATION OF ANIMALS-The upper left spiral in this grouping is shown to have a "head," and is said to represent the procreation of animals. The glyph below is supposed to represent two animals mating, a fertility symbol (Fig. 11b.).
THE MARRIED COUPLE-Below the coupling animals are two double-spiral motifs (Fig. 11c. and d.) opposing each other. The bottom one (Fig. 11a.) begins at the two lines in center of the right spiral. One line represents the man and the other the woman. Note that they are separate at the beginning, but run parallel to each other until the end of their life. The double-spiral above this motif represents the consummated marriage of the couple who live together for life. Another portrayal of the married couple is located at the lower right of the grouping, but with the addition of a triangle with a circle inside (Fig. 11i.). The triangle represents the mother's uterus and the circle represents the child at the moment of birth. It is a prediction of happiness in the near future.
Designs of Tairona gold "winged objects" are similar in form to the "married couple" petroglyph and may have a common ancestral origin. Reichel-Dolmatoff (149, 156) (Fig. 17) assigned this motif the name of "Icon D, the solstitial icon" and believes it relates to shamanistic practices involving the sun, procreator and father of all living things.
THE CHILD-At the bottom left of the group, a small spiral (Fig. 11e) represents a child, the expected result of matrimony. The spiral at the upper right (Fig. 11h.) represents the everpresent solitary Tamara or shaman.
OTHER ROCK ART SPIRALS
Tails of monkeys and coiled snakes are almost certainly portrayed in some Colombian spiral petroglyphs such as those found in Tibacuy, Cundinamarca (Figs. 19 and 20). Muisca gold offerings confirm the importance of animals associated with spirals in tribal cultures (Fig. 21).
Spirals
In some cultures (for example the Dakota of north America) the spiral represents the shell of a snail or conch, and is related to the recording and computation of time (Mallery 2:746). Time was very important to all shamans.
Wind, whirlpools, and whirlwinds are occurrences in nature and should also be considered when attempting an interpretation of Colombian spiral rock art designs. Hopi Indians used the spiral as a symbol of migration to new lands. The Ojibwa used the spiral to indicate physical, sacred places along a line on a pictorial map showing the route of their migration mixing religion and myth. Each sacred site located by a spiral is a place where a shaman held a ceremony or conducted a rite. This migratory path starts from a circle with a dot in the center. The circle represented the world and it's horizon, while the dot represented an imagined island or original home of the human race (Mallery 2:566).
It is important to note that a symbol represents a general concept. Interpretation of rock art symbols involve deciphering a meaning that is extended from that general concept. For example, the basic concept of a circle and a dot is held in one place. The dot indicates a fixed spot, while the circle represents holding. In sign language, this symbol is made by encircling arms. Extending this concept by looking at the symbol in context with others on the panel, this symbol may be interpreted to mean many other things such as: waterhole, unable to get out, corralled, out of reach, within, a good place, pinned down, etc. (Martineau 37).
Moki Indians of northeastern Arizona say the single spiral is the symbol of Ho-bo-bo, the twister, who shows his power in the whirlwind. Their myth states that a stranger came among the people when a great whirlwind blew all the water and vegetation off the earth. Using a flint he carved spiral symbols on a rock and told them he was the keeper of the breath and that the air which men breathe comes from his mouth. (Fig. 22).
The association of the spiral form with wind continues southward. In Mesoamerica a "Wind Jewel" was worn around the neck and hung as a pectoral by priest members of the Quetzalcoatl cult. It was made by cutting a marine conch shell crosswise to reveal the spiral within. The spiral represented Ehecatl (wind), a complex aspect of Quetzalcoatl-Xolotl (venus as morning and evening star). Ehecatl symbolized the air
and sky as mediator between the heavens, earth, and underworld, and wind in the form of moving air, be it breeze or wind storm, and on a more esoteric level he represented the breath of life. Ehecatl also set the sun and heavenly bodies in motion (Labbe 15, 17).
Further south, in the case of the Muiscas, a "walking spiral" with "feet" at the end of "spikes" protruding from the spiral is frequently seen painted on ceramics (Fig 23). This motif may indirectly represent the sun, but more directly may be a depiction of the marine conch, used as a horn in sacred ceremonies (Fig. 24). The U'wa, genetically related to the Muisca, use conch shells in healing ceremonies and also as musical horns to invite the tribe and the gods to a celebration. The symbolism of the spiral and conch probably also represents lime powder made by grinding conch or large land snail shells, that is mixed with powdered coca leaves for religious purposes. Conch shells, spirals and their representation in rock art obviously are associated with the shaman who uses the coca mixture to communicate with parallel worlds and give tribute to the sun during special ceremonies.
Spirals
Summary: The spiral in Colombian petroglyphs in many cases, may symbolize a shaman, his activities, or other person, in a trance state, or in heavy, serious concentration during a sacred ritual or ceremony. It probably was also used as a practical device at some sites to indicate the time of a winter or summer solstice ceremony incorporating sunrise shadows. When used to represent an animal such as a serpent, or part of an animal, such as the tail of a monkey, the spiral may have indicated a shamanic spirit helper or the shaman himself transformed into that animal. A variation of the spiral motif with "legs" may also be related to shamanistic healing ceremonies and ceremonial activities involving coca and lime consumption. Associating Colombian spirals with the wind has not been confirmed as in central and northern America, but studies are continuing in this area.
SACRIFICIAL ROCK
Chief Largo describes a Picará sacrifice as follows: "The victim, a prisoner, was laid on his back on the rock with his face upwards. The priest, using a polished rock knife, opened the victim's chest and grasped the pulsating heart. This was the way the priest gave homage to deceased brave chiefs. Water was then agitated in large gourds with holes. The noise imitated the sound of the jaguar. The heart was then placed in another gourd and a toast was made to the jaguar god" (Gelemur 94).
A petroglyph site located at the base of the Quimbayo or Picara Hill, at Monte Oscuro, in the Escopetera-Pirza Indian Reservation, was described by Gelemur and Rendon (Fig. 25) as a sacrificial site containing petroglyphs engraved by both Picaras and "Chibchas." The term "Chibcha" is actually a term used in modern times by most Colombian anthropologists to describe a language spoken by many different, but linguistically related Colombian cultures (Kogi, Muisca, U'wa, Cuna, and Guane). Gelemur references the high plains Chibchas, who are normally designated by the name Muiscas. She states that "Chibchas" visited and engraved the sacrificial rock using a different style from the Picaras, and used it for fertility rites. In fact, Muisca zone pictographs differ greatly from Picara petroglyphs, and the Monte Oscuro petroglyphs are not considered by this author to have been made by Muiscas. The triangular head (Fig. 26) and other aspects of the sacrificial rock petroglyphs appear to be more similar to petroglyphs found in the Panche cultural zone bordering the Muiscas (e.g. Piedra de Las Cabezas Triangulares (Fig. 27), Cachipay, Cundinamarca). Triangular heads may represent shamanic activity incorporating the weasel or "comedreja" abundant in the Panche/Muisca zone. Weasels were sometimes represented in the form of Muisca gold "tunjo" offerings. An unusual exception is one pictograph of triangular heads at Las Petacas, Tenjo, Cundinamarca in the Muisca zone (Fig. 28) that may represent the three forms (Trinity) of the Muisca god Bochica; or possibly it represents the goddess Bachue and her offspring. She originally populated the Muisca nation through an incestuous relationship with her son.
Triangular heads
One aspect of the Monte Oscuro site does appear to confirm the thesis that it was a sacrificial site; some anthropomorphic figures are upside down. This method of portraying a dead person or sacrificial victim was common in North American Ojibwa, Chumash, Plains and Iroquis, and in Central American Aztec cultures (Martineau 139; Hudson and Lee 43,
Mallery 660) and appears to be a universal concept continued into Colombia. At Piedra del Fraile, San Francisco (Panche zone), Cundinamarca, one anthropomorphic petroglyph figure is portrayed upside down in the midst of many figures engaged in some sort of ceremony (Marriner, Rupestre No. 2:27) (Fig. 29). Ritual death and rebirth is a universal concept associated with the activities of shamans and their initiation rites, so the context of the upside down figure in relation to the entire panel needs to be closely examined in order to determine if the figure represents death in battle, a sacrifice, or a ritual death and rebirth. We also see at Piedra del Fraile two figures with a common foot, that Gelemur suggests in the Picara zone represents a shaman and his sacrificial victim. A Tibacuy zone petroglyph also shows two connected figures (Fig. 30). An additional aid to identification of the Picara site as being sacrificial is the portrayal of two decapitated victims next to one upside down. Their heads are separated from their bodies by the arm of the shaman extended into the form of a spiral. The shaman holds a stone knife. A curved instrument supposedly also used for the sacrifice touches the shaman. (See Fig. 25., Middle of right side).
Sacrifice and death
OWL
The owl is prominent in both Muisca and Embera-Chami mythology. Gelemur (Gelemur, 125) gives convincing evidence of the portrayal, at a site called La Curva, of an Embera Chami legend about the creation of an owl (Currucutao) from the unfaithful wife of the moon. Cupules at the east side of the petroglyph group supposedly represent the moon (Fig. 31), while an owl is represented on an object supposed to be a nest. These moon symbols may show the full, 1/2 and crescent moon phases (Fig. 32). Two joined spirals may represent the movement of the moon in this grouping. This interpretation is logical since this classical depiction of the spiral symbolizes the orbit of the moon according to Marius Schneider (Cirlot, pg 305).
At Ainsuca, Sasaima, Cundinamarca, the owl may have been represented in another way (Fig. 33). This petroglyph is in the Panche cultural zone, bordering the Muiscas who tell the legend of the rebel goddess Huitaca who was turned into an owl by the powerful god Bochica as punishment for flooding the Bogota savanna. A more realistic petroglyph of owls is seen in soft sandstone at Perico, Honda, Cundinamarca (Fig. 34).
Owls
In the Amazon area, a Ticuna Indian legend attributes four young owls with lifting a small dim sun to a great height where it was converted into a powerful light. It's possible that the four owls may refer to the helical rising of a stellar constellation. At El Fraile, San Francisco, Cundinamarca a petroglyph of a bird lifting a sun may represent a similar legend (mentioned further in this study) in the Panche/Muisca zone where blackbirds created the first light.
JAGUAR
Felines such as the jaguar (felis onca), puma (felis concolor) and tigrillo have been identified in both petroglyphs and pictographs in Colombia. Natives sometimes use the word "tiger" and "jaguar" interchangeably. In Chiribiquete, Amazonas many felines such as jaguars are depicted in red pictographs with vertical lines, horizontal dashes, circles, circles with dots in the center, or squares with dots in the center (Fig. 35).
Jaguars are very important to shamans since they are believed to be the only animals who dominate the earth, water and sky, however their primary function is to guard the jungle. Much Amazonian mythology revolves around the jaguar and his creation by the sun to be the sun's principal representative on earth. It is also a symbol of sexual strength and represents the fecundity of the universe. All Amazonian shamans believe they can call and change themselves into jaguars. The Desana and Guahibo use a large dose of snuff to effect this transformation. Others use singing spells, put on jaguar ornaments, teeth and skins for the same purpose. Some shamans believe they are permanently transformed into a jaguar when they die. Chiribiquete representations of the jaguar may symbolize the protective power of the jaguar and its role as regenerator of animal life as well as representing the transformed shaman himself.
The jaguar in petroglyph form is found at the Batero, Caldas site as a feline with vertical lines (Fig. 36). The Jaibaná (shaman) in the Embera-Chami culture is very closely associated with the jaguar. They believe that the first men lived inside trees with jaguars who protected the men. After death the shaman is believed to be converted into a mythical being with the body of a man and the head and claws of a jaguar.
Jaguars
An Umbra myth associates the jaguar with the moon. During nights with moonlight a beautiful young woman continuously dreamed of being courted by a special young man. Her friends told her to paint her hands with a black dye. When the young man came and had sexual relations with her during a dark night, her hands streaked his back with the dye. The next morning when everyone left to work, she saw that the man was her brother, so she ran the Cauca River and drown herself. The brother, when he saw he was painted with stripes like a feline, realized what he had done and ran after her. The moon appeared painted after this incident, then disappeared, and the brother was converted into a wolf (Gelemur 132).
A careful study of Umbra cosmology may show a relationship between the wolf and a certain star or constellation, and the jaguar and the moon. This jaguar petroglyph could very well have been engraved as a reminder of the Umbra myth as well as indicating a sacred place where a shaman went into a trance to transform himself into a jaguar.
SUN AND MOON
A pictograph at Suacha (Sua=sun; Cha=son), Cundinamarca, may represent the Muisca sun god Sua or an important Muisca chief or shaman since Muisca chiefs believed they were the sons of the sun, (Fig. 37a). This shaman or chief costumed as an eagle, vulture or condor may represent something similar to the Mesoamerican concept of a "sun" vulture sending sacrificial offerings to the awaiting sun. Huitoto Indians of the Colombian Amazon wore a headdress resembling the Suacha pictograph for the "pulling of the hairs" puberty ceremony for girls. The moon goddess Chia may be portrayed next to the Suacha sun figure as an anthropomorph with a circle for the head. A dark circle next to a series of vertical lines may represent a lunar cycle at Altania, Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Fig. 38).
