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Riddles of the Stone Age: Rock Carvings of Ancient Europe
VERY GOOD
160 pages, Hardcover
First published May 12, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 24, 2024
Did you ever see any of those ink blots and you try to figure out what it is supposed to be? Well looking at the many photos in this book is very similar. Because when it comes down to it no one actually knows what these symbols are supposed to be or why someone carved them. Some of them certainly reminded me of modern things but that is just a mental association; its not what it is supposed to be.
Another question about these symbols that pops into my head is why. Why did someone take the time to carve these shapes....in rock. Did you ever try to carve anything on a rock? I bet it must be incredibly difficult. And how in the world do you carve a circle? Just drawing a circle is tough! And then to carve one? On rock... Plus those circles look so round! I mean you would expect them to be lopsided or whatever. How did these primitive people make such perfectly round circles?
The pictures in here that get my attention the most is the "cups and rings". They sort of remind me of those really old dial phones that had that moving circle with the holes that you jammed a finger into. Do you remember those? The layout of these cups and circles oddly enough kind of remind me of crop circles. There seems to be some pattern on that rock with how these cups and circles are laid out. On page 93. On the same rock looks like "finger holes" where someone just jabbed a finger in to make these holes grouped together. But what is it all about???
No one knows.
Some of the photos in the back of the book (on page 142-144 for example) remind me of the art I was doing last summer. I found it very relaxing. Just freeform drawings and I would add patterns / colors. It was very relaxing. Did some of these ancient artists just make this stuff for fun, to relax? Did it help them with stress? But carving on a hunk of rock / rock wall is way harder than what I was doing on a piece of paper. Maybe it wouldn't be relaxing then. How do you erase a mistake? And how do you use a rock to carve another rock? The author thinks they may have used a rock with a wooden mallet. He also mentions some may have used quartz.
There are countless photos in here. There are nice and clear. In black and white. The paper has a slight sheen but its not that very glossy paper. Some photos show closeups too.
After looking at these, especially those cups and rings, the first thought I had was "Why didn't I ever see these images before?" As I do watch lots of videos on youtube about ancient cultures. Many focus on ancient Egypt but it covers other places as well. I've seen the videos that talk about a lost civilization from before Egypt. About possible power tool marks. I've seen the animal shapes painted on walls and the carvings in the American southwest. But I've never seen any of these. Why? This book is from 1980 so people should know about this.
I really didn't find the text in here very helpful. It does name some of the patterns and it certainly tells you where each one is located. But there is very little speculation as to what these symbols mean or why someone carved them. The one weird rock actually looks like while it was soft someone had jammed a bunch of finger holes into it and then let it harden! That's what I see. Photo #101.
I think the value in this maybe is as a thought experiment. What do you see in these pictures? And is it possible we need to actually expand our ideas? Maybe look at things like microbiology? That pic that I described as a dial phone could be pineapple rings with raisins sitting on them. Maybe could be a cell. Or a UFO. Lights on the bottom of a UFO. The possibilities are endless I suppose.
Obviously whoever drew this had seen something. And they tried to record it. Must be important if someone killed their poor arm carving that into rock (as I imagine that its very hard to do - i sure wouldn't want to do that).
There are other patterns in here too. A few look like ripples in a pond that meet each other. One looked like a ribcage to me. There are oblong shapes with three dots in the middle. Many others. Another one is a square box with an X on it and a circle in each area. These people sure loved circles.
But isn't a true circle hard to find in nature? Leaves, pebbles, etc: none of it is a true circle.
Hmmm....
Its a huge mystery.
This book certainly was entertaining. Would be a great thing to talk about too.
Another question about these symbols that pops into my head is why. Why did someone take the time to carve these shapes....in rock. Did you ever try to carve anything on a rock? I bet it must be incredibly difficult. And how in the world do you carve a circle? Just drawing a circle is tough! And then to carve one? On rock... Plus those circles look so round! I mean you would expect them to be lopsided or whatever. How did these primitive people make such perfectly round circles?
The pictures in here that get my attention the most is the "cups and rings". They sort of remind me of those really old dial phones that had that moving circle with the holes that you jammed a finger into. Do you remember those? The layout of these cups and circles oddly enough kind of remind me of crop circles. There seems to be some pattern on that rock with how these cups and circles are laid out. On page 93. On the same rock looks like "finger holes" where someone just jabbed a finger in to make these holes grouped together. But what is it all about???
No one knows.
Some of the photos in the back of the book (on page 142-144 for example) remind me of the art I was doing last summer. I found it very relaxing. Just freeform drawings and I would add patterns / colors. It was very relaxing. Did some of these ancient artists just make this stuff for fun, to relax? Did it help them with stress? But carving on a hunk of rock / rock wall is way harder than what I was doing on a piece of paper. Maybe it wouldn't be relaxing then. How do you erase a mistake? And how do you use a rock to carve another rock? The author thinks they may have used a rock with a wooden mallet. He also mentions some may have used quartz.
There are countless photos in here. There are nice and clear. In black and white. The paper has a slight sheen but its not that very glossy paper. Some photos show closeups too.
After looking at these, especially those cups and rings, the first thought I had was "Why didn't I ever see these images before?" As I do watch lots of videos on youtube about ancient cultures. Many focus on ancient Egypt but it covers other places as well. I've seen the videos that talk about a lost civilization from before Egypt. About possible power tool marks. I've seen the animal shapes painted on walls and the carvings in the American southwest. But I've never seen any of these. Why? This book is from 1980 so people should know about this.
I really didn't find the text in here very helpful. It does name some of the patterns and it certainly tells you where each one is located. But there is very little speculation as to what these symbols mean or why someone carved them. The one weird rock actually looks like while it was soft someone had jammed a bunch of finger holes into it and then let it harden! That's what I see. Photo #101.
I think the value in this maybe is as a thought experiment. What do you see in these pictures? And is it possible we need to actually expand our ideas? Maybe look at things like microbiology? That pic that I described as a dial phone could be pineapple rings with raisins sitting on them. Maybe could be a cell. Or a UFO. Lights on the bottom of a UFO. The possibilities are endless I suppose.
Obviously whoever drew this had seen something. And they tried to record it. Must be important if someone killed their poor arm carving that into rock (as I imagine that its very hard to do - i sure wouldn't want to do that).
There are other patterns in here too. A few look like ripples in a pond that meet each other. One looked like a ribcage to me. There are oblong shapes with three dots in the middle. Many others. Another one is a square box with an X on it and a circle in each area. These people sure loved circles.
But isn't a true circle hard to find in nature? Leaves, pebbles, etc: none of it is a true circle.
Hmmm....
Its a huge mystery.
This book certainly was entertaining. Would be a great thing to talk about too.
August 29, 2013
Interesting collection of pictures of stone age rock carvings
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews