Ten Mysterious Examples of Rock Art from Antiquity

Petroglyphs and carvings are one of the world's oldest continuously practiced art forms, as diverse as the wide range of cultures and civilizations that produced them.

Depictions of elegant portraits, richly colored animals, unusual figures combining human and animal characteristics, and detailed geometric patterns continue to inspire admiration for their refined, powerful forms and detailed representations, and provide a window into the daily lives of our ancient ancestors.

Here we present some of the most amazing and enigmatic examples of rock art from around the world, although there are thousands more that are equally impressive.

The sandstone cliffs of Sego Canyon are a spectacular outdoor rock art gallery, painted and carved by Native Americans over a period of about eight years and a thousand years.

They feature more than 80 magnificent and ghostly life-size figures with sunken or missing eyes, often without arms and legs.

Some claim that these mysterious figures are evidence of extraterrestrial visitation in our ancient past, while scholars believe that these strange creatures represent shamanic visions produced in a trance-like state.

Evidence of human habitation in the Sego Canyon dates back to ancient times (6000-100 BC).

But subsequent advocates of the Ancient Astronaut Theory of the Anasazi, Fremont, and Ute tribes have argued that the strange figures in the barrier canyon rock art depict extraterrestrials who once visited Earth.

They point to the huge, hollow eyes and triangular heads as evidence that the figures are not human, however, others, such as researcher Polly Schaafsma (1999), say that they represent shamanistic art related to the ceremonial practices of ancient peoples.

Ms. Schaafsma noted that in fact, these "spirit figures" often carry snake tattoos, and their torsos sometimes bear symbols of water/life.

The presence of these relational (figure/animal) motifs is thought to be evidence of the existence of shamanistic traditions among these ancient Westerners, at least for a certain period of time, as archaeologists discovered last year in the Scottish Highlands in a rare example of prehistoric rock art.

The researchers believe that the massive boulder bears numerous cup and ring impressions that may reflect ritual use, territorial imprints, or star charts.

The carvings on the monolith, found in Ross-shire, Scotland, are believed to date back 4,000 to 5,000 years to the Neolithic or Bronze Age.

However, precisely dating this artwork is difficult: even if the megalithic monument could be dated, the artwork could be a later addition.

John Wrobel, a researcher from the North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS), called the discovery "an astonishing find", explaining that it is one of only a few decorative stones found in Scotland.

Cup-and-ring marks are a form of prehistoric art consisting of pits no more than a few centimeters in diameter carved into the surface of a rock, often surrounded by concentric circles, and also carved into the stone.

This decoration appears on natural boulders and rock carvings on outcrops, and cup and ring impressions can often be found on boulders such as slabs, stone circles, and passage cairns, such as the Clova Cairn, as well as on the capstones of the New Grange, where cup and ring impressions can often be found on standing stones and stone circles, which were thought to have been used for religious and ceremonial purposes in places of the past.

Engravings are often found on rocky outcrops, where the site seems to have been specially selected for an uninterrupted view of the surrounding country.

Others say they correspond to the constellations of the stars, or that they are records of land ownership or reflect boundaries.

Last year, archaeologists discovered a rock in the Kharga Oasis, 175 kilometers west of Luxor, Egypt, which is believed to date back to the pre-dynastic era, around 4000 BC or 4000 BC Rael.

Egyptian archaeologist Salima Ikram claimed that the rock art was a depiction of spiders, spider webs, and insects trapped by spiders, a theory that dominated mainstream news coverage, however, since then, other researchers have proposed an alternative explanation.

Dr. Derek Cunningham, author of 400,000 Years of Stone Age Science, believes that the comb pattern is actually an ancient form of astronomical writing.

He found that the angular offsets of the "spiders" and the many lines drawn on the panels correspond to astronomical values thought to accurately predict the centers of lunar and solar eclipses.

For example, the proposed rotation of the spiders is 13.