Sun and Moon
Petroglyphs representing the sun are found in varying styles at sites such as: Santandercito, Cundinamarca (Fig.39), Media Luna, Nilo, counterclockwise spiral (starting from the middle)Cundinamarca (Figs. 40, 45 and 46), La Herrada, Quimbaya Baja region of Caldas and Covadonga, Cesar. In places like Covadonga, the ceremonial sun mask may have been represented in rock art. The actual mask uses feathers to represent the rays of the sun (Rupestre 3 pg 23). The Kaggaba Indians of this region are prohibited by tradition to look at the sunrise at certain times of the year. Anyone looking at the sunrise is transformed into a petroglyph. Emblems of J'ui (the sun) engraved on rocks in this area may remind tribal members of this prohibition (Fig. 41). The La Herrada site is said to contain a petroglyph group of the sun in an annual eclipse with the moon next to it (Fig. 42) (Gelemur 151). A depiction of the moon (Jedeko) over the head of a mythological being is supposedly engraved at La Herrada (Fig. 43) and the moon in four different phases as mentioned previously at Currucutao, Caldas (Fig. 31) (Gelemur 151, 163, and 125).
At Sachica, Boyaca the sun may have been depicted in pictograph form as three concentric circles alone or with spiked rays. A painted Muisca cloth from Belen, Boyaca shows the sun as two concentric circles with spiked rays (Fig. 37b). In many cultures, portrayal of a head with emanating rays (head of the sun) has been confirmed to represent a spirit or a man "enlightened" from on high, such as a shaman with special knowledge (Mallery 2:474).
Contemporary Yagua shamans of the Colombian Amazon draw the moon as a shaded-in circle while the sun is represented as a shaded-in circle with short lines extending outward (Fig. 44).
Sun and Moon
SHAMAN'S LADDERS
Many native cultures believe that the first men were able to communicate with the celestial world and it's inhabitants by climbing a ladder to the sky. Various myths describe how angered gods destroyed this ladder. Privileged shamans in trance state communicate with the upper world by being carried by bird spirit helpers or themselves being transformed into birds. At other times they climb trees, or notched single or double log ladders to the sky world. Some shamans shoot arrows into the sky to form ladders to allow a dead person's trapped soul to travel from the sun to join dead kinfolk in the underworld (Vitebsky 17).
These different types of ladders may have been portrayed in rock art at the following sites in Colombia: Cachipay (Fig. 47), Suacha (Fig. 38), Media Luna (Fig. 48), and Bojacá (Fig. 49).
Shaman's ladders
PARALLEL WORLDS AND EMERGENCE
Nearly all religions believe in parallel words. The number of worlds and the location of the home of gods and souls of the dead varies with each culture, but generally there is one world (the earth) where humans live, one world (sky) where the gods live, and one world (underworld) where the dead live. Tribal origin myths may also include the concept of "emergence" from one world to other. One common element in all of these cultures and religions is "communication between worlds." This communication may be symbolized as a ladder as mentioned above, a spiral or a dumbbell shape.
DUMBBELL: The dumbbell or barbell motif is seen frequently in the southwest USA and south into Mexico, where it has been interpreted as speech (a line) between two persons (2 circles) or as a symbol pointing to hidden rock art panels (Fig. 50), and also as the sun moving from solstice to solstice (Fig. 51). In Colombia this motif is encountered as a petroglyph in places such as El Fraile, San Francisco (Fig. 52), and at the Mataven River, Orinoco (Fig. 53). This symbol may represent any of a variety of ideas relating to communication or movement from one place to another, such as: two people talking, a shaman moving from one world to another, the sun moving from one solstice to another; or a road from one village to another. The general idea, however, is communication via thought, speech or movement from one place to another. It may represent the shaman visiting a parallel world in some cases.
Dumbbell
SPIRAL: We have suggested some possible interpretations for the spiral earlier in this paper. The spiral is used in southwest USA at times to symbolize the emergence of man onto the earth from another parallel world. In Colombia the spiral appears to be more closely related to shamanic trance-induced journeys. When there is only one spiral motif on a rock, it may indicate a direction (up or down) to be taken to find water, or an important site nearby. A indicates "going up" like an eagle or condor gaining altitude, while a clockwise spiral indicates descent or going down (Martineau 19). At sites associated with shamanic trance journeys, the direction of the spiral might indicate whether he was travelling to the sky world or into the underworld.
OPPOSING TRIANGLES: Muisca pictograph and petroglyph sites occasionally include a motif composed of two opposing triangles, apex to apex (Figs. 57, 58, 59a, 60). Sometimes these figures include two eyes and a mouth, making it logical to assume they are anthropomorphic figures (Fig. 55). Similar North American Indian pictographs have been interpreted by native speakers as "headless bodies."(Fig. 54) In Colombia they are more like "bodiless heads." Some options for interpretation include:
1. A shaman visiting the sky world and the underworld.
2. The male and female aspects.
3. The sky god above and the earth god below.
4. Father sun and mother earth.
5. A couple mating. This interpretation stems from the concept of the sun's rays (male) fertilizing the earth (female). Another way this concept may be symbolized is merging two triangles to form a six-pointed "star of David" as seen in Canica Baja, Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Fig. 56a). A six-pointed star was found on a sun disk in Yucatan. This symbol represented the rays of the sun to the Maya and Aztec cultures.
6. A stellar constellation, possibly Pisces.
8. Aca, the number 9. In the Muisca Chibcha language, the number 9 is formed using opposing triangles representing a frog whose tail is beginning to form another tail. It is also the symbol of the moon. Croaking frogs announce the coming of rain to the Muiscas and signal the time to begin planting crops.(Fig. 58).
9. A symbol of war. Opposing arrowheads in North American rock art many times represent war. The association of this motif with faces in Colombia weakens support for this interpretation, but doesn't discount it entirely.
8. Symbol for the double gourd lime container (poporo).( Fig. 59b.)This container is used by the Kogi Indians of the Sierra Nevada, Magdalena region to store lime made from ground marine conch shells. Lime is used in conjunction with coca chewing (mambeando). Sexual and mythological associations have been described by investigators of the Kogi culture. Mexican Huichol Indians use the same symbol for a double water gourd (Fig. 60). The gourd is used by the hikuli (peyote) seekers on their journey as drinking vessels, as well as to hold the sacred water they take home with them (Fig. 61).
Opposing triangles
CONCEPT OF TIME: In pictographs, at Altania Alta, Subachoque, 27 vertical lines next to a dark circle, may be day markers counting the number of days the moon is visible in one lunar cycle (Fig. 38). As petroglyphs, at Media Luna, Nilo, one horizontal line of seven circles joined by one horizontal line across the diameters, may symbolize a seven day lunar phase (Fig. 62).
Concept of time
ANIMALS: Portrayals of animals are found in both pictographs and petroglyphs in Colombia. A few of the many animals depicted in Colombia follow:
Birds are realistically portrayed in many areas such as the Orinoco where long beaked petroglyphs resemble the North American Thunderbird (Figs. 63 and 64). At the Pacific Ocean island of Gorgona there is one petroglyph of a crested bird (Fig. 65). In the Panche area of San Francisco, Cundinamarca we find a bird rising from a circle with a dot in the center. The bird glyph of San Francisco (Fig. 66) may represent not
Muisca cultural spillage over the border in the form of a bird bringing the first light to humans. Chiminigagua was the god who first gave light to the earth by sending many large black birds to all points of the sky breathing light into the primeval darkness.
Birds associated with spirals at the Piedra del Sacrificio mentioned above probably represent spirit or protector animals of a particular shaman.
Animals
Frogs or toads are believed by many Colombian anthropologists to have been depicted symbolically as red diamond shape pictographs in the Muisca area (Figs 80-83). A few are realistically portrayed as petroglyphs (Figs. 67, 68). This rhomboid may represent the distinctive wide body shape of the Bufonidae frog or the Atelopus with its sharply pointed nose. Realistic gold frog votive artifacts of the venomous Atelopus and wide-bodied Bufonidae have been found in the Muisca zone indicating a sacred interest in this animal. Cochranella frogs (both terrestrial and amphibious stages) have been found engraved on stone matrices used to make beaten gold adornments, and Centrolenido frogs are seen as Muisca ceramic bowl decorations, especially the large species Centrolene Geckoideum.
Frogs in some Chibcha language family groups (Kogi and Muisca) are feminine, and are closely associated with lakes and rain. This association of frogs and water is still seen today in the Colombian capital. The frog symbol is the official symbol of the Bogota Water Company (Acueducto de Bogota) and is seen on the metal lid covering the water meter at every house. The Kogi believe small black frogs are daughters of the lakes. When these frogs begin to call for water, the tribe must sing to the mother of the rain to bring showers. The beginning of the rainy season is said to be announced by croaking frogs. The author has personally heard the first seasonal croaking of the small green Bogota savanna frog anticipating the first rainfall of the wet season by twelve hours. A Kogi origin myth relates that the Sun's first woman was a toad who was banished for being unfaithful. The Bufo Marinus is a generic frog symbol for that area and continues today to represent a negative, dangerous aspect of the femenine sex to the Kogi.
Diamond designs
Fertility, prosperity and crop abundance are also associated with frogs by country folk living in the Muisca territory today. Diamond shaped symbols were, and still are painted to bring rain, good luck and abundant crops. Today these symbols are painted on house fronts just as their ancestors painted them on rock faces (Figs. 69 and 70). There is some indication that pictograph portrayals of frogs in different positions may symbolize different moon phases (Barradas 1941:53). Palm fronds woven into a single or double diamond shapes are placed in planted fields in Muisca territory on Palm Sunday to protect crops, calm storms and even to ease the pain of childbirth (Fig. 71). One diamond placed on top of another diamond is the origin of the Chibcha word aca (meaning number 9) and represents the wet season symbolized by one frog on top of another. The wet season is when frogs reproduce and is also the time to plant crops. The symbol for Cujupcua, the number 7, is somewhat similar to the symbol for number 9. Cujupcua symbolizes two ears or two basket handles associated with a harvest. Variations of this symbol only the ruling class was allowed to eat deer meat. Rabbits, curi and birds were may have been painted as pictographs at Suacha, Facatativa and Subachoque, Cundinamarca (Figs. 57a., b., c.). Miguel Triana, a pioneer Colombian rock art investigator, believed that most diamond shapes were frog depictions (Fig. 72). Ticuna Indians of the Amazon paint the diamond shape on wooden buildings for good luck and also as a basket decoration, but their literal translation of the symbol is a vulva (Figs. 73 and 74). Kogis associate the open mouth of a frog with the vulva. In modern day handsign language the word "vagina" is signed by touching the right index finger to the left index finger and the right thumb to the right thumb (Fig. 75). A diamond within a diamond may indicate pregnancy and the associated nine lines on one pictograph (Fig. 83) may indicate a nine month gestation period.
Frogs and diamonds
Interpretations mentioned above
TACITAS and CUPULES
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Tacitas or cupules? an attempt at distinguishing cultural depressions at two rock art sites near Ovalle, Chile.
Maarten van Hoek vanhoekrockart@parelnet.nl
Introduction
About 50 years ago, there hardly was any record of prehistoric rock art in the north of Chile, South America. Up to date however, a wealth of geoglyphs, petroglyphs and pictographs is known to exist. Well known are the impressive geoglyphs on the hillsides of the lowland valleys of Azapa and Lluta near Arica (Van Hoek 2002a; see also my web pages at: Arica) and the field of petroglyph boulders near the oasis of Tarapacá in the middle of the Atacama. Also the artistic variation in this area is enormous. In the heart of the Atacama Desert, at Cerro Unita, is the approximately 100 metres high geoglyph of a human figure, possibly representing Wiracocha or Mallku Tarapacá (Chacama & Espinosa 2001), while 20km further SE we find small petroglyphs of humans, birds, felines and camelids engraved on the knee-high boulders of Tarapacá 47 (Van Hoek 2002b; see also my web pages at Tarapacá).
Much further south, in the semi-desert around Ovalle, a rural town in the Coquimbo Region (Figure 1), impressive petroglyphs of human figures and "masks" appear on large boulders in secluded valleys. The same area is also well known for its rocks with large artificial depressions, often bowl-shaped and looking like mortars, described in Chilean literature as "Tacitas". Such "Piedras Tacitas" occur at several archaeological sites in the Coquimbo Region, especially in the coastal area where they often co-occur with prehistoric shell middens (Gallardo Ibáñez 1999: 35). However, "Piedras Tacitas" are also found together with prehistoric rock art in the area around Ovalle (Figure 1). The most important site, where both "masks" and numerous "Tacitas" occur together, is El Encanto, a small valley full of rock art, discovered in 1949 and fortunately a guarded National Monument since 1979. It is situated 20 km SW of Ovalle (Figure 1B). Three satellite photos indicating the location of the rock art sites of the Ovalle area can be seen at my web pages (Ovalle).
Figure 1. General locations of El Valle de El Encanto and El Valle del Sol, Chile. Figures 1C and 1D based on map 1:50.000, 3030-7115 (San Julian), published I. G. M. de Chile, Santiago, 1968.
See best resolution graphic at: http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/vhra/web/rupestreweb.html
Several researchers have described the many hundreds of iconic and non-iconic figures and "Tacitas" at El Encanto (Iribarren 1949, 1954; Klein 1972; Ampuero & Rivera 1964, 1971; Ampuero 1993) and El Valle del Sol (Van Hoek 2000). Regrettably but understandably, most of the works describing the rock art at El Encanto mainly focus on the impressive anthropomorphic figures and the enigmatic "masks" (Figure 2). "Tacitas" are only marginally discussed, although the importance of those cultural depressions is acknowledged.
Figure 2. Typical "mask" engraving just north of Stone 1, Sub-zone II.3, El Encanto
However, during my survey in the Valle de El Encanto in July 1999, I noticed that there were quite a few rocks, officially listed as "Piedras Tacitas", that actually also featured true cupules, without, however, any published work classifying these depressions separately as cupules. Those depressions were considered small "Tacitas" or unfinished examples. Some stones listed as "Piedras Tacitas" did not even have "Tacitas" at all, but only featured cupules instead.
