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Why are these 32 symbols found in ancient caves all over Europe?

9,393,628 views |

Genevieve von Petzinger |

TED Fellows Retreat 2015

• August 2015

Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn't just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleoanthropologist, rock art researcher and TED Senior Fellow Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think.

Written language, the hallmark of human civilization, didn't just suddenly appear one day. Thousands of years before the first fully developed writing systems, our ancestors scrawled geometric signs across the walls of the caves they sheltered in. Paleoanthropologist, rock art researcher and TED Senior Fellow Genevieve von Petzinger has studied and codified these ancient markings in caves across Europe. The uniformity of her findings suggest that graphic communication, and the ability to preserve and transmit messages beyond a single moment in time, may be much older than we think.

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About the speaker

Genevieve von Petzinger

Genevieve von Petzinger

Paleoanthropologist and rock art researcher

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Genevieve von Petzinger studies the geometric signs found in early European Ice Age rock art sites.

David Lewis-Williams | Thames & Hudson, 2004 | Book

The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art

This book looks at a broad range of rock art (animals, hybrid images, geometric signs) from such diverse places as Australia, Africa and North America to make an argument for shamanism having been one of main motivations for creating cave art during the Ice Age in Europe. I like the clear way in which the author lays out the history of the study of rock art and found the book to be an enjoyable read, though I don't know if shamanism can really explain all of the art. Just as we find everything from graffiti to religious or purely aesthetic art in our society, it would be reasonable to assume that the same held true during the Ice Age period. With that caveat in place, I would highly recommend this book for the interested layperson.

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If you've ever wondered how we managed to survive the game of evolution roulette while other relatives of ours (like the Neanderthals) didn't, or when and how we left Africa, or who we interbred with along the way, then this is the book that will answer these questions in a humorous and accessible way.

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Covering several million years of evolution — everything from ancient human ancestors to recent genome discoveries — by the time you finish this engaging and easy to understand book, you'll have a solid grasp on our own deep history as well as a better understanding of how we know what we know about human evolution.

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The Bradshaw Foundation

The Bradshaw Foundation is one of the largest rock art foundations in the world, and their website is an excellent resource on ancient rock art and other symbolic artifacts from around the world.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.