66 degrees vertically, a calculation equivalent to half a sidereal month, according to Michael Ledo, author of On Earth as it is in heavy: The Co *** ic Roots of The Bible. The Bible, and other writings, offers an alternative explanation for this unusual rock panel .

According to Ledo, the numbers represent the ecliptic and other constellations, Tassili Anjar has been described as the world's best prehistoric open-air museum, located on a vast plateau in the southeastern Algerian Sahara, on the borders of Libya, Niger, and Mali, and covering an area of 70,000.

20,000 square kilometers, Tassili is home to an exceptional density of paintings and carvings. Records of climate change, animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara Desert from 10,000 BC to the first century of the present.

Over the millennia, one group of people after another has left behind many archaeological remains, dwellings, mounds and enclosures.

However, it was the first discovery of rock art in 1933 that made Tassilienjer world famous.

This art consists of more than 15,000 paintings and engravings on the surface of *** rocks, including images of wild and domesticated animals, humans, geometric designs, ancient texts and mythological creatures, such as human beings with animal heads and creatures of gods or spirits.

This art covers five different periods, each corresponding to a specific fauna, as well as being describable by stylistic differences.

Although thousands of paintings and engravings of Tahili Angel have now been recorded, it is likely that many more have yet to be discovered.

These images shed light on the lives of the ancient people of the Sahara, but also leave us with many questions about who painted them and what it all means.

In July 2014, the U.S. Department of State's Department of Archaeology and Culture in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh sought the help of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to study a group of ancient petroglyphs found in caves near the town of Chalama, in the Kanker district of the tribal Bastar region, an art that reflects the belief of ancient humans that we are not the only ones in the universe.

JR Bhagat, an archaeologist who has studied the rock art, claimed that the newly discovered depictions date back to about 10,000 years ago, although the dating methodology has not been clarified.

Bhagat believes the images may depict aliens and UFOs, as the paintings include large humanoid creatures descending from the sky, some wearing what looks like helmets or antennae, and a disc-shaped craft with three rays of light (or legs) emanating from the bottom.

Bhagat explains that the locals in the area have several beliefs.

While few people worship the paintings, others tell stories they have heard from their ancestors about the "Rohiras", or "little people".

Legend has it that the Rohiras once landed in a circular object from the sky, taking one or two villagers with them who never returned.

However, Bhagat did admit that "we cannot refute the possibility of prehistoric human imagination.

", Bhagat fails to mention the fact that, in other cases, archaeologists have typically depicted these paintings as shamanic images of humans, human-animal hybrids, and geometric forms.

In August 2013, figures with antlers, tentacles, or spirit rays were common in a group of rock art shamanic art in western Nevada between 10,500 and 14,800 years old, the oldest rock art ever found in North America.

The oldest previous rock art in North America is dated to 6700 and can be found in Long Lake, Oregon.

Ancient rock carvings in Nevada were carved into limestone boulders on the west side of the now-dry Lake Winnemucca The art includes both simple petroglyphs, such as straight lines and swirls, and more complex petroglyphs that resemble the texture of a tree, flower, or leaf.

There are also a series of abstract designs that look like ovals or diamonds in a chain.

The geometric patterns of y carved lines and grooves have similarities to petroglyphs found in Oregon.

However, its meaning and symbolism has yet to be deciphered, and the Cochno Stone in western Dunbartonshire, Scotland, with its dozens of spiraling grooves, carved indentations, geometric shapes, and multiple enigmatic motifs, is considered to be the finest example of Bronze Age cup-and-ring carvings in all of Europe.

However, for the past 50 years, the stone has been buried under several feet of earth and vegetation in a desperate attempt to protect it from destruction at the time.

The stone, which measures 42 feet by 26 feet, was first discovered in 1887 by the Reverend James Harvey in farmland near the present housing estate of Faifley on the edge of Clydebank.

It is covered with more than 90 incised marks, known as cup and ring marks.

This cup and ring mark, believed to date back 5,000 years, is accompanied by an oval pre-Christian cross and two pairs of carved footprints, each with only four toes.