During the next survey, in July 2000, my wife Elles and I were able to examine another series of (previously unpublished) rocks with only cupules in El Encanto. Also the Valle del Sol, a similar but lesser rock art concentration about 10 km NW of Ovalle (Figure 1B) was re-visited in July 2000, in order to check if a similar situation occurred there as well. Indeed, also at El Valle del Sol we recorded more cupule rocks (Van Hoek 2000).
All these new finds and the notable differences between "Tacitas" and cupules justify a thorough review of the two types of hemispherical cultural depressions. The specific purpose of this paper is to establish that the two types of anthropic depressions occurring around Ovalle are indeed two completely different cultural manifestations. Most likely all "Tacitas" are utilitarian of character and may therefore not be regarded as rock art, whereas the enigmatic cupules may constitute a distinct class of rock art. Also the spatial distribution of the two types of depressions will be discussed in this paper.
The physical environment
The rock art sites of El Encanto and El Sol are situated in small side valleys of the River Limarí that runs west and down from the high Andes to the Pacific Ocean (Figure 1B). The landscape generally consists of hills and low mountains interspersed with flatter parts of sedimentary rock and/or drift material.
As is often the case with rock art sites in the arid or semi-arid areas of Chile, El Encanto and El Sol are situated in one of the many Quebradas (gorges) that have been cut out by the erosive forces of rivers. According to Ampuero (1993: 5) this happened at El Encanto about 50.000 to 100.000 years ago. Especially in the upper part of El Valle de El Encanto enormous blocks of granite thus became exposed by the river Espinal (Figure 3) and it is this reddish granite that offered the canvas for the indigenous groups to place their paintings and petroglyphs upon. Those groups used El Encanto and El Sol as important stopping places during their transhumance from the coastal areas to the high Andes and vice versa. At these stopping places they were certain to find shelter and water, which allowed plants and trees to grow.
Figure 3. Overall view of El Valle de El Encanto, Chile, looking east across Sub-zone II.2 with the towering Andes beyond.
The valleys of El Encanto and El Sol actually are "hidden" places. Both sites have in common that they are bordered on one side by extensive higher plains and on the other side by conspicuous hills. The hills south of El Encanto (marked + in Figure 1C) constitute the only elevation in a wide area around the site. This small range of hills not only is easily recognisable from a long distance (and may therefore have served as a point of orientation for travellers); it also offers shelter against the colder winds from the south (Klein 1972: 11).
By executing their symbolism on the rocks, the naturally formed valley was gradually transformed into an important spiritual "place". According to Tilley (1994) a "place" is a specific defined topographical location at which human activity is focussed. This happened at El Valle del Sol and other sites in the area, but especially at El Encanto, which had an unusualness that set it apart from other sites and neighbouring valleys (Klein 1972: 9, 11). For that reason, only El Encanto developed into a regional focal point of major importance, which resulted in an above average and still unexplained number of "Piedras Tacitas", a wealth of sophisticated iconic art and, often neglected in rock art studies, a small range of simple cupules.
Defining cupules
To avoid confusion, it is necessary to clearly define cupules, as not every cultural depression in a rock surface should be regarded as rock art. Unfortunately there is quite some uncertainty in Spanish literature about the translation of the word 'cupule'. Costas & Novoa (1993: 23) describe cupules as "cazoletas", pequeños hoyos hemisféricos de planta circular y fondo cóncavo - también conocidos como "coviñas" y "fosettes". Also the word "hoquedades" has been used (Van Hoek 1997: 37). The situation in South America is even more confusing. For example, Querejazu Lewis (1998: 48) distinguishes between "cúpulas" - true cupules, and "morteros" - grinding hollows. Other Bolivian researchers use the word "cúpulas" but make a distinction between "cúpulas auténticas" - true cupules and "cúpulas utilitarias" - grinding hollows, the latter also known as "batanes" or "moledores" (Methfessel & Methfessel 1998: 36). Chilean literature often seems to make no distinction between utilitarian and non-utilitarian anthropic depressions and labels every cultural depression as "tacita".
To bring the Spanish terminology more in line with the universal term "cupule", I would like to suggest to use the Spanish term "cúpula" to indicate all non-utilitarian anthropic depressions between 2cm and 10cm, and "morteros" to indicate the larger, utilitarian anthropic depressions like grinding hollows and to avoid the word "tacita". However, in this paper the word "tacita" will be used to indicate the large cultural depressions in the Ovalle area as described in Chilean literature. Thus it will be possible to focus the discussion on the distinction between "Tacitas" and cupules.
What is a cupule? In their discussion about cupule engravings from Jinmium, northern Australia, Taçon, Fullagar, Ouzman & Mulvaney offer a useful definition of the cupule (1997: 943). A true cupule is a cup-shaped non-utilitarian and definitely cultural mark that has been pecked or pounded into a rock surface. Although a true cupule never has been formed by nature, it is possible and even likely that, like in many places around the world, natural hollows have triggered the execution of anthropic (cultural) depressions (ibid. 1997: 961).
Cupules normally average 5cm in diameter, but there are also smaller and shallower cupules of around 2cm, as well as larger ones measuring up to 10cm. Although most cupules are circular, they occasionally appear in oval- or kidney-shapes. Cupules occur world-wide in several (archaeological) contexts from almost every prehistoric and historic period of human history. Their meaning is often both intangible and manifold.
However, cupules are not to be confused with grinding hollows that are often much larger (they may range from 10cm to over 30cm in diameter). Grinding hollows are abrasion-formed depressions (natural or cultural of origin) used for processing food, dyes or other material, whereas the meaning of cupules often remains obscure. Although many grinding hollows are circular and deep like large basins, also elongated depressions occur. Grinding hollows are not necessarily deeper than cupules; at El Encanto several rather shallow examples were noticed (Figure 6, blue arrow). Another distinction is that cupules may appear on horizontal, steeply sloping and vertical surfaces and on large and small outcrops or boulders alike, whereas grinding hollows almost exclusively are found on rock surfaces that are horizontal or nearly so.
In essence, also the "Tacitas" near Ovalle appear to be grinding hollows or mortars. They are often very large and average 15cm in diameter (ranging from 10cm to 40cm) and usually are strikingly deep. Although most "Tacitas" are perfectly circular, there are quite a few oval and rectangular shaped basins (and these usually are rather shallow and may have had different origins or functions).
Another characteristic of "Tacitas" is their smooth appearance; clearly they have been abraded or polished either by executing them or by using them for whatever reason. Most "Tacitas" appear on large surfaces that are horizontal or nearly so. Some smaller stones with "Tacitas" also occur and only one example (rock 4 in square F6, Figure 5) is severely tilted. This exceptional position however, may have been the result of natural forces like earthquakes, torrential rains or even lightning (Sven Ouzman 2002, pers.com.).
The differences with cupules are too obvious to uncritically classify the cupules of El Encanto as small "Tacitas". There are also several reasons to refute the idea that all cupules are unfinished "Tacitas", as Klein (1972: 103) suggest for smaller cupule-like depressions at the most elaborately engraved "Piedra Tacita" in El Encanto (his E-28a; my number 10 in Figure 7). The most obvious reason is that some stones with cupules are actually too small to offer space for a "Tacita" to develop, especially the smaller dome-shaped rock with only one cupule on the rounded top. Another reason is that there are some rocks where cupules are clustered too close together to allow space for one of them to develop into a basin. A third reason is the appearance of true cupules on vertical rock surfaces. And last but not least, why ignore the possibility that cupules have been manufactured as a separate petroglyph tradition in this long-inhabited area? In my opinion, some cupules may have preceded the "Tacitas"-tradition. It is even conceivable that the presence of cultural cupules triggered the execution of "Tacitas", although the role of natural depressions may not be ruled out. Although it can never be proven, it is also possible (and even quite likely) that "Tacitas" replaced some cupules.
As the focus in this paper is on cupules, it has not been attempted here to differentiate between the several types of iconic (see Klein 1972) and non-iconic art, both of which are labelled as "other rock art only" in this survey and on the maps.
On the contrary, it was considered more important to distinguish between "Tacitas" and cupules and whether these depressions appeared in combination or singly. Although we have surveyed most of the "Piedras Tacitas", there remained an element of doubt whether all "Piedras Tacitas" only had basins or were (once) combined with cupules. Some stones were covered by earth or were overgrown; a few were untraceable. Also, in some cases "Tacitas" may have replaced cupules. On the detail-maps, these doubtful examples have the same symbol as the stones where "Tacitas" are definitely combined with cupules.
Figure 4. Two "tacitas" and atypical ring of short radials on rock 3, Zone I, El Encanto.
A possibly important and intriguing aspect of the rock art in this valley is that never a combination is found on any one "Piedra Tacita" with the standard forms of the "other rock art", like anthropomorphs or "masks". Cupule stones also seem to have been avoided by other types of rock art. There are two exceptions. In one case (rock 3 in Figure 5; possibly E-44a) we found many "Tacitas" and a small number of cupules together with one enigmatic ring (about 50cm in diameter) of short, radiating grooves of much worn character. This design is unique to the whole area. The area enclosed by this ring of short radiates (Figure 4, between the two orange arrows) may have functioned as a culturally defined space, especially reserved to receive the product of the two grinding hollows that adjoin it. There is one other notable exception at Stone 2 in Zone II. There we find some cupules (but no "Tacitas") next to iconic rock art. For the rest cupules always appear singly, or only in combination with "Tacitas".
The cupule rocks of El Encanto
The rock art at El Encanto is, apart from a few outlying engraved rocks, heavily concentrated in two Zones (numbered I and II in Figure 1D, and shown in detail in Figures 5 and 7). I created those two zones as they are distinctly spatially separated. A large stretch of land divides the two zones without neither notable rocks or rock art. Zone I, dominated by an enormous boulder called El Gran Peñon, is situated at lower altitude near the west end of the valley where the river exits through a rather narrow gorge. Moreover, Zone I has fewer engraved stones and the iconic art is less impressive, whereas Zone II proves to have been the major focal point of the area, as it features the great majority of the engravings and also the most sophisticated designs.
Although it is clear that the art in both zones is definitely associated with the river Espinal, it must be noticed here that the course of the river may have changed during the ages, especially in the wider and flatter parts of the gorge. I will return to this aspect later.
I hesitated to use the old E [Encanto]-numbering used by Klein (1972) in this paper, as these E-numbers were not assigned consistently. In some cases the whole rock with several petroglyphs was assigned only one E-number; in other cases each individual petroglyph was given a separate E-number. Although the old E-numbering appears in paint on most of the rocks, the E-numbers are often indecipherable. Moreover, quite a few new unnumbered cupule rocks were located during our surveys. Also the new numbering by Ampuero (1993) did not take in all the engraved rocks. I therefore decided to use my own numbering on the distribution maps in this paper. Only in a few cases I will state the old E-number used by Klein (1972) for easy reference.
Zone I
Also in Zone I the art is clearly focussed on the river. Only at squares F5-F6 (Figure 5) there is a string of decorated rocks running uphill. Possibly it lines a mostly dry river course. Most of the other "Piedras Tacitas" are clearly associated with the river Espinal. A few "Piedras Tacitas" are actually located in the present-day stream, but this position need not reflect the prehistoric situation.
Figure 5. Distribution map of Zone I, El Encanto (Based on Klein 1972).
Cupule stones are scarce in zone I. We could spot only one small flat stone with one large cupule (rock 2 in Figure 5). It just possibly could have been intended to become a "Tacita". More importantly, there are two rocks with true cupules only (in square D6 in Figure 5). A medium-sized (roughly 160cm wide and 100cm high) rounded boulder (with E-50 painted on one side, but numbered 1A by me) has one distinct cupule carved on its top and a large number of worn cupules (from 4 to 8cm in diameter) heavily clustered on its rough south edge (Figure 6), but clearly spatially separated from the single cupule on the top. There are no "Tacitas" on this boulder, although there is plenty of space on its flat top. The boulder heavily suffers from exfoliation (a common weathering process of granite), and, as we shall see, this possibly forms a reason for the execution of the cluster of cupules.
Figure 6. Boulders 1A and 1B, Zone I, El Encanto. 10 cm scales.
Flush with the ground and roughly one metre to the SE of 1A lies a horizontal slab, numbered 1B by me, with four large oval "Tacitas", one rather shallow (Figure 6, blue arrow) and four smaller circular ones. This stone also features two cupules, 6cm in diameter (yellow arrows). Again 1m to the SE, my wife Elles noticed three small cupules (all 4cm in diameter) on the almost vertical SW facing flat surface of a smaller boulder (1C). The cupules (8 to 11cm apart) are set in a triangle, only 40cm above ground level. There are no "Tacitas" on this boulder, nor can it ever have been the intention to develop a "Tacita" out of one of these cupules. An interesting aspect of both rocks 1A and 1C will be discussed further on.
Zone II
About 400m further east is the beginning of zone II (Figure 7). This area offers more interesting information regarding the distinction between "Tacitas" and cupules. Three sub-zones may be distinguished. The first sub-zone features a linear group of "Tacitas" and cupules, stretching SW-NE for roughly one hundred metres (from square L2 to O1 in Figure 7). The second sub-zone is centred on two rock-shelters at Q1, and last but not least there is sub-zone II.3 (named the "Santuario" by Klein 1972), which stretches from O1 to O3.
Figure 7. Distribution map of Zone II, El Encanto (Based on Klein 1972).
Sub-zone II.1
The most striking aspect of this group is the absence of "other rock art" elements, like "masks", anthropomorphs and non-iconic elements. This anomaly may be related to the linear character of the group and this phenomenon may have a special explanation, to which I shall return further on. Some "Piedras Tacitas" in this sub-zone have the odd cupule (one, rock 11 in Figure 7, also seems to have a number of roughly parallel (natural?) grooves).
