First Hashtag?

[gandalftw]

http://guardianlv.com/2014/09/neanderthal-hashtag-discovered-in-gibraltar-cave/

http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/xhashtag2-650x363.jpg.pagespeed.ic.D5zaalCGQT.jpg

 

Around 40,000 years ago, a Neanderthal carefully carved what could be the very first hashtag into the walls of a cave in the British territory of Gibraltar, which has recently been discovered along with several other similar carvings. An archaeologist discovered the engravings in Gorham’s Cave in 2012 and the news has now been published in the online New Scientist magazine.

It was Clive Finlayson, the director of the museum in Gibraltar who originally discovered the carved artwork which consists, in total, of eight rock engravings, similar in design to the “tic-tac-toe” game or the modern, much-used character, the hashtag. The carvings cover an area of approximately three square meters (10 square feet) in Gorham’s Cave, and were found along with another fascinating discovery, that of 294 stone tools, dating back at least 39,000 years and believed to have belonged to Neanderthals living in the cave at that time.

http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/300x205xrocklalinea-450x307.jpg.pagespeed.ic.h91_BRJK78.jpgThe Rock of Gibraltar as seen from Spain

What is of particular importance in this find is that scientists state they now have proof that these ancient men were not mere mindless thugs as was previously thought, but had the capability of “subtle symbolic thought” and had creative abilities.

One of the leading researchers in the project is Professor Joaquín Rodríguez-Vidal from the Huelva University in Spain and he stated that by creating these carvings or paintings in caves, Neanderthals showed what is a cognitive step in the development of humans. Rodríguez-Vidal added that this kind of behavior was previously considered to an exclusive trait of the modern human and was always used to distinguish between our more direct ancestors and ancient man.

Another member of the team is Francesco d’Errico, director of research at the CNRS in Bordeaux, France. He stressed the fact that the engravings had been cut into dolomite, which is an extremely hard rock. He said it would have required many strokes of the stone-cutting tool to make the artwork which meant that, while not necessarily bearing any symbolic meaning as such, the engravings were done with a purpose. While not necessarily being representative of the modern-day ‘hashtag’, the symbol made by a Neanderthal, and its reason for being discovered in the cave in Gibraltar, is fascinating indeed.

While members of the team tried to avoid speculation about the reason for the carvings, Finlayson did mention that the location of the first engraving is at a point where the orientation in the cave changes sharply. Finlayson wonders if possibly the mark was something to do with mapping location within the cave. D’Errico theorized that the marks could be to show other Neanderthals that someone was already living there, like a modern day house sign.

The BBC reports that in recent findings, it has been discovered the Neanderthals intentionally interred their dead and that they used certain red and black pigments, along with feathers, to decorate their bodies. Other possible Neanderthal art has been found in the form of motifs in various caves in southern and northern Spain and even a possible musical instrument could date back to their time in the form of a bone flute discovered in Divje Babe, Slovenia.

Other discoveries have uncovered the fact that the Neanderthal diet was more involved than thought before, including the fact that they killed and ate pigeons and other birds, and enjoyed a variety of fruits, nuts and vegetables. Now on top of all the fascinating recent discoveries is the fact that Neanderthals appear to have been fond of the criss-cross symbol, which nowadays represents a modern-day hashtag or a game of tic-tac-toe, as recently discovered in a Gibraltar cave.

By Anne Sewell

[gandalftw]

Amazing discovery.It appears our Neanderthal ancestors were not the dull witted brutes we once thought.

 

"The first known Neanderthal cave art, a giant, elaborate hashtag, has been discovered in Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar, Reuters reports. Researchers have made several important discoveries about the Neanderthals in recent years, casting doubt on the long-accepted narrative that they were merely a less intelligent, more primitive relation of early modern men, doomed to extinction by their lack of sophistication.

The Neanderthals buried their dead, cared for the sick and the old, and wore both body paint and jewelry crafted from shells and feathers. Now we know they made art too, an even more convincing sign that the species’ cognitive abilities were greater than previously thought.

A “capacity for developing complex symbolic thought.”

Prehistorian William Rendu of the French National Center for Scientific Research called the discovery (which he was not involved in) “a major contribution to the redefinition of our perception of Neanderthal culture” in an interview with Reuters. “It is a new and even stronger evidence of the Neanderthal capacity for developing complex symbolic thought” and “abstract expression,” he said, just like their cousin Homo sapiens.

No less than 11 European institutions played a role in the discovery, which was announced in the academic journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The hashtag engravings, a network of eight crisscrossing lines, were found on a sheet of bedrock that formed a shelf of sorts, about 16 inches above the cave floor.

