Ideas worth spreading

Por que esses 32 símbolos são encontrados em cavernas primitivas por toda a Europa?

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Genevieve von Petzinger |

TED Fellows Retreat 2015

• August 2015

A linguagem escrita, a marca da civilização humana, não apareceu simplesmente da noite para o dia. Milhares de anos antes dos primeiros sistemas de escrita completamente desenvolvidos, nossos ancestrais rabiscaram sinais geométricos nas paredes das cavernas nas quais se abrigavam. Genevieve von Petzinger, paleontologista, pesquisadora de arte rupestre e TED Bolsista Senior, estudou e codificou essas marcas antigas em cavernas pela Europa. A uniformidade de suas descobertas sugerem que a