Because of the series of markings on it, the Cocoa Stone is considered a nationally significant artifact and has been designated a scheduled monument.

The Cocoa Stone was repeatedly damaged by vandals in the 1960s, so in 1964 archaeologists at the University of Glasgow recommended that it be buried to prevent further damage.

The stone has been covered ever since.

However, the local council is considering whether to uncover the spectacular stone again.

One of the most fascinating and perplexing legends of Aboriginal Australia is that of the Wandjinas, the supreme spiritual beings and creators of the land and people.

The lands, waters, seas and islands of the Kimberley region of north-west Australia have a long history of cultures dating back at least 60,000 years, but probably much older.

Here, traditional Aboriginal law and culture are still alive and well, with the Worororas, the Niuin Indians and the Unumubu being the three Wangina tribes - the custodians of the oldest figurative art spread across the Kimberley.

Perhaps most interestingly, the figurative art they painted on rocks and in caves is the way they depicted wands - white faces with no mouths, large black eyes, and heads surrounded by a halo or helmet of some kind.

The oral narratives of the Wandjinas have been passed down from generation to generation, like all the fantastic stories of the indigenous people.

The story goes that the Wanginas are "heavenly beings" or "cloud spirits" who came down from the Milky Way in a dream world and created the Earth and all its inhabitants.

Then Wandjina looks at the inhabitants and realizes the enormity of the task and goes home to bring more Wandjina.

With the help of the Dreaming Serpent, the Wankinas descended and in their Dreamtime created, taught, and became gods to the indigenous people they created.

After some time, the Wankinas disappeared.

Since then, they have been living at the bottom of the water source associated with each painting.

There, they constantly produce new "child seeds", which are considered to be the source of all human life.

Some of the Wangina have also returned to the sky and can now be seen at night moving high above the Earth in light.

In North Carolina, in the mountains of Jackson County, there is a huge mysterious rock covered with yet-to-be-discovered rock-carved ciphers.

The rock is of special importance to the Cherokee Indians, and the area where it sits is a sacred place where ceremonies used to take place.

The name Chudacurra comes from the Cherokee people, who believed it was an ancient creature that ruled the mountains.

Its name means "he who tilts them" or "squinty-eyed giant" - a powerful creature with superhuman abilities, able to fly, once jumping from mountain to mountain, and even to the top of a mountain. It was a powerful creature with superhuman abilities, capable of flying, once jumping from mountain to mountain, and even controlling wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

This creature was able to transport ordinary people to the "spirit" world and communicate with them.

It seems to be a "god-like" creature similar to all the myths of the world, and it is said that Judakura once landed on a rock and left a seven-fingered handprint.

The rock is a curved outcrop of soapstone rock with more than 1,500 petroglyphs.

The petroglyphs are estimated to date from between 3000 and 2000 BC, and quarry tools were found during excavation of the surrounding stones.

No other stones with similar markings have been found in the area, which makes the rocks very mysterious.

The interpretations of the rock carvings are very rich.

They range from maps, to religious symbols with secret messages, or simply the scribblings of ancient people A study published in Nature in October 2014 shows that more than 100 ancient paintings of hands and animals found in seven limestone caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi are as old as the famous prehistoric art of Europe.

The study suggests that humans produced rock paintings at both ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian continent 40,000 years ago.

Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and geochemist who led the research at Griffith University in Australia, explains that before this discovery, experts had a Eurocentric view of the world: and that's where humans began to make cave murals and other forms of figurative art.

However, the fact that the Sulawesi people were producing art at the same time suggests that either human creativity emerged independently around the world at almost the same time, or that by the time humans left Africa they already had the capacity and inclination for art by the time they got to Apurir Holloway, the *** same owner, ancient editor and writer.

For privacy reasons, she had previously written Ancient Origins under the pen name April Holloway, but now chooses to use her real name, Joanna Gillan.

, Joanna. read Mor.