The artwork was unearthed below a layer of ancient sediment littered with stone tools that are thought to have been made by the Neanderthals 39,000 years ago, around the time that the species went extinct. That would make the hashtag drawing even older.

The Markings Were Created Intentionally

Researchers do not believe early modern humans had migrated to Gibraltar at the time that the drawings were created. They also are quite sure that the markings were created intentionally, as the pattern may have taken as many as 317 careful strokes to complete.

“This engraving represents a deliberate design conceived to be seen by its Neanderthal maker and, considering its size and location, by others in the cave as well,” wrote anthropologist Clive Finlayson, director of the Gibraltar Museum, and his colleagues, in the National Academy of Sciences publication.

Archaeologists previously suspected the Neanderthals had made art, but Gorham’s Cave offers the most convincing proof to date. Spain’s El Castillo Cave contains wall paintings that are 41,000 years old, but a lack of Neanderthal artifacts at the site makes it impossible to tell if they or modern humans were responsible."

[gandalftw]

Edited July 6, 2017 by gandalftw

[Garrish]

Something as well. This is carved in rock, which is nice. No one really talks about the possibility of art on degradable mediums. We paint on canvass and the Mona Lisa was painted on wood, which hangs in the Louvre behind bullet proof glass in a climate controlled condition. We take extensive lengths just to make sure that our art survives even just a few hundred years. We look at ancient structures as well and most never consider what might have actually existed aside from the stone foundations that they see. We really have only a fraction of an idea of what past art and structures may have looked like. Not all carpentry requires nails either. A little dovetailing and some tree sap could be used to build quite sturdy structures that simply don't exist anymore and it's sad to assume that people in the past had no ability to think simply because time erases all of our degradable traces.

 

In our current age, were we to face a global catastrophe, a vast majority of the knowledge we have now would vanish in an instant as a good bit of our data is stored on electrically powered servers. Metal is an amazing resource and anyone surviving would be more than happy to re-purpose it, causing even our strongest materials to disappear, as well. Hadrian's wall is a good example of historic re-purposing itself. The wall was built during historic times and a good portion of it has been re-purposed as roads until preservation groups come along to save what is left. China's great wall will even disappear, and will be covered in earth. As plant growth moves in, the roots will likely break down the structure, and it could simply remain lost, underground, unless a future civilization comes and digs it up, much like many of the pyramids of South America. The great pyramids in Egypt are somewhat unique as the location helps with their preservation, along with a continuing effort by mankind to preserve them as well. The Great Pyramids are also no longer in original condition and most people are unaware that they are purported to have had smooth outer coverings and gold capstones at the top. If our society fell into catastrophe and the population diminished, there would be only minuscule traces to show that we existed. Our political statues, carved in stone in D.C. would probably last a while, but the history of them would be lost and they would likely be treated as temples, much the same as Roman Temples, that are dedicated to men who served Rome in ancient times. They may even be lost completely, the same way as the terracotta army found in Asia.

 

Stone, unlike metal and paper, is one of the few "durable" remains that isn't always re-purposed. It has less value than metals and more durability than parchment, wood, and paper. It is amazing that we assume so much about the past and claim to be such experts.

 

Garrish

 

Thank you for this post. I love reading about the past. #Neanderthal :smile:

Edited July 14, 2017 by Garrish

[gandalftw]

Something as well. This is carved in rock, which is nice. No one really talks about the possibility of art on degradable mediums. We paint on canvass and the Mona Lisa was painted on wood, which hangs in the Louvre behind bullet proof glass in a climate controlled condition. We take extensive lengths just to make sure that our art survives even just a few hundred years. We look at ancient structures as well and most never consider what might have actually existed aside from the stone foundations that they see. We really have only a fraction of an idea of what past art and structures may have looked like. Not all carpentry requires nails either. A little dovetailing and some tree sap could be used to build quite sturdy structures that simply don't exist anymore and it's sad to assume that people in the past had no ability to think simply because time erases all of our degradable traces.

 

In our current age, were we to face a global catastrophe, a vast majority of the knowledge we have now would vanish in an instant as a good bit of our data is stored on electrically powered servers. Metal is an amazing resource and anyone surviving would be more than happy to re-purpose it, causing even our strongest materials to disappear, as well. Hadrian's wall is a good example of historic re-purposing itself. The wall was built during historic times and a good portion of it has been re-purposed as roads until preservation groups come along to save what is left. China's great wall will even disappear, and will be covered in earth. As plant growth moves in, the roots will likely break down the structure, and it could simply remain lost, underground, unless a future civilization comes and digs it up, much like many of the pyramids of South America. The great pyramids in Egypt are somewhat unique as the location helps with their preservation, along with a continuing effort by mankind to preserve them as well. The Great Pyramids are also no longer in original condition and most people are unaware that they are purported to have had smooth outer coverings and gold capstones at the top. If our society fell into catastrophe and the population diminished, there would be only minuscule traces to show that we existed. Our political statues, carved in stone in D.C. would probably last a while, but the history of them would be lost and they would likely be treated as temples, much the same as Roman Temples, that are dedicated to men who served Rome in ancient times. They may even be lost completely, the same way as the terracotta army found in Asia.