Figure 8. Rock 7D, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
However, one group (numbered 7A to D) in this row is most interesting. Two adjoining horizontal flat stones (site 7D; old numbering E-26) have five "Tacitas", but also feature some definite cupules: at least six cupules (and faint traces of more; yellow arrows in Figure 8) of different sizes (but usually rather small) on the east slab, and one on the west slab. What makes this group interesting, however, is a (natural?, cultural?) row of three boulders just north of 7D. One small rounded boulder (7C) has two weathered but definite cupules on its top (Figure 9, blue arrows).
Figure 9. Rock 7C, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Its larger neighbour (7B) has at least seven cupules on its rough, horizontal top (Figure 10) and may be more traces of cupules plus four possible cupules on its south facing vertical face.
Figure 10. Rock 7B Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Immediately west of 7B is a longish boulder (7A) with two definite cupules on its crest and possible traces of others (Figure 11). Especially 7A and 7C are not suitable to ever have been intended for "Tacitas".
Figure 11. Boulder 7A, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Near the east end of sub-zone II.1 is a more dispersed group of "Piedras Tacitas" and cupule stones. Rock 6C (E-22) is horizontal and flat and bears the typical "Tacitas" plus four possible cupules. But rocks 6A and 6B nearby are again small and rounded boulders, each with one definite cupule on the top. Other similar stones near this group also show traces of one or two worn cupules. None of these smaller stones will ever have been a suitable candidate for a "Tacita".
A situation similar to group 7 is found at the east end of sub-zone II.1. Here, group 5 (which may as well be considered to be the north end of sub-zone II.3) comprises a linear setting of cupule rocks lining a path leading to the river. This path may have developed from the many tourists that visit the site, but it equally may be very ancient. Most conspicuous is a flat horizontal slab (5B in Figure 7; E-28a) with three "Tacitas" and one cupule of 5cm in diameter. Only 2 metres north of 5B is a small flat boulder (5A) with one definite cupule, whereas some 10 metres to the south are two small rounded boulders, one (5C) with a faint depression on top; the other (5D) with a small but definite cupule on its west slope. Especially 5D is not suitable for a "Tacita".
Sub-zone II.2
This area is interesting for its two "abrigos" or rock-shelters of huge granite boulders. Interestingly, a small boulder (or the top of a larger one) is embedded in the path leading from the river to "abrigo 2" and to a huge granite boulder with a large anthropomorphic figure that overlooks the small boulder (9 in Figure 7; possibly E-2a). On its rounded top are the worn remains of at least five cupules (Figure 12). The largest cupule is 7cm in diameter. The position of this boulder in the path may be significant, as most likely the path is very ancient.
Figure 12. Boulder 9, Sub-zone II.2, El Encanto. 10 cm scale.
On the other side of the river and part of a cliff-like tongue of rough outcrop land is a medium-sized block (100cm wide) of coarse granite (rock 8 in Figure 7; possibly E-3) on which my wife Elles noticed three cupules. The largest cupule measures 8cm in diameter. The cupules form a triangle (compare with rock 1C in zone I) on its vertical, east-facing surface, also near the lower edge of the stone (Figure 13). Again, this is a most unlikely place for a "Tacita". It may be significant that this boulder overlooks the river and simultaneously the path to "abrigo 2" and its cupule rock (and also "abrigo 1"). A large rock with "Tacitas" to the NW (rock 12) has also a few cupules.
Figure 13. Boulder 8, Sub-zone II.2, El Encanto. 10 cm scale.
Sub-zone II.3
Here we find the biggest and most important concentration of rock art, mainly comprising anthropomorphs and "masks". However, the basic premise, resulting from my observations at Zone I, is repeated in Zone II: there proves to be a strict spatial separation of stones with "Tacitas" or cupules and stones with other types of rock art. Only in one case there is a combination on one stone of cupules and other types of petroglyphs. This rock will be fully discussed further on.
It may be significant that most of the "Piedras Tacitas" and the cupule rocks of sub-zone II.3 seem to border the heavy concentration of rocks bearing "other rock art". Already described are the small cupule rocks at groups 5 and 6 at the north end of this sub-zone. Two similar stones (3 and 4 in Figure 7), each with one worn cupule on their rounded tops, were noted by my wife at the "entrance" to the jumble of huge rocks that I prefer to call the "cascade". The river runs through this chaos of tumbled rocks and flows into a rather deep pool immediately west of it. There is a strange aspect about this pool that will be discussed further on.
Touching the two rocks with the finest depictions of "masks" (Figure 2; E-15) is a medium-sized block (95cm by 200cm) with a horizontal upper surface featuring two parallel quartz veins. Its position (marked 1 in Figure 7), accessibility, and its size and shape (especially the flat upper surface) suggest that it might have been used as a ritual platform. This idea is enhanced by the presence of cupules on its upper surface. However, only in certain light it became obvious that this boulder was marked in a remarkable way. Along the two accessible edges was carved a line of possibly up to eighteen cupules measuring 6cm in average diameter (Figure 14). All cupules are severely weathered. Only seven examples clearly showed up in slanting sunlight, also because the morning dew concentrated in these deeper examples (Figure 15A).
Figure 14. Boulder 1, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. 50 cm scale.
Figure 15. A. Boulder 1, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. 10 cm scale. B. Detail.
This typical setting of cupules reminded me of the large boulder at Loa’a Site 110, feature BU1, Kaho’olawe Island, Hawai’i (Lee & Stasack 1999: 146-7). There, most of the 32 cultural depressions have been carved likewise along two of its edges. Another interesting quality of feature BU1 will be discussed further on.
The importance of the "cascade" as a focal point in the valley is also confirmed by another most interesting rock (marked 2 in Figure 7) that is almost adjoining Rock 1. It is situated at the bottom of the "cascade" and actually lies in the stream itself. It is a large plate of granite (roughly 3 by 6 metres) with a smooth undulating upper surface. Even a conspicuous quartz vein is worn extremely smooth by fluvial action. The rock is sheltered on three sides by large blocks of stone, forming a sort of natural niche, a convenient place for private rituals. One block partially overhangs the plate on its south end. Just west of its open side is another (undecorated) large plate in the pool that is most suitable as viewing platform or gathering place for a small group of people.
Stone 2 has a most interesting collection of petroglyphs and, to my knowledge, is the only rock in the whole valley where non-iconic and iconic petroglyphs (including at least one depiction of a "mask" or a "head-dress") are found together with cupules.
Figure 16. The eastern part of Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto.
Near its east end and east of a shallow natural basin is a worn ring mark with faint radiating grooves and other extremely faint cultural grooves (Figure 16, blue arrows). South of this group and almost covered by the overhanging block, on a south sloping part, are two worn cupules (Figure 16, yellow arrows).
Figure 17. The middle section of Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto.
Q = quartz vein. 10 cm scale.
Near the centre and just east of the most conspicuous quartz vein are at least three shallow cupules in a row (diameters 4, 3 and 10cm). These three cupules (Figure 17, yellow arrows) are severely weathered which may point to great antiquity, but equally, running water during wetter periods may be responsible for the worn character of all the engravings on this stone.
Figure 18. The southern panel on Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. Framed: the position of the cupules shown in Figure 17.
Near its SW end, overlooking the water of the pool, is an interesting collection of ringmarks, some associated with small cupules and radiating grooves (Figure 18 - framed: Figure 17). On the very NW edge of rock 2 is a faint petroglyph of a "mask" or "head-dress" (Figure 19), comparable with other petroglyphs in the area (inset), and some other indecipherable figures. It must be noted that all groups of petroglyphs on rock 2 occupy spaces that are well separated from each other. Perhaps this rock was considered so important because of its location that subsequent cultures decided to add their symbolism only at this rock, respecting the other symbols by using different parts of the rock. Other rocks with cupules and/or "Tacitas" were clearly avoided (possibly out of respect).
Figure 19. The "head-dress" on Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. Inset: a similar example from El Encanto.
The cupule rocks of el Valle del Sol
This rock art site is located approximately 24 km to the NE of El Encanto and north of the river Limarí (Figure 1B). Although the rock art in this small gorge (numbered S [Sol]-1 to S-58 in paint on the rocks; again, the numbers are often indecipherable), is not that extensive and sophisticated compared to El Encanto, it is of general importance, also in the scope of this paper.
Because of a bottle-neck in the Quebrada Talhuén, erosive forces exposed a large number of boulders and outcrops of different rock types, roughly 70 of which were decorated with mainly non-iconic line-figures such as ringmarks (some with keyhole grooves comparable with the example from El Encanto, Figure 18). Only a few (doubtful) anthropomorphic figures and one possible animal (camelid?) occur (Van Hoek 2000: Fig. 8).
Figure 20. The bottleneck of the Quebrada Talhuén, El Valle del Sol, looking east across the "meseta" with the Cerro del Manganeso (1070 m) beyond.
Apart from two outlying decorated rocks near the south end of the gorge, three concentrations of decorated stones may be distinguished: small boulders on the western hill-slopes; much fragmented outcrops on the eastern cliffs (Figure 20) and a remarkable group of cupule rocks very near the stream in the centre of the gorge (Figure 21B). Again, only the cupule rocks will be discussed.
Figure 21. Location maps of the rock art at El Valle del Sol. Based on the map 1:50.000, 3030-7100 (Ovalle), published I. G. M. de Chile, Santiago, 1968.
See best resolution graphic at: http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/vhra/web/rupestreweb.html
The central group is dominated by a large grey coloured outcrop on the west bank (rocks 1 and 2 in Figure 21B; numbered with paint S-54 to S-56). Rock 1 borders a small pool that possibly is a semi-permanent feature of the gorge. Only six certain cupules (and a few doubtful ones) are found, widely scattered on several horizontal parts of this much fractured and stepped high outcrop (Figure 21C: diameters of cupules stated; drawing not to scale). The only certain cupule on rock 1 is carved very close to the river/pool (Figure 22).
Figure 22. Single cupule on Rock 1, El Valle del Sol, with the pool (or river - direction of flow indicated) below. 10 cm scale.
Only the two largest examples of the complex are in a position that would allow "Tacitas" to develop. Touching the outcrop at its west end is a medium-sized boulder (rock 3) with one distinct cupule and another possible one, both rather shallow but recognisable by a lighter (more recent?) patination (Figure 23, black arrows). On the west side is a depression (similarly patinated as the boulder) that also may be a cupule (Figure 23, yellow arrow).
Figure 23. Rock 3, El Valle del Sol, looking east across the grey bulk of Rock 2 and the river beyond. 10 cm scale only applies to rock 3.
On the other side of the river/pool is a large horizontal, fractured slab (rock 4) with three large cupules (8, 9 and 10cm in diameter), possibly intended to become "Tacitas". About 4m to the north of it is a medium-sized boulder (rock 5) with one shallow cupule (8cm) on its south sloping surface. This cupule has also a lighter patina.
One of the striking differences with El Encanto is that "Piedras Tacitas" are almost lacking completely at El Sol. Apart from the doubtful "Tacitas" on rock 4, there are only two rocks with definite "Tacitas" (compare with more than 80 rocks at El Encanto!). One (rock 6) is a large, irregular and much fractured outcrop with three "Tacitas" with a depth and diameter of 12cm on its horizontal upper surface (Figure 24).
Figure 24. Rock 6, El Valle del Sol, showing three distinct "Tacitas". 10 cm scale.
Outcrop 6 continues further SW and, under a tree, appears as rock 7 featuring one distinct "Tacita", 13cm in diameter and 14cm in depth. The vertical NW-face of this rock shows a remarkable collection of about eighteen "cupules" averaging only 2cm in diameter and of negligible depth. They were recognised because their light brown colour contrasts clearly against the reddish background. Although they look artificial, they could be impact-marks caused by large pebbles hitting the rock face when the stream was in full force. Their clustering on a reddish part of the rock, however, and their similar dimensions suggest a possible anthropic origin however.
On the opposite hill-slope is another group of decorated rocks, three of which are rather small boulders that have cupules as well as very faint traces of other decoration. On the upper undulating surface of rock 8 are two much worn cupules with the same patina as the rock-surface and two faint ovals with a lighter patina. Rock 9 has one distinct cupule (with a clearly differing lighter patina) and one faint circle on its vertical, east-facing surface. On the almost vertical, north-facing surface of rock 10 is one lighter patinated cupule, surrounded by a faintly pecked ring and traces of another ring mark, all most likely added later. This rock rests on a small ledge of grey outcrop rock on the rather steep slope below the main group. Some (or even most) boulders in this group may have been dislocated.
Between the two groups is the riverbed covered by sand, pebbles and some boulders. One large irregular and water-worn boulder (rock 11) has four much weathered cupules on its south-facing grey surface, 3, 4, 7 and 8cm in diameter and all rather shallow. Especially the larger ones show a darker patina. To the NW is a flat square boulder (rock 12) with one rather deep cupule of about 7cm in diameter, possibly intended to become a "Tacita".
Discussion
Archaeological evidence from excavations in the valley makes it acceptable that most of the iconic art dates from the so-called El Molle period (Ampuero 1993). It has also been established that the majority of the iconic art in El Encanto and El Sol and indeed in a large area from Illapell to La Silla (Figure 1B) belongs to the El Molle Culture, which roughly dates from 300 BC to AD 800 (Ballereau & Niemeyer, 1996; Niemeyer & Ballereau 1996). The people belonging to the El Molle Culture probably consisted of small mobile groups of agriculturists and pastoralists that followed the ancient paths of the earlier hunter-gatherers. These earlier groups practised a form of transhumance. In the spring they moved from the coast towards the high ground of the Andes. Some of the river-gorges in the lower foothills were important stopping places on their way up and down the mountains. Importantly, most researchers (Klein 1972: 10; Ampuero 1993: 22; Gallardo Ibánèz 1997: 35) agree on the theory that the "Tacitas" are the oldest cultural manifestations in stone in El Encanto: "Consideramos las Piedras Tacitas o Piedras Morteros como elementos culturales más antigos del lugar" (Klein 1972: 103). For several reasons (grinding food or mixing colours or some unknown ritual) these migrating groups of early hunter-gatherers probably made the first typical basin stones, called "Piedras Tacitas" (Klein 1972; Ampuero 1993). However, Klein also acknowledges the possibility that these "Tacitas" have been used and re-used by subsequent cultures, like the El Molle and Diaguita societies (Ampuero 1993: 22).
