Gobekli Tepe's Pillars

The importance of Palaeolithic art

Example of European Palaeolithic art - from Wikipedia

With our decoding of European Palaeolithic animal symbols as star constellations - probably similar to ones we continue to use today - we have initiated a new method for tracking the dispersal of people and ideas. This complements existing methods based on comparison of DNA, language, mythology and specific artefacts (such as stone tools and pottery). I discuss some of the implications in Prehistory Decoded.

Comparison of DNA is probably the most useful of these methods because it is practically unlimited in terms of time depth, and it can distinguish between migration and cultural diffusion, i.e. the movement of people vs the diffusion of ideas. The archaeological record, in terms of tools etc, is probably the next most useful.

The comparison of zodiacal symbols is similar to comparative mythology - we should probably view them as two sides of the same coin. But it is perhaps a little more powerful in terms of time depth because these cave paintings are a fixed record of events - they are more reliable evidence than mythical stories passed down the generations.

Comparison of languages is probably the least powerful in terms of the time depth it can penetrate, because it appears language changes much more quickly than either the zodiac or mythology, which appear to be strongly linked.

But the general view of archaeologists and anthropologists, it seems, is that there can be no cultural continuity between widely separated people, for example between Eurasia and the Americas. I'm not sure why they think like this - it appears to simply be an assumption. Perhaps it is because it is generally believed that culture cannot survive longer than language. And as the languages of indigenous people on these continents are so different, it appears to be impossible for there to be any cultural continuity at all.

For example, the orthodox view of archaeologists is that there can be no cultural link between the ancient architecture of, say, Egypt and the Incas or Aztecs. Any similarity, such as pyramid building or stonework or the prominence of serpent worship, must be coincidental or have a deep psychological explanation, they assume.

But this view is probably wrong. The evidence has been obvious for some time, but it has been ignored by archaeologists. The evidence I am speaking about, of course, is the existence of Palaeolithic art itself.

We see the same animal symbols and similar artistic techniques survive in western Europe for nearly 30,000 years. This is an immensely long time for anything to remain essentially unchanged. Until now, this continuity has been explained, at least partially, on the basis that people were simply painting the animals they saw. And because the animals were the same, the paintings were the same.

But this view ignores the fact that the painting techniques are so similar over such a long time. Because these technical similarities are so hard to explain, some 'experts' are convinced the radiocarbon dating evidence must be flawed, and that these painting don't actually cover such a vast range of dates. Again, we now know their views are wrong. Their opinions are contradicted directly by our zodiacal theory as well as by the best radiocarbon data.

Michael Witzel is one of the few scholars to challenge this orthodox view. In his book 'Origin of the World's Mythologies' he proposed that Eurasia and the Americas are linked by an ancient mythology that he called 'Laurasian'. Based partly on the age of Palaeolithic art, he suggested this ancient Laurasian mythology could be around 40,000 years old. I provide a reason for the existence and timing of this Laurasian mythology in Prehistory Decoded.

Because Palaeolithic art has existed, almost unchanged, for such a long time, it is obvious that the culture that expressed itself with this art must also be relatively unchanged. And since this timescale is so long - easily long enough to have diffused across the world, it is no longer safe to simply assume that similarities in widely separated cultures, such as pyramid building on different continents etc, must be coincidence. Instead, it is entirely reasonable to assume that all the similarities noted between these widely separated cultures are real and caused by this very deep Laurasian legacy. This view doesn't mean they definitely are related - I am simply arguing that we can no longer assume that they can't be. We should be more open-minded.

The best indicator of this is the continuity of constellation symbols - this is another reason why our ancient zodiac is important. The standard response to our zodiacal theory of orthodox archaeologists is disbelief that the same constellations and symbols could have been used by such widely separated people, in space or time. And I would agree with them, mostly, if these cultures were truly disconnected. I think they are quite right that different people would see different star constellations and use different symbols to represent them at different times in different places. But our work shows that they likely did use similar constellations and symbols. It follows, then, that they very likely are culturally related. And if their astro-mythology is related, then all the other aspects, such as pyramid building etc, could also be related.

This means that the serpent symbols of ancient America might be related to the snakes at Gobekli Tepe, that the Indo-European Storm Gods might be related to the Inca Storm Gods, that the Sumerian, Egyptian and Aztec pyramids might be related to as-yet undiscovered older proto-types, and so on. It also explains why some of the same constellations and animal symbols are used on these continents. For example, Inca mythology includes foxes, pumas, bears and Condors. Could they be related to the animal symbols we see at Gobekli Tepe and in Palaeolithic art? Perhaps they evolved from a common Laurasian origin.