 

Stone, unlike metal and paper, is one of the few "durable" remains that isn't always re-purposed. It has less value than metals and more durability than parchment, wood, and paper. It is amazing that we assume so much about the past and claim to be such experts.

 

Garrish

 

Thank you for this post. I love reading about the past. #Neanderthal :smile:

Wow,what an amazing post,fascinating.

The so called hashtags were carved into dolomite which is very hard and makes me wonder if it was chosen for it's durability.I have carved stone and i tend to pick an easier medium to carve but i don't expect my work to last forever.

 

I'm surprised that Neanderthal burials have been found to include feathers and ornaments suggesting a primitive belief system.I didn't even expect that they buried their dead much less than preparing the bodies in such a symbolic way.I had always been taught that they were dull witted and more animal than human.

[gandalftw]

[Garrish]

I watched all of the videos that you have posted and it's mind boggling to be honest. It's really hard to determine the level of sophistication with which they thought and felt, especially considering the idea that the cave seems to be a refuge from global disaster, which people have used repeatedly throughout the ages. We look at how native americans are portrayed and most of what we see is post European contact. The migration of the native populace and most tee-pee dwelling societies came after plague and catastrophe. There were vast cities along the Mississippi River that were more sedentary and the Manitou, who built into the sides of cliffs were agricultural and became hunter-gatherers again once their populations began to dwindle. We now have several hundred thousands of years of evidence of humans of different makeups who have lived and survived great catastrophes. I don't like to be the crazy, but I can't help but wonder what kinds of past civilizations existed and how more or less advanced they may have become before having to struggle to maintain existence. We as humans have come a long long way technology wise in the last few hundred years and most of our larger civilizations take part on a regular basis to compete to retain technological superiority in order to preserve their cultures and make living easier.

 

It's hard to imagine what took place in the last few hundred thousand years and even harder to imagine where people like the Neanderthal came from or who may have preceded them as well. The choice of dolomite could indicate forward thinking on their part, as well as ceremonial burials where items are buried with the dead, indicating a belief in a higher being and a life after death. A dead body would have no need to be buried with items if there were not a belief that the items carry at least some symbolic purpose of an idea of something. This can also lead to new thinking when looking at things like the Bible from an historic viewpoint and the idea of Shiva in Hindu belief. Shiva is an Indian god that represents both destruction and creation, and there are native american believes of multiple global catastrophes as well. The Bible indicates cultural differences in the referencing of sons of man and sons of God. Perhaps there were intermingling of peoples who favored humanism versus the idea of religion and a higher power, and perhaps those differences went beyond simple belief. Some of those delineations may have reflected ideas that were distinct due to different kinds of humans.

 

We look to genetics to provide clues to the past and we have both giantism and dwarfism as traits among men and we have lore regarding dwarfs and giants and the Bible mentions giants, as a people, as a focal point when referencing David's conflict. People like to apply symbology to everything in the Bible, but David may have actually fought a real giant, as giants do exist in our own day and age. The idea of a giant is also relative and I was kinda surprised to find that Neanderthals were actually quite short themselves. What would it actually take to be a giant in comparison to David when we don't know his actual height. I played football in high school and was about 5'7" to 5'8" at the time and shorter when I first started. I faced some pretty meaty guys who exceeded 6' tall so many of my opponents were quite intimidating stature wise and I could have considered some who made it to 6'4" by graduation to be akin to giants themselves. That's an 8" difference in height among current "homogenized" mankind. There are pygmy tribes in south america who would have definitely seen some of these boys as giants and my wife is 5'3" herself making some of the guys on my team, in high school a full foot taller.

 

Could the "Sons of man" and the "Sons of God" been two distinct types of people with greatly different cultural beliefs as well? Could it be that the difference is a group of people who seek a higher power versus a group of people who seek science and humanistic ideas? Could this be how we have so many varying ideas on how the world should be viewed and why some adamantly embrace religion while others embrace the potential of what humans can do themselves. Perhaps there are genetic codes that help determine whether or not we believe in an afterlife and not just "cultural" ideology. If the Neanderthal's saw intermarriage as a way to preserve their species, giving up the pure lineage idea, then perhaps many species of humans have taken the same route in order to preserve their own legacy. It's not known how the DNA remains, it could be force marriage, it could be voluntary, it could even be to ensure political pacts in order to lessen conflict as we still maintain that tradition even today.