Yet it is often stated that there is a relation between the "Tacitas" and the petroglyphs of the El Molle Culture (Ampuero 1993: 9). In a directional relationship of symbolic development however, it is better to suggest that the art of the El Molle Culture is associated with the "Tacitas", not the "Tacitas" with the El Molle art. The imagery of the El Molle Culture originated in this valley because of the very special natural qualities of this impressive locus and possibly also because of the presence of the conspicuous "Piedras Tacitas". These basin-stones no doubt will have inspired the newcomers and they decided to execute their own range of petroglyphs on boulders and outcrops near to these "Tacitas". The decision not to place their imagery on these "Piedras Tacitas" was, in my opinion, intentional. Probably they would still have used those "Piedras Tacitas" and possibly one did not want to mix the new and the old functions/symbolism of the place, especially as "Tacitas" may have been used for more practical reasons.
Cupule stones may have been ignored, either because most cupule rocks were considered not suitable for their type of petroglyphs (too small, too coarse or too near to the ground level), or because cupules were respected for their antiquity and symbolism. The latter may account for the absence of petroglyphs other than cupules on rock 1, Zone II, El Encanto, although its decorated surface is directly overlooked by several of the finest "masks" of the valley.
Although indeed cupules frequently represent the oldest surviving rock art of an area, Robert Bednarik rightly argues however, that often cupules only seemingly represent the oldest rock art motif, simply because they have a good chance to survive, being more deterioration resistant (1996: 126). Unfortunately, up to date there has not been any effort to obtain dating evidence for any of the petroglyphs of El Encanto. Therefore, nothing can be said with certainty about the dating of the cupules and "Tacitas" in this area. Only stylistic characteristics and some rare instances of superimposition of the iconic rock art repertoire give some clues as to a tentative chronology as suggested by Klein (1972).
We have noticed however, that many "Piedras Tacitas" also feature cupules (Figure 8) and moreover that cupules often occur solely on small rocks (Figure 12) and on vertical faces (Figure 13). "Tacitas" could therefore have developed after the manufacturers of the cupules acknowledged the special qualities of the place. The presence of cupules (or natural basins) could even have triggered the execution of "Tacitas". If this were true, this would make the cupule the oldest surviving rock art element of these valleys.
However, Ampuero (1993) acknowledges the idea that also the rock paintings at El Encanto may represent an artistic expression that could predate the petroglyph tradition of the El Molle Culture. Although only a few rock paintings (mainly in the colour red) survived, there once were possibly many more rock paintings in this valley (Ampuero 1993: 15). In general, mortar stones resulted from the processing of food, fat or ochre or other substances used to make dyes. It is therefore acceptable to suggest that (some of) the "Tacitas" in El Encanto may also have been used to produce the colouring for the rock paintings.
In order to provide a reliable chronological framework for the rock art repertoire in the area around Ovalle, it would be most welcome to obtain dates for especially the cupules and the "Tacitas" at El Encanto and El Sol, for instance by way of microerosion analysis (Bednarik 1997), or by micro-excavation techniques (Watchman, Taçon, Fullagar & Head 2000). For that purpose, detailed information especially on the general petrography of the area is needed, as well as geochemical information of the types of patination observed at the several cultural depressions. However, as such scientific analyses involve inspection by specialists, I will have to leave this job to future researchers.
However, this survey makes it acceptable that possibly cupules constitute the first elements of rock art around Ovalle after all. Indeed, the cupules at El Sol and especially at El Encanto are mostly extremely weathered and often have the same patination as the rock surface. This may point to great antiquity. However, it must be emphasised here that patina or desert varnish can form quite rapidly in some cases (Lee 1992: 27; Whitley & Annegarn 1994).
Also important is the fact that there never appears iconic rock art on any of the stones with cupules or "Tacitas" and that only once (at rock 2 in Zone II) a 'combination' is found of cupules with iconic art (although on separate panels). Also this spatial distinction strongly suggests a chronological distinction between the cupules and de iconic rock art of the El Molle culture.
What is almost certain however, is that the siting of the cupule stones (and also of the "Piedras Tacitas") is water-related. It has been noticed earlier in this paper that most of the cupule stones are very near the stream, mainly to the north of it (this spatial preference may relate to the accessibility of the site, which is easier from the north). However, the linear group of "Tacitas" and cupules at Zone II, El Encanto (squares L2 to O1 in Figure 7), seems to form an exception, as many of the stones in this row are 50m distant from the present-day river/pool.
This fact, and the linear character of this group brings me to suggest that possibly the course of the river Espinal is nowadays different to the prehistoric course. I already mentioned the jumble of large blocks at the "cascade". Many of these blocks have sharp edges and clearly have been broken a long time after the valley was formed. My initial thought was that the undermining by the erosive forces of a small waterfall caused the collapse of the stone plates, but Klein (1972: 9) suggests that an earthquake was responsible (possibly both factors acted together). Whatever the cause, it is possible that there once existed a prehistoric pond behind (east of) a natural dam and waterfall, and that, at one time, the main course of the river was forced to take another direction. Just possibly the prehistoric stream once ran past the linear group of "Piedras Tacitas" and cupule stones as suggested in Figure 25, which may explain the presence of these cupules and "Tacitas" relatively far from the present-day river. The general distribution of "Tacitas" and cupules in this area seems to support this idea. It is worthwhile to have also this possibility checked in the field by the proposed geological survey.
Figure 25. The possible prehistoric course of the river Espinal, Zone II, El Encanto.
There is however another strange aspect about the hydrography of the area. Describing Zone II, Klein (1972: 9) does not mention the pool that is so conspicuous nowadays. Instead, he includes photographs of dry ground in front of the "cascade" (1972: Figs 1 and 2). Simultaneously he acknowledges that tectonic forces may have caused irregularities in the course of the river. More importantly, he states (1972: 10) that the stream disappears in the chaos of rocks and follows an underground course that re-appears in Zone I, near the "Gran Peñon". It is therefore safe to suggest that, especially at Zone II, tectonic forces may have repeatedly changed the course of the river Espinal, and this possibly once caused a linear group of petroglyphs to develop along a prehistoric and since long abandoned course of the river. The remarkable absence of "other rock art" in this linear group may imply that the river changed its course again before the El Molle culture arrived in the valley.
The presence of water in a suitable geographical place on a path through several different ecological zones from coast to the high Andes not necessarily is the only reason for the execution of cupules at El Encanto. There may have been another, more specific reason for some of the anthropic depressions in the area. There are notably instances, world-wide, where certain rocks, the so called "lithophones" or rock gongs, were noted (and often marked) for their acoustic qualities (Taçon, Fullagar, Ouzman & Mulvaney 1997: 946). It must be emphasised here however, that cultural depressions in lithophones are definitely not the result of casual use. Such cultural hollows are quite intentionally shaped features involving well-targeted percussion. By definition however, such utilitarian percussion-depressions will be regarded neither as true cupules nor as rock art.
Sound certainly was important in most prehistoric societies (see the web site of Steven Waller). Throughout southern Africa for instance, there are rocks on which clusters of randomly executed peck marks are found, "not created as things to be seen, but as the residue of certain San rituals at which the production of percussive sound such as hammering or drumming was required" (Ouzman 1998: 38; 2001). Huwiler (1998: 148) discusses the function of several "lithophones" of Zimbabwe, called Mujejeje locally. These granite rocks are still ringed to-date to make contact with the ancestors, which are buried nearby. His book also contains a CD-ROM with no fewer than six recordings of the surprisingly varied sounds produced at one of these "Mujejejes". The enormous rock art site of Twyfelfontein, Namibia, has several rocks with possibly rock art related acoustics and several spots with fine echoes (Twyfelfontein).
At Balepetrish, on the northern shore of the island of Tiree, Scotland, I once visited the "Ringing Stone". This is a large boulder that is pitted with large but rather shallow basins, covering almost every surface. When hitting this rock with a pebble that is kept in one of the basins, a bell-like peal is heard. These depressions most likely originated because of the frequent use.
In a deep shelter at Bhimbetka, India, there is a boulder (with seven, probably very old cupules) that is supposed to be a rock gong, but this quality is now severely questioned, (Bednarik, Kumar & Tyagi 1991: 34) although these researchers confirm the existence of true "lithophones" in India.
I already mentioned BU1, the large boulder on Kaho’olawe Island, Hawai’i, with its typical arrangement of large cultural depressions around its edges, resembling stone 1 at Zone II, El Encanto. Surprisingly BU1 is also special because it resonates with a bell-like peal when tapped (Lee & Stasack 1999: 146).
It may now be significant that at least two stones at El Encanto, 1A and 1C in Zone I, are remarkable for having a certain acoustic effect when being (carefully) tapped with a pebble. The acoustic property is only evident at those parts that clearly have been affected by exfoliation, a natural weathering process, characteristic for granite. Although the ongoing exfoliation process may have developed the acoustic effect after the manufacturing of the depressions, it may be significant that the heavily clustering of small cultural depressions is found only on an "acoustic part" of boulder 1A, whereas the single cupule is found isolated on the "silent" top. Also the triangle of depressions on boulder 1C is found on an acoustic part very near ground level, while the upper part of the vertical surface is "mute". It is possible that still other "acoustics" exist in the valley or have been transformed into "Piedras Tacitas". Possibly, ritually produced petro-sounds were an important aspect of prehistoric life at El Encanto.
Although Chile abounds in rock art, both iconic and non-iconic, it is surprising to notice how scarce, even rare, cupules are at some major rock art concentrations. For instance, the cliff site at Rosario, Lluta, has no cupules at all, although many rock panels feature natural depressions (some possibly worked on and some definitely incorporated into a design) that may have triggered the creation of the art. Further south, of the more than four hundred petroglyph boulders at Tarapacá 47, only two boulders feature one artificial depression each, too few to speak of a cupule tradition.
Therefore, the occurrence of a relatively large number of cupule rocks near Ovalle may be regarded as an exception, especially as other rock art complexes of the El Molle culture seem to be bereft of cupules (Ballereau & Niemeyer, 1996; Niemeyer & Ballereau 1996). For that reason, the possibility that the cupules at El Encanto and El Sol are executed by a different culture than the El Molle and for different reasons must be seriously taken into account.
The main target of this survey was to see whether it was justified to consider the cupules in those two valleys as a class of cultural depressions that are distinctly different to the "Tacitas".
Indeed, the relatively many new finds of authentic cupules, especially those on small rocks or on vertical surfaces, confirm that the majority of the true cupules in this small part of Chile can no longer be classified as small or unfinished "Tacitas", even when such cupules are larger than average. The relatively large numbers of cupules, together with their specific spatial distribution pattern, make it justifiable to consider this group to be the remains of a modest regional cupule tradition. This survey also made it acceptable that cupules appeared during the initial stages of exploration and occupation by the early hunter-gatherer groups. Therefore, the cupules at El Sol and El Encanto may even pre-date the "Tacitas".
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my wife Elles for her assistance during fieldwork at El Valle del Sol and El Valle de El Encanto in 1999 and 2000. I would like to thank Matthias Strecker for his most useful suggestions. I am also indebted to the curator of the Archaeological Museum of La Serena, Gaston Castillo, who kindly informed us about the rock art at El Valle del Sol.
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How to quote this paper / Cómo citar este artículo: VAN HOEK, Maarten . Tacitas or cupules? an attempt at distinguishing cultural depressions at two rock art sites near Ovalle, Chile.. En Rupestreweb, http://rupestreweb.tripod.com/tacitas.html
2003
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Tacitas or cupules? an attempt at distinguishing cultural depressions at two rock art sites near Ovalle, Chile.
Maarten van Hoek vanhoekrockart@parelnet.nl
Introduction
About 50 years ago, there hardly was any record of prehistoric rock art in the north of Chile, South America. Up to date however, a wealth of geoglyphs, petroglyphs and pictographs is known to exist. Well known are the impressive geoglyphs on the hillsides of the lowland valleys of Azapa and Lluta near Arica (Van Hoek 2002a; see also my web pages at: Arica) and the field of petroglyph boulders near the oasis of Tarapacá in the middle of the Atacama. Also the artistic variation in this area is enormous. In the heart of the Atacama Desert, at Cerro Unita, is the approximately 100 metres high geoglyph of a human figure, possibly representing Wiracocha or Mallku Tarapacá (Chacama & Espinosa 2001), while 20km further SE we find small petroglyphs of humans, birds, felines and camelids engraved on the knee-high boulders of Tarapacá 47 (Van Hoek 2002b; see also my web pages at Tarapacá).
Much further south, in the semi-desert around Ovalle, a rural town in the Coquimbo Region (Figure 1), impressive petroglyphs of human figures and "masks" appear on large boulders in secluded valleys. The same area is also well known for its rocks with large artificial depressions, often bowl-shaped and looking like mortars, described in Chilean literature as "Tacitas". Such "Piedras Tacitas" occur at several archaeological sites in the Coquimbo Region, especially in the coastal area where they often co-occur with prehistoric shell middens (Gallardo Ibáñez 1999: 35). However, "Piedras Tacitas" are also found together with prehistoric rock art in the area around Ovalle (Figure 1). The most important site, where both "masks" and numerous "Tacitas" occur together, is El Encanto, a small valley full of rock art, discovered in 1949 and fortunately a guarded National Monument since 1979. It is situated 20 km SW of Ovalle (Figure 1B). Three satellite photos indicating the location of the rock art sites of the Ovalle area can be seen at my web pages (Ovalle).
