Mission

This website identifies and discusses the symbol systems used by our Sapiens ancestors where animal figures are the graphics that provide the meaning of the communication. Paleolithic cave art from around 40,000 to 11,000 BC and earthworks shaped into animal effigy mounds from around 750 to 1250 AD both use animal figures governed by convention-specific symbols to describe aspects of their worldview. This includes hunting strategies and their belief in an after-life. These communitive creations arose from the inspiration of shamans and were crafted by skillful artists toward culture-specific goals as part of a shamanic tradition which integrated the natural, cultural and spiritual worlds.

Those under the sole influence of the scientific model are becoming aware that the basic paradigm governing early social systems evolved from the graphic to the oral to the pictorial to the written traditions. As more cave art is discovered repeating patterns in the animal figures have become more apparent. Then some Tribes responsible for the earthworks have become more comfortable in sharing the meaning of their symbol systems which has provided an opportunity to better understand their worldview.

This website then addresses the animal figures as a symbol system which is on the cusp of yielding its meaning to the scientific community. The interpretations of the shamanic art are derived from the accepted meaning of universal symbols. This is necessary because there is no oral tradition and no survivors of the Paleolithic period and because the ancestors who created the effigy mounds have been reluctant to share the meaning of their sacred sites. My interpretation of the meaning of most of the effigy mound groups described here has been presented to Elders of the Ho-Chunk Nation on a number of occasions and I have been told to “keep talking”.

The two books above are a good summary statement of the plausible meaning of artwork during each period. It begins with the Paleolithic period where the human communities were considered survival hunting and gathering groups and moves to the Effigy period where the human communities were organized into Clans who identified with specific animals. Together they identify that our Sapiens human nature arose from our animal nature.

 
 

Orienting Paradigms

There are three generally accepted paradigms that underpin my interpretive model. These are:

  1. The evolutionary model described by Harari (2015) that includes four creative periods in our Sapiens history. He identifies four revolutions: the Cognitive, Agricultural, Scientific and Industrial.
  2. The evolution of self-conscious human societies described by Wilber (1980) that includes survival, mythic membership (clan) and mental-egoic stages that point to possible superconscious states, and
  3. Communicative traditions that began with the graphic, then oral tradition which became associated with the pictorial tradition and finally the written tradition (Von Petzinger, 2015).
 

Just how fresh are these insights?

We are neither hunters nor gatherers. We are accountants.

 

Interpretive Models

The focus here is on the evolution of the meaning of signs and symbols where there is no oral or written tradition to confirm the meaning of the graphics (Von Petzinger, 2015). Here is a simple approach to interpreting an animal dominated art panel. Consider a deck of cards. Each card can be differentiated from the others through the pictures and the numbers on the card. Repetitions can be identified as each suit has the same pictures but in two different colors. Then one must observe how the cards are played to identify the meaning of the “game”. Phenomenology has a limit that requires structuralism to clarify it. Thus in my model the animals are the cards, animal species are the suits and the way the animal figures are placed in an art panel or on the ground, that is the way the animals are sequenced, reveals their meaning. Finally each figure or panel must be considered in the context of the surrounding figures, the environment and the ethological habits of the animals.