 

Studies like this raise as many questions as they answer and I find it all really intriguing. The idea of using caves as shelter to survive catastrophe has still not diminished either, even governments establish cave dwelling, albeit quite sophisticated in comparison to what we see in Gibraltar, but the idea has not gone away, and perhaps the idea that Plato made popular that man's "first" dwellings were caves, could be incorrect. His writing was an allegory that we have worked to press into modern belief with the idea of cave men. Many caves are, in fact, quite dangerous and often inhabited by other animals. People can smother simply by walking to far into caves with no ventilation and caves containing bat populations are a health nightmare in many cases. Not all caves are the great escape that the one in Gibraltar provides and it may have perhaps not been so user friendly in the beginning either. There are many tribes, some even still exist, who choose to live in the open, in huts.

 

My post is growing overly long and there is so much to ponder on things such as this. How much have we evolved? How much have we simply survived? Was the carving in the dolomite stone a sign of forward thinking? Geometry itself speaks volumes and in this case, sets of perpendicular parallel lines are still very much a part of life today. The hashtag or number sign, may be the oldest consistent symbol that humanity has at this point. My son, who is 19, even wondered if the number sign may have represented a number itself possibly the number 10 as it contains 3 rows of 3 and could predate the idea of recording and calculating the number 0 as far as we know. From what I understand counting a non existent, is a fairly new idea. Perhaps numbers based on our finger count is as old as humans themselves and we would have 3 rows of 3 equaling 9 with a hashtag or number sign as the final symbol to calculate the completion of the cycle being 10, I don't know. The markings could mean something, they could be experimentation, or they could be just etched out of pure frustration or boredom, it's hard to know. It is quite fascinating though, and I really appreciate your posting this and posing challenging thought to my mind. I was taught the same about the neanderthals and the ideas that they were pure brutes, and I had no idea myself that they buried objects with their dead as we do even now. I had a best friend who passed shortly after high school and many of us threw in token items of meaning, some even with the notion of his afterlife and this seems to be consistent with human thinking for hundreds of thousands of years now. I don't know that all people really have a grasp of the length of time that is either. It's a really really long time and so much has happened that we may never understand. I do love this topic though because it opens up the mind to so much thinking and so many possibilities.

 

On a personal note I do find it awesome that you are a carver, it might be cool if you wanted to post some of the carvings that you have made yourself. You never know, even with softer stone, an archeologist may be digging up your work some day. The terracotta army was in fact made of a softer substance than stone itself. My work will all disappear for sure however, as I was a carpenter and I have done some writing, and neither of those are likely to last very long at all. It is possible that we see works from the past by people who never intended for their work to become known to future generations, while we can guarantee that some have gone far out of their way to attempt immortality through remembrance, even if we don't know who created the work.

[gandalftw]

Burying the dead is a good idea for many reasons, the smell,attracting predators and the like ,hehe, but the inclusion of bone/shell ornaments and feathers seem to be proof of symbolic emotional feeling/thinking.Were i living in a region where caves were fairly common then a cave is where i'd want to spend the night, at least.Of course you'd want to clear it out first of all the baddies but In an area where game was plentiful a cave would be a perfect choice.

 

Since i was very young i've had an interest in Native Americans.I read everything i could find on their customs and belief systems.I even made my own moccasins,lived in a teepee for a year,hunted game and went on a vision quest.Friends and family thought i had lost my mind and perhaps i did. :wink:

 

I'm old so the increasing dependence on technology doesn't scare me, personally, but it concerns me for should a Fallout type catastrophe occur how many would survive?How many would be able to adapt in a world where the knowledge of edible plants and hunting techniques were lost to them?Scary thought..

 

From what i understand Australopithecus is an ancestor of the Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens.Neanderthals are only partially related to modern humans.

Your son's idea that the hashtag may have represented a number is interesting.

 

Early superstition IMO was born out of fear of nature and an attempt at controlling nature through magical thinking.I can't elaborate on my views of religion for the discussion of religion is against the rules at Nexus.I'm an Atheist so...;)

 

When i used to carve it was in a soft medium like soapstone and sandstone.This was in the 70's and i sold everything i made to head-shops or novelty shops.My ex has some pictures but i haven't heard from her in ten years or so.I turned to oil painting and pastels in the late 70's,most were portraits of friends or family my sister owns the only artwork i have left.I lost a great deal of artwork and hide clothes i made in a house fire.I was pretty bummed out for several years after that happened.