Figure 1. General locations of El Valle de El Encanto and El Valle del Sol, Chile. Figures 1C and 1D based on map 1:50.000, 3030-7115 (San Julian), published I. G. M. de Chile, Santiago, 1968.
See best resolution graphic at: http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/vhra/web/rupestreweb.html
Several researchers have described the many hundreds of iconic and non-iconic figures and "Tacitas" at El Encanto (Iribarren 1949, 1954; Klein 1972; Ampuero & Rivera 1964, 1971; Ampuero 1993) and El Valle del Sol (Van Hoek 2000). Regrettably but understandably, most of the works describing the rock art at El Encanto mainly focus on the impressive anthropomorphic figures and the enigmatic "masks" (Figure 2). "Tacitas" are only marginally discussed, although the importance of those cultural depressions is acknowledged.
Figure 2. Typical "mask" engraving just north of Stone 1, Sub-zone II.3, El Encanto
However, during my survey in the Valle de El Encanto in July 1999, I noticed that there were quite a few rocks, officially listed as "Piedras Tacitas", that actually also featured true cupules, without, however, any published work classifying these depressions separately as cupules. Those depressions were considered small "Tacitas" or unfinished examples. Some stones listed as "Piedras Tacitas" did not even have "Tacitas" at all, but only featured cupules instead.
During the next survey, in July 2000, my wife Elles and I were able to examine another series of (previously unpublished) rocks with only cupules in El Encanto. Also the Valle del Sol, a similar but lesser rock art concentration about 10 km NW of Ovalle (Figure 1B) was re-visited in July 2000, in order to check if a similar situation occurred there as well. Indeed, also at El Valle del Sol we recorded more cupule rocks (Van Hoek 2000).
All these new finds and the notable differences between "Tacitas" and cupules justify a thorough review of the two types of hemispherical cultural depressions. The specific purpose of this paper is to establish that the two types of anthropic depressions occurring around Ovalle are indeed two completely different cultural manifestations. Most likely all "Tacitas" are utilitarian of character and may therefore not be regarded as rock art, whereas the enigmatic cupules may constitute a distinct class of rock art. Also the spatial distribution of the two types of depressions will be discussed in this paper.
The physical environment
The rock art sites of El Encanto and El Sol are situated in small side valleys of the River Limarí that runs west and down from the high Andes to the Pacific Ocean (Figure 1B). The landscape generally consists of hills and low mountains interspersed with flatter parts of sedimentary rock and/or drift material.
As is often the case with rock art sites in the arid or semi-arid areas of Chile, El Encanto and El Sol are situated in one of the many Quebradas (gorges) that have been cut out by the erosive forces of rivers. According to Ampuero (1993: 5) this happened at El Encanto about 50.000 to 100.000 years ago. Especially in the upper part of El Valle de El Encanto enormous blocks of granite thus became exposed by the river Espinal (Figure 3) and it is this reddish granite that offered the canvas for the indigenous groups to place their paintings and petroglyphs upon. Those groups used El Encanto and El Sol as important stopping places during their transhumance from the coastal areas to the high Andes and vice versa. At these stopping places they were certain to find shelter and water, which allowed plants and trees to grow.
Figure 3. Overall view of El Valle de El Encanto, Chile, looking east across Sub-zone II.2 with the towering Andes beyond.
The valleys of El Encanto and El Sol actually are "hidden" places. Both sites have in common that they are bordered on one side by extensive higher plains and on the other side by conspicuous hills. The hills south of El Encanto (marked + in Figure 1C) constitute the only elevation in a wide area around the site. This small range of hills not only is easily recognisable from a long distance (and may therefore have served as a point of orientation for travellers); it also offers shelter against the colder winds from the south (Klein 1972: 11).
By executing their symbolism on the rocks, the naturally formed valley was gradually transformed into an important spiritual "place". According to Tilley (1994) a "place" is a specific defined topographical location at which human activity is focussed. This happened at El Valle del Sol and other sites in the area, but especially at El Encanto, which had an unusualness that set it apart from other sites and neighbouring valleys (Klein 1972: 9, 11). For that reason, only El Encanto developed into a regional focal point of major importance, which resulted in an above average and still unexplained number of "Piedras Tacitas", a wealth of sophisticated iconic art and, often neglected in rock art studies, a small range of simple cupules.
Defining cupules
To avoid confusion, it is necessary to clearly define cupules, as not every cultural depression in a rock surface should be regarded as rock art. Unfortunately there is quite some uncertainty in Spanish literature about the translation of the word 'cupule'. Costas & Novoa (1993: 23) describe cupules as "cazoletas", pequeños hoyos hemisféricos de planta circular y fondo cóncavo - también conocidos como "coviñas" y "fosettes". Also the word "hoquedades" has been used (Van Hoek 1997: 37). The situation in South America is even more confusing. For example, Querejazu Lewis (1998: 48) distinguishes between "cúpulas" - true cupules, and "morteros" - grinding hollows. Other Bolivian researchers use the word "cúpulas" but make a distinction between "cúpulas auténticas" - true cupules and "cúpulas utilitarias" - grinding hollows, the latter also known as "batanes" or "moledores" (Methfessel & Methfessel 1998: 36). Chilean literature often seems to make no distinction between utilitarian and non-utilitarian anthropic depressions and labels every cultural depression as "tacita".
To bring the Spanish terminology more in line with the universal term "cupule", I would like to suggest to use the Spanish term "cúpula" to indicate all non-utilitarian anthropic depressions between 2cm and 10cm, and "morteros" to indicate the larger, utilitarian anthropic depressions like grinding hollows and to avoid the word "tacita". However, in this paper the word "tacita" will be used to indicate the large cultural depressions in the Ovalle area as described in Chilean literature. Thus it will be possible to focus the discussion on the distinction between "Tacitas" and cupules.
What is a cupule? In their discussion about cupule engravings from Jinmium, northern Australia, Taçon, Fullagar, Ouzman & Mulvaney offer a useful definition of the cupule (1997: 943). A true cupule is a cup-shaped non-utilitarian and definitely cultural mark that has been pecked or pounded into a rock surface. Although a true cupule never has been formed by nature, it is possible and even likely that, like in many places around the world, natural hollows have triggered the execution of anthropic (cultural) depressions (ibid. 1997: 961).
Cupules normally average 5cm in diameter, but there are also smaller and shallower cupules of around 2cm, as well as larger ones measuring up to 10cm. Although most cupules are circular, they occasionally appear in oval- or kidney-shapes. Cupules occur world-wide in several (archaeological) contexts from almost every prehistoric and historic period of human history. Their meaning is often both intangible and manifold.
However, cupules are not to be confused with grinding hollows that are often much larger (they may range from 10cm to over 30cm in diameter). Grinding hollows are abrasion-formed depressions (natural or cultural of origin) used for processing food, dyes or other material, whereas the meaning of cupules often remains obscure. Although many grinding hollows are circular and deep like large basins, also elongated depressions occur. Grinding hollows are not necessarily deeper than cupules; at El Encanto several rather shallow examples were noticed (Figure 6, blue arrow). Another distinction is that cupules may appear on horizontal, steeply sloping and vertical surfaces and on large and small outcrops or boulders alike, whereas grinding hollows almost exclusively are found on rock surfaces that are horizontal or nearly so.
In essence, also the "Tacitas" near Ovalle appear to be grinding hollows or mortars. They are often very large and average 15cm in diameter (ranging from 10cm to 40cm) and usually are strikingly deep. Although most "Tacitas" are perfectly circular, there are quite a few oval and rectangular shaped basins (and these usually are rather shallow and may have had different origins or functions).
Another characteristic of "Tacitas" is their smooth appearance; clearly they have been abraded or polished either by executing them or by using them for whatever reason. Most "Tacitas" appear on large surfaces that are horizontal or nearly so. Some smaller stones with "Tacitas" also occur and only one example (rock 4 in square F6, Figure 5) is severely tilted. This exceptional position however, may have been the result of natural forces like earthquakes, torrential rains or even lightning (Sven Ouzman 2002, pers.com.).
The differences with cupules are too obvious to uncritically classify the cupules of El Encanto as small "Tacitas". There are also several reasons to refute the idea that all cupules are unfinished "Tacitas", as Klein (1972: 103) suggest for smaller cupule-like depressions at the most elaborately engraved "Piedra Tacita" in El Encanto (his E-28a; my number 10 in Figure 7). The most obvious reason is that some stones with cupules are actually too small to offer space for a "Tacita" to develop, especially the smaller dome-shaped rock with only one cupule on the rounded top. Another reason is that there are some rocks where cupules are clustered too close together to allow space for one of them to develop into a basin. A third reason is the appearance of true cupules on vertical rock surfaces. And last but not least, why ignore the possibility that cupules have been manufactured as a separate petroglyph tradition in this long-inhabited area? In my opinion, some cupules may have preceded the "Tacitas"-tradition. It is even conceivable that the presence of cultural cupules triggered the execution of "Tacitas", although the role of natural depressions may not be ruled out. Although it can never be proven, it is also possible (and even quite likely) that "Tacitas" replaced some cupules.
As the focus in this paper is on cupules, it has not been attempted here to differentiate between the several types of iconic (see Klein 1972) and non-iconic art, both of which are labelled as "other rock art only" in this survey and on the maps.
On the contrary, it was considered more important to distinguish between "Tacitas" and cupules and whether these depressions appeared in combination or singly. Although we have surveyed most of the "Piedras Tacitas", there remained an element of doubt whether all "Piedras Tacitas" only had basins or were (once) combined with cupules. Some stones were covered by earth or were overgrown; a few were untraceable. Also, in some cases "Tacitas" may have replaced cupules. On the detail-maps, these doubtful examples have the same symbol as the stones where "Tacitas" are definitely combined with cupules.
Figure 4. Two "tacitas" and atypical ring of short radials on rock 3, Zone I, El Encanto.
A possibly important and intriguing aspect of the rock art in this valley is that never a combination is found on any one "Piedra Tacita" with the standard forms of the "other rock art", like anthropomorphs or "masks". Cupule stones also seem to have been avoided by other types of rock art. There are two exceptions. In one case (rock 3 in Figure 5; possibly E-44a) we found many "Tacitas" and a small number of cupules together with one enigmatic ring (about 50cm in diameter) of short, radiating grooves of much worn character. This design is unique to the whole area. The area enclosed by this ring of short radiates (Figure 4, between the two orange arrows) may have functioned as a culturally defined space, especially reserved to receive the product of the two grinding hollows that adjoin it. There is one other notable exception at Stone 2 in Zone II. There we find some cupules (but no "Tacitas") next to iconic rock art. For the rest cupules always appear singly, or only in combination with "Tacitas".
The cupule rocks of El Encanto
The rock art at El Encanto is, apart from a few outlying engraved rocks, heavily concentrated in two Zones (numbered I and II in Figure 1D, and shown in detail in Figures 5 and 7). I created those two zones as they are distinctly spatially separated. A large stretch of land divides the two zones without neither notable rocks or rock art. Zone I, dominated by an enormous boulder called El Gran Peñon, is situated at lower altitude near the west end of the valley where the river exits through a rather narrow gorge. Moreover, Zone I has fewer engraved stones and the iconic art is less impressive, whereas Zone II proves to have been the major focal point of the area, as it features the great majority of the engravings and also the most sophisticated designs.
Although it is clear that the art in both zones is definitely associated with the river Espinal, it must be noticed here that the course of the river may have changed during the ages, especially in the wider and flatter parts of the gorge. I will return to this aspect later.
I hesitated to use the old E [Encanto]-numbering used by Klein (1972) in this paper, as these E-numbers were not assigned consistently. In some cases the whole rock with several petroglyphs was assigned only one E-number; in other cases each individual petroglyph was given a separate E-number. Although the old E-numbering appears in paint on most of the rocks, the E-numbers are often indecipherable. Moreover, quite a few new unnumbered cupule rocks were located during our surveys. Also the new numbering by Ampuero (1993) did not take in all the engraved rocks. I therefore decided to use my own numbering on the distribution maps in this paper. Only in a few cases I will state the old E-number used by Klein (1972) for easy reference.
Zone I
Also in Zone I the art is clearly focussed on the river. Only at squares F5-F6 (Figure 5) there is a string of decorated rocks running uphill. Possibly it lines a mostly dry river course. Most of the other "Piedras Tacitas" are clearly associated with the river Espinal. A few "Piedras Tacitas" are actually located in the present-day stream, but this position need not reflect the prehistoric situation.
Figure 5. Distribution map of Zone I, El Encanto (Based on Klein 1972).
Cupule stones are scarce in zone I. We could spot only one small flat stone with one large cupule (rock 2 in Figure 5). It just possibly could have been intended to become a "Tacita". More importantly, there are two rocks with true cupules only (in square D6 in Figure 5). A medium-sized (roughly 160cm wide and 100cm high) rounded boulder (with E-50 painted on one side, but numbered 1A by me) has one distinct cupule carved on its top and a large number of worn cupules (from 4 to 8cm in diameter) heavily clustered on its rough south edge (Figure 6), but clearly spatially separated from the single cupule on the top. There are no "Tacitas" on this boulder, although there is plenty of space on its flat top. The boulder heavily suffers from exfoliation (a common weathering process of granite), and, as we shall see, this possibly forms a reason for the execution of the cluster of cupules.
Figure 6. Boulders 1A and 1B, Zone I, El Encanto. 10 cm scales.
Flush with the ground and roughly one metre to the SE of 1A lies a horizontal slab, numbered 1B by me, with four large oval "Tacitas", one rather shallow (Figure 6, blue arrow) and four smaller circular ones. This stone also features two cupules, 6cm in diameter (yellow arrows). Again 1m to the SE, my wife Elles noticed three small cupules (all 4cm in diameter) on the almost vertical SW facing flat surface of a smaller boulder (1C). The cupules (8 to 11cm apart) are set in a triangle, only 40cm above ground level. There are no "Tacitas" on this boulder, nor can it ever have been the intention to develop a "Tacita" out of one of these cupules. An interesting aspect of both rocks 1A and 1C will be discussed further on.
Zone II
About 400m further east is the beginning of zone II (Figure 7). This area offers more interesting information regarding the distinction between "Tacitas" and cupules. Three sub-zones may be distinguished. The first sub-zone features a linear group of "Tacitas" and cupules, stretching SW-NE for roughly one hundred metres (from square L2 to O1 in Figure 7). The second sub-zone is centred on two rock-shelters at Q1, and last but not least there is sub-zone II.3 (named the "Santuario" by Klein 1972), which stretches from O1 to O3.
Figure 7. Distribution map of Zone II, El Encanto (Based on Klein 1972).
Sub-zone II.1
The most striking aspect of this group is the absence of "other rock art" elements, like "masks", anthropomorphs and non-iconic elements. This anomaly may be related to the linear character of the group and this phenomenon may have a special explanation, to which I shall return further on. Some "Piedras Tacitas" in this sub-zone have the odd cupule (one, rock 11 in Figure 7, also seems to have a number of roughly parallel (natural?) grooves).
Figure 8. Rock 7D, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
However, one group (numbered 7A to D) in this row is most interesting. Two adjoining horizontal flat stones (site 7D; old numbering E-26) have five "Tacitas", but also feature some definite cupules: at least six cupules (and faint traces of more; yellow arrows in Figure 8) of different sizes (but usually rather small) on the east slab, and one on the west slab. What makes this group interesting, however, is a (natural?, cultural?) row of three boulders just north of 7D. One small rounded boulder (7C) has two weathered but definite cupules on its top (Figure 9, blue arrows).
Figure 9. Rock 7C, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Its larger neighbour (7B) has at least seven cupules on its rough, horizontal top (Figure 10) and may be more traces of cupules plus four possible cupules on its south facing vertical face.
Figure 10. Rock 7B Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Immediately west of 7B is a longish boulder (7A) with two definite cupules on its crest and possible traces of others (Figure 11). Especially 7A and 7C are not suitable to ever have been intended for "Tacitas".
Figure 11. Boulder 7A, Sub-zone II.1, El Encanto.
Near the east end of sub-zone II.1 is a more dispersed group of "Piedras Tacitas" and cupule stones. Rock 6C (E-22) is horizontal and flat and bears the typical "Tacitas" plus four possible cupules. But rocks 6A and 6B nearby are again small and rounded boulders, each with one definite cupule on the top. Other similar stones near this group also show traces of one or two worn cupules. None of these smaller stones will ever have been a suitable candidate for a "Tacita".
A situation similar to group 7 is found at the east end of sub-zone II.1. Here, group 5 (which may as well be considered to be the north end of sub-zone II.3) comprises a linear setting of cupule rocks lining a path leading to the river. This path may have developed from the many tourists that visit the site, but it equally may be very ancient. Most conspicuous is a flat horizontal slab (5B in Figure 7; E-28a) with three "Tacitas" and one cupule of 5cm in diameter. Only 2 metres north of 5B is a small flat boulder (5A) with one definite cupule, whereas some 10 metres to the south are two small rounded boulders, one (5C) with a faint depression on top; the other (5D) with a small but definite cupule on its west slope. Especially 5D is not suitable for a "Tacita".
Sub-zone II.2
This area is interesting for its two "abrigos" or rock-shelters of huge granite boulders. Interestingly, a small boulder (or the top of a larger one) is embedded in the path leading from the river to "abrigo 2" and to a huge granite boulder with a large anthropomorphic figure that overlooks the small boulder (9 in Figure 7; possibly E-2a). On its rounded top are the worn remains of at least five cupules (Figure 12). The largest cupule is 7cm in diameter. The position of this boulder in the path may be significant, as most likely the path is very ancient.
Figure 12. Boulder 9, Sub-zone II.2, El Encanto. 10 cm scale.
On the other side of the river and part of a cliff-like tongue of rough outcrop land is a medium-sized block (100cm wide) of coarse granite (rock 8 in Figure 7; possibly E-3) on which my wife Elles noticed three cupules. The largest cupule measures 8cm in diameter. The cupules form a triangle (compare with rock 1C in zone I) on its vertical, east-facing surface, also near the lower edge of the stone (Figure 13). Again, this is a most unlikely place for a "Tacita". It may be significant that this boulder overlooks the river and simultaneously the path to "abrigo 2" and its cupule rock (and also "abrigo 1"). A large rock with "Tacitas" to the NW (rock 12) has also a few cupules.
Figure 13. Boulder 8, Sub-zone II.2, El Encanto. 10 cm scale.
Sub-zone II.3
Here we find the biggest and most important concentration of rock art, mainly comprising anthropomorphs and "masks". However, the basic premise, resulting from my observations at Zone I, is repeated in Zone II: there proves to be a strict spatial separation of stones with "Tacitas" or cupules and stones with other types of rock art. Only in one case there is a combination on one stone of cupules and other types of petroglyphs. This rock will be fully discussed further on.
It may be significant that most of the "Piedras Tacitas" and the cupule rocks of sub-zone II.3 seem to border the heavy concentration of rocks bearing "other rock art". Already described are the small cupule rocks at groups 5 and 6 at the north end of this sub-zone. Two similar stones (3 and 4 in Figure 7), each with one worn cupule on their rounded tops, were noted by my wife at the "entrance" to the jumble of huge rocks that I prefer to call the "cascade". The river runs through this chaos of tumbled rocks and flows into a rather deep pool immediately west of it. There is a strange aspect about this pool that will be discussed further on.
Touching the two rocks with the finest depictions of "masks" (Figure 2; E-15) is a medium-sized block (95cm by 200cm) with a horizontal upper surface featuring two parallel quartz veins. Its position (marked 1 in Figure 7), accessibility, and its size and shape (especially the flat upper surface) suggest that it might have been used as a ritual platform. This idea is enhanced by the presence of cupules on its upper surface. However, only in certain light it became obvious that this boulder was marked in a remarkable way. Along the two accessible edges was carved a line of possibly up to eighteen cupules measuring 6cm in average diameter (Figure 14). All cupules are severely weathered. Only seven examples clearly showed up in slanting sunlight, also because the morning dew concentrated in these deeper examples (Figure 15A).
Figure 14. Boulder 1, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. 50 cm scale.
Figure 15. A. Boulder 1, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. 10 cm scale. B. Detail.
This typical setting of cupules reminded me of the large boulder at Loa’a Site 110, feature BU1, Kaho’olawe Island, Hawai’i (Lee & Stasack 1999: 146-7). There, most of the 32 cultural depressions have been carved likewise along two of its edges. Another interesting quality of feature BU1 will be discussed further on.
The importance of the "cascade" as a focal point in the valley is also confirmed by another most interesting rock (marked 2 in Figure 7) that is almost adjoining Rock 1. It is situated at the bottom of the "cascade" and actually lies in the stream itself. It is a large plate of granite (roughly 3 by 6 metres) with a smooth undulating upper surface. Even a conspicuous quartz vein is worn extremely smooth by fluvial action. The rock is sheltered on three sides by large blocks of stone, forming a sort of natural niche, a convenient place for private rituals. One block partially overhangs the plate on its south end. Just west of its open side is another (undecorated) large plate in the pool that is most suitable as viewing platform or gathering place for a small group of people.
Stone 2 has a most interesting collection of petroglyphs and, to my knowledge, is the only rock in the whole valley where non-iconic and iconic petroglyphs (including at least one depiction of a "mask" or a "head-dress") are found together with cupules.
Figure 16. The eastern part of Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto.
Near its east end and east of a shallow natural basin is a worn ring mark with faint radiating grooves and other extremely faint cultural grooves (Figure 16, blue arrows). South of this group and almost covered by the overhanging block, on a south sloping part, are two worn cupules (Figure 16, yellow arrows).
Figure 17. The middle section of Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto.
Q = quartz vein. 10 cm scale.
Near the centre and just east of the most conspicuous quartz vein are at least three shallow cupules in a row (diameters 4, 3 and 10cm). These three cupules (Figure 17, yellow arrows) are severely weathered which may point to great antiquity, but equally, running water during wetter periods may be responsible for the worn character of all the engravings on this stone.
Figure 18. The southern panel on Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. Framed: the position of the cupules shown in Figure 17.
Near its SW end, overlooking the water of the pool, is an interesting collection of ringmarks, some associated with small cupules and radiating grooves (Figure 18 - framed: Figure 17). On the very NW edge of rock 2 is a faint petroglyph of a "mask" or "head-dress" (Figure 19), comparable with other petroglyphs in the area (inset), and some other indecipherable figures. It must be noted that all groups of petroglyphs on rock 2 occupy spaces that are well separated from each other. Perhaps this rock was considered so important because of its location that subsequent cultures decided to add their symbolism only at this rock, respecting the other symbols by using different parts of the rock. Other rocks with cupules and/or "Tacitas" were clearly avoided (possibly out of respect).
Figure 19. The "head-dress" on Rock 2, Sub-Zone II.3, El Encanto. Inset: a similar example from El Encanto.
The cupule rocks of el Valle del Sol
This rock art site is located approximately 24 km to the NE of El Encanto and north of the river Limarí (Figure 1B). Although the rock art in this small gorge (numbered S [Sol]-1 to S-58 in paint on the rocks; again, the numbers are often indecipherable), is not that extensive and sophisticated compared to El Encanto, it is of general importance, also in the scope of this paper.
Because of a bottle-neck in the Quebrada Talhuén, erosive forces exposed a large number of boulders and outcrops of different rock types, roughly 70 of which were decorated with mainly non-iconic line-figures such as ringmarks (some with keyhole grooves comparable with the example from El Encanto, Figure 18). Only a few (doubtful) anthropomorphic figures and one possible animal (camelid?) occur (Van Hoek 2000: Fig. 8).
Figure 20. The bottleneck of the Quebrada Talhuén, El Valle del Sol, looking east across the "meseta" with the Cerro del Manganeso (1070 m) beyond.
Apart from two outlying decorated rocks near the south end of the gorge, three concentrations of decorated stones may be distinguished: small boulders on the western hill-slopes; much fragmented outcrops on the eastern cliffs (Figure 20) and a remarkable group of cupule rocks very near the stream in the centre of the gorge (Figure 21B). Again, only the cupule rocks will be discussed.
Figure 21. Location maps of the rock art at El Valle del Sol. Based on the map 1:50.000, 3030-7100 (Ovalle), published I. G. M. de Chile, Santiago, 1968.
See best resolution graphic at: http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/vhra/web/rupestreweb.html
The central group is dominated by a large grey coloured outcrop on the west bank (rocks 1 and 2 in Figure 21B; numbered with paint S-54 to S-56). Rock 1 borders a small pool that possibly is a semi-permanent feature of the gorge. Only six certain cupules (and a few doubtful ones) are found, widely scattered on several horizontal parts of this much fractured and stepped high outcrop (Figure 21C: diameters of cupules stated; drawing not to scale). The only certain cupule on rock 1 is carved very close to the river/pool (Figure 22).
Figure 22. Single cupule on Rock 1, El Valle del Sol, with the pool (or river - direction of flow indicated) below. 10 cm scale.
Only the two largest examples of the complex are in a position that would allow "Tacitas" to develop. Touching the outcrop at its west end is a medium-sized boulder (rock 3) with one distinct cupule and another possible one, both rather shallow but recognisable by a lighter (more recent?) patination (Figure 23, black arrows). On the west side is a depression (similarly patinated as the boulder) that also may be a cupule (Figure 23, yellow arrow).
Figure 23. Rock 3, El Valle del Sol, looking east across the grey bulk of Rock 2 and the river beyond. 10 cm scale only applies to rock 3.
On the other side of the river/pool is a large horizontal, fractured slab (rock 4) with three large cupules (8, 9 and 10cm in diameter), possibly intended to become "Tacitas". About 4m to the north of it is a medium-sized boulder (rock 5) with one shallow cupule (8cm) on its south sloping surface. This cupule has also a lighter patina.
One of the striking differences with El Encanto is that "Piedras Tacitas" are almost lacking completely at El Sol. Apart from the doubtful "Tacitas" on rock 4, there are only two rocks with definite "Tacitas" (compare with more than 80 rocks at El Encanto!). One (rock 6) is a large, irregular and much fractured outcrop with three "Tacitas" with a depth and diameter of 12cm on its horizontal upper surface (Figure 24).
Figure 24. Rock 6, El Valle del Sol, showing three distinct "Tacitas". 10 cm scale.
Outcrop 6 continues further SW and, under a tree, appears as rock 7 featuring one distinct "Tacita", 13cm in diameter and 14cm in depth. The vertical NW-face of this rock shows a remarkable collection of about eighteen "cupules" averaging only 2cm in diameter and of negligible depth. They were recognised because their light brown colour contrasts clearly against the reddish background. Although they look artificial, they could be impact-marks caused by large pebbles hitting the rock face when the stream was in full force. Their clustering on a reddish part of the rock, however, and their similar dimensions suggest a possible anthropic origin however.