 

Oh yes, i forgot to mention, The Cave Allegory inspired me to write a short poem.I was in my 20's i think.

 

The king has swallowed the bitter poison
The queen is out of thyme
A lawyer's in the kitchen
trying to make a rhyme
The jester captures dawn
in the instance of her birth
In solemn retribution
she steals away his mirth
And the light from the candles flicker
throwing shadow shapes to and fro
In the night my visions give me cause to wonder
what is the meaning of it all.

Edited July 16, 2017 by gandalftw

[Garrish]

From a historical point this is all very intriguing. I do suspect that they had forward thinking and that people have had forward thinking as a whole for a very long time. I do believe that art and imagination have captivated humans for quite a while as well. People forget that human beings are very beautiful creatures sometimes and that it is fascinating that we simply exist. I think that it's very interesting that a symbol like this can stand the test of time and that geometry and art often coincide. There are so many possibilities of what this marking may have meant or been. History can be very haunting as people have existed for so long and it's hard to really imagine the world that they lived in. I wanted to let you know that I greatly appreciate your poem. It is very striking and gives a lot of cause to ponder. My writing isn't as user friendly, but if I can remember or find one of my poems that is appropriate to post, I will do so in return. I won't ask the meaning of yours as I like the enduring elements and the way it inspires thought and wonder. Thanks again for the thread, it's both really cool, and really eye opening and is causing me, at least, to look further into the past than the history that I have recently been so focused on. I think perhaps you found something on your vision quest and didn't lose anything. I was raised in the southwest and had a fascination with Native Americans myself. I did learn leather working myself and I am sorry for the loss you faced in the fire. Perhaps, you can re-find your creative outlets, I lost mine, but I am inspired to search myself within again and see what surfaces. I refuse to let life become jaded.

[gandalftw]

From a historical point this is all very intriguing. I do suspect that they had forward thinking and that people have had forward thinking as a whole for a very long time. I do believe that art and imagination have captivated humans for quite a while as well. People forget that human beings are very beautiful creatures sometimes and that it is fascinating that we simply exist. I think that it's very interesting that a symbol like this can stand the test of time and that geometry and art often coincide. There are so many possibilities of what this marking may have meant or been. History can be very haunting as people have existed for so long and it's hard to really imagine the world that they lived in. I wanted to let you know that I greatly appreciate your poem. It is very striking and gives a lot of cause to ponder. My writing isn't as user friendly, but if I can remember or find one of my poems that is appropriate to post, I will do so in return. I won't ask the meaning of yours as I like the enduring elements and the way it inspires thought and wonder. Thanks again for the thread, it's both really cool, and really eye opening and is causing me, at least, to look further into the past than the history that I have recently been so focused on. I think perhaps you found something on your vision quest and didn't lose anything. I was raised in the southwest and had a fascination with Native Americans myself. I did learn leather working myself and I am sorry for the loss you faced in the fire. Perhaps, you can re-find your creative outlets, I lost mine, but I am inspired to search myself within again and see what surfaces. I refuse to let life become jaded.

I agree the forward thinking aspect,i imagine,was influenced by the reality of night and day and seasons following seasons.Accumulated life experience taught one the reality of progression.The first art,i imagine, was an attempt to influence that progression.The depiction of deer,antelope and bison in large numbers on cave walls was meant to influence the availability of those game animals in the real world.Magical thinking was\may have been the inspiration for the very first artistic expression.

 

My sentiments exactly for we are,human beings are, wonderful inventions of nature.You remind me of the objectivity that i sometimes experience.There are times when i seem to shift my viewpoint of reality to one of an observer instead of a participant.During those shifts,hehe,i see the world as if for the first time,without judgement,without preconceived notions,i am without prejudice or expectation and everything i see is moving toward a higher state of existence.Perhaps i suffer from a brain chemical imbalance,hehe,who knows...

 

The vision quest took over a week and was far different than the Native American quests that i have read about.I didn't have a mountain to climb nor did i fast completely though i did eat very little and drank water or tea.I walked for five days without sleep until the visions/hallucinations started.On the sixth day the hallucinations became extreme and quite frightening on the seventh day they started to make sense.They started to coalesce into a personal history from birth into adulthood.I experienced scenes of my life wherein i was an observer and i could clearly see myself,as a child,as a teen, reenacting events of my life that i had totally forgotten but were highly significant and informative.I don't regret this experience but i have since learned that sleep deprivation is very dangerous so don't do this at home people.;)

 

Leather working is a wonderful pastime,i miss my moccasins...;)