On the opposite hill-slope is another group of decorated rocks, three of which are rather small boulders that have cupules as well as very faint traces of other decoration. On the upper undulating surface of rock 8 are two much worn cupules with the same patina as the rock-surface and two faint ovals with a lighter patina. Rock 9 has one distinct cupule (with a clearly differing lighter patina) and one faint circle on its vertical, east-facing surface. On the almost vertical, north-facing surface of rock 10 is one lighter patinated cupule, surrounded by a faintly pecked ring and traces of another ring mark, all most likely added later. This rock rests on a small ledge of grey outcrop rock on the rather steep slope below the main group. Some (or even most) boulders in this group may have been dislocated.
Between the two groups is the riverbed covered by sand, pebbles and some boulders. One large irregular and water-worn boulder (rock 11) has four much weathered cupules on its south-facing grey surface, 3, 4, 7 and 8cm in diameter and all rather shallow. Especially the larger ones show a darker patina. To the NW is a flat square boulder (rock 12) with one rather deep cupule of about 7cm in diameter, possibly intended to become a "Tacita".
Discussion
Archaeological evidence from excavations in the valley makes it acceptable that most of the iconic art dates from the so-called El Molle period (Ampuero 1993). It has also been established that the majority of the iconic art in El Encanto and El Sol and indeed in a large area from Illapell to La Silla (Figure 1B) belongs to the El Molle Culture, which roughly dates from 300 BC to AD 800 (Ballereau & Niemeyer, 1996; Niemeyer & Ballereau 1996). The people belonging to the El Molle Culture probably consisted of small mobile groups of agriculturists and pastoralists that followed the ancient paths of the earlier hunter-gatherers. These earlier groups practised a form of transhumance. In the spring they moved from the coast towards the high ground of the Andes. Some of the river-gorges in the lower foothills were important stopping places on their way up and down the mountains. Importantly, most researchers (Klein 1972: 10; Ampuero 1993: 22; Gallardo Ibánèz 1997: 35) agree on the theory that the "Tacitas" are the oldest cultural manifestations in stone in El Encanto: "Consideramos las Piedras Tacitas o Piedras Morteros como elementos culturales más antigos del lugar" (Klein 1972: 103). For several reasons (grinding food or mixing colours or some unknown ritual) these migrating groups of early hunter-gatherers probably made the first typical basin stones, called "Piedras Tacitas" (Klein 1972; Ampuero 1993). However, Klein also acknowledges the possibility that these "Tacitas" have been used and re-used by subsequent cultures, like the El Molle and Diaguita societies (Ampuero 1993: 22).
Yet it is often stated that there is a relation between the "Tacitas" and the petroglyphs of the El Molle Culture (Ampuero 1993: 9). In a directional relationship of symbolic development however, it is better to suggest that the art of the El Molle Culture is associated with the "Tacitas", not the "Tacitas" with the El Molle art. The imagery of the El Molle Culture originated in this valley because of the very special natural qualities of this impressive locus and possibly also because of the presence of the conspicuous "Piedras Tacitas". These basin-stones no doubt will have inspired the newcomers and they decided to execute their own range of petroglyphs on boulders and outcrops near to these "Tacitas". The decision not to place their imagery on these "Piedras Tacitas" was, in my opinion, intentional. Probably they would still have used those "Piedras Tacitas" and possibly one did not want to mix the new and the old functions/symbolism of the place, especially as "Tacitas" may have been used for more practical reasons.
Cupule stones may have been ignored, either because most cupule rocks were considered not suitable for their type of petroglyphs (too small, too coarse or too near to the ground level), or because cupules were respected for their antiquity and symbolism. The latter may account for the absence of petroglyphs other than cupules on rock 1, Zone II, El Encanto, although its decorated surface is directly overlooked by several of the finest "masks" of the valley.
Although indeed cupules frequently represent the oldest surviving rock art of an area, Robert Bednarik rightly argues however, that often cupules only seemingly represent the oldest rock art motif, simply because they have a good chance to survive, being more deterioration resistant (1996: 126). Unfortunately, up to date there has not been any effort to obtain dating evidence for any of the petroglyphs of El Encanto. Therefore, nothing can be said with certainty about the dating of the cupules and "Tacitas" in this area. Only stylistic characteristics and some rare instances of superimposition of the iconic rock art repertoire give some clues as to a tentative chronology as suggested by Klein (1972).
We have noticed however, that many "Piedras Tacitas" also feature cupules (Figure 8) and moreover that cupules often occur solely on small rocks (Figure 12) and on vertical faces (Figure 13). "Tacitas" could therefore have developed after the manufacturers of the cupules acknowledged the special qualities of the place. The presence of cupules (or natural basins) could even have triggered the execution of "Tacitas". If this were true, this would make the cupule the oldest surviving rock art element of these valleys.
However, Ampuero (1993) acknowledges the idea that also the rock paintings at El Encanto may represent an artistic expression that could predate the petroglyph tradition of the El Molle Culture. Although only a few rock paintings (mainly in the colour red) survived, there once were possibly many more rock paintings in this valley (Ampuero 1993: 15). In general, mortar stones resulted from the processing of food, fat or ochre or other substances used to make dyes. It is therefore acceptable to suggest that (some of) the "Tacitas" in El Encanto may also have been used to produce the colouring for the rock paintings.
In order to provide a reliable chronological framework for the rock art repertoire in the area around Ovalle, it would be most welcome to obtain dates for especially the cupules and the "Tacitas" at El Encanto and El Sol, for instance by way of microerosion analysis (Bednarik 1997), or by micro-excavation techniques (Watchman, Taçon, Fullagar & Head 2000). For that purpose, detailed information especially on the general petrography of the area is needed, as well as geochemical information of the types of patination observed at the several cultural depressions. However, as such scientific analyses involve inspection by specialists, I will have to leave this job to future researchers.
However, this survey makes it acceptable that possibly cupules constitute the first elements of rock art around Ovalle after all. Indeed, the cupules at El Sol and especially at El Encanto are mostly extremely weathered and often have the same patination as the rock surface. This may point to great antiquity. However, it must be emphasised here that patina or desert varnish can form quite rapidly in some cases (Lee 1992: 27; Whitley & Annegarn 1994).
Also important is the fact that there never appears iconic rock art on any of the stones with cupules or "Tacitas" and that only once (at rock 2 in Zone II) a 'combination' is found of cupules with iconic art (although on separate panels). Also this spatial distinction strongly suggests a chronological distinction between the cupules and de iconic rock art of the El Molle culture.
What is almost certain however, is that the siting of the cupule stones (and also of the "Piedras Tacitas") is water-related. It has been noticed earlier in this paper that most of the cupule stones are very near the stream, mainly to the north of it (this spatial preference may relate to the accessibility of the site, which is easier from the north). However, the linear group of "Tacitas" and cupules at Zone II, El Encanto (squares L2 to O1 in Figure 7), seems to form an exception, as many of the stones in this row are 50m distant from the present-day river/pool.
This fact, and the linear character of this group brings me to suggest that possibly the course of the river Espinal is nowadays different to the prehistoric course. I already mentioned the jumble of large blocks at the "cascade". Many of these blocks have sharp edges and clearly have been broken a long time after the valley was formed. My initial thought was that the undermining by the erosive forces of a small waterfall caused the collapse of the stone plates, but Klein (1972: 9) suggests that an earthquake was responsible (possibly both factors acted together). Whatever the cause, it is possible that there once existed a prehistoric pond behind (east of) a natural dam and waterfall, and that, at one time, the main course of the river was forced to take another direction. Just possibly the prehistoric stream once ran past the linear group of "Piedras Tacitas" and cupule stones as suggested in Figure 25, which may explain the presence of these cupules and "Tacitas" relatively far from the present-day river. The general distribution of "Tacitas" and cupules in this area seems to support this idea. It is worthwhile to have also this possibility checked in the field by the proposed geological survey.
Figure 25. The possible prehistoric course of the river Espinal, Zone II, El Encanto.
There is however another strange aspect about the hydrography of the area. Describing Zone II, Klein (1972: 9) does not mention the pool that is so conspicuous nowadays. Instead, he includes photographs of dry ground in front of the "cascade" (1972: Figs 1 and 2). Simultaneously he acknowledges that tectonic forces may have caused irregularities in the course of the river. More importantly, he states (1972: 10) that the stream disappears in the chaos of rocks and follows an underground course that re-appears in Zone I, near the "Gran Peñon". It is therefore safe to suggest that, especially at Zone II, tectonic forces may have repeatedly changed the course of the river Espinal, and this possibly once caused a linear group of petroglyphs to develop along a prehistoric and since long abandoned course of the river. The remarkable absence of "other rock art" in this linear group may imply that the river changed its course again before the El Molle culture arrived in the valley.
The presence of water in a suitable geographical place on a path through several different ecological zones from coast to the high Andes not necessarily is the only reason for the execution of cupules at El Encanto. There may have been another, more specific reason for some of the anthropic depressions in the area. There are notably instances, world-wide, where certain rocks, the so called "lithophones" or rock gongs, were noted (and often marked) for their acoustic qualities (Taçon, Fullagar, Ouzman & Mulvaney 1997: 946). It must be emphasised here however, that cultural depressions in lithophones are definitely not the result of casual use. Such cultural hollows are quite intentionally shaped features involving well-targeted percussion. By definition however, such utilitarian percussion-depressions will be regarded neither as true cupules nor as rock art.
Sound certainly was important in most prehistoric societies (see the web site of Steven Waller). Throughout southern Africa for instance, there are rocks on which clusters of randomly executed peck marks are found, "not created as things to be seen, but as the residue of certain San rituals at which the production of percussive sound such as hammering or drumming was required" (Ouzman 1998: 38; 2001). Huwiler (1998: 148) discusses the function of several "lithophones" of Zimbabwe, called Mujejeje locally. These granite rocks are still ringed to-date to make contact with the ancestors, which are buried nearby. His book also contains a CD-ROM with no fewer than six recordings of the surprisingly varied sounds produced at one of these "Mujejejes". The enormous rock art site of Twyfelfontein, Namibia, has several rocks with possibly rock art related acoustics and several spots with fine echoes (Twyfelfontein).
At Balepetrish, on the northern shore of the island of Tiree, Scotland, I once visited the "Ringing Stone". This is a large boulder that is pitted with large but rather shallow basins, covering almost every surface. When hitting this rock with a pebble that is kept in one of the basins, a bell-like peal is heard. These depressions most likely originated because of the frequent use.
In a deep shelter at Bhimbetka, India, there is a boulder (with seven, probably very old cupules) that is supposed to be a rock gong, but this quality is now severely questioned, (Bednarik, Kumar & Tyagi 1991: 34) although these researchers confirm the existence of true "lithophones" in India.
I already mentioned BU1, the large boulder on Kaho’olawe Island, Hawai’i, with its typical arrangement of large cultural depressions around its edges, resembling stone 1 at Zone II, El Encanto. Surprisingly BU1 is also special because it resonates with a bell-like peal when tapped (Lee & Stasack 1999: 146).
It may now be significant that at least two stones at El Encanto, 1A and 1C in Zone I, are remarkable for having a certain acoustic effect when being (carefully) tapped with a pebble. The acoustic property is only evident at those parts that clearly have been affected by exfoliation, a natural weathering process, characteristic for granite. Although the ongoing exfoliation process may have developed the acoustic effect after the manufacturing of the depressions, it may be significant that the heavily clustering of small cultural depressions is found only on an "acoustic part" of boulder 1A, whereas the single cupule is found isolated on the "silent" top. Also the triangle of depressions on boulder 1C is found on an acoustic part very near ground level, while the upper part of the vertical surface is "mute". It is possible that still other "acoustics" exist in the valley or have been transformed into "Piedras Tacitas". Possibly, ritually produced petro-sounds were an important aspect of prehistoric life at El Encanto.
Although Chile abounds in rock art, both iconic and non-iconic, it is surprising to notice how scarce, even rare, cupules are at some major rock art concentrations. For instance, the cliff site at Rosario, Lluta, has no cupules at all, although many rock panels feature natural depressions (some possibly worked on and some definitely incorporated into a design) that may have triggered the creation of the art. Further south, of the more than four hundred petroglyph boulders at Tarapacá 47, only two boulders feature one artificial depression each, too few to speak of a cupule tradition.
Therefore, the occurrence of a relatively large number of cupule rocks near Ovalle may be regarded as an exception, especially as other rock art complexes of the El Molle culture seem to be bereft of cupules (Ballereau & Niemeyer, 1996; Niemeyer & Ballereau 1996). For that reason, the possibility that the cupules at El Encanto and El Sol are executed by a different culture than the El Molle and for different reasons must be seriously taken into account.
The main target of this survey was to see whether it was justified to consider the cupules in those two valleys as a class of cultural depressions that are distinctly different to the "Tacitas".
Indeed, the relatively many new finds of authentic cupules, especially those on small rocks or on vertical surfaces, confirm that the majority of the true cupules in this small part of Chile can no longer be classified as small or unfinished "Tacitas", even when such cupules are larger than average. The relatively large numbers of cupules, together with their specific spatial distribution pattern, make it justifiable to consider this group to be the remains of a modest regional cupule tradition. This survey also made it acceptable that cupules appeared during the initial stages of exploration and occupation by the early hunter-gatherer groups. Therefore, the cupules at El Sol and El Encanto may even pre-date the "Tacitas".
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my wife Elles for her assistance during fieldwork at El Valle del Sol and El Valle de El Encanto in 1999 and 2000. I would like to thank Matthias Strecker for his most useful suggestions. I am also indebted to the curator of the Archaeological Museum of La Serena, Gaston Castillo, who kindly informed us about the rock art at El Valle del Sol.
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How to quote this paper / Cómo citar este artículo: VAN HOEK, Maarten . Tacitas or cupules? an attempt at distinguishing cultural depressions at two rock art sites near Ovalle, Chile.. En Rupestreweb, http://rupestreweb.tripod.com/tacitas.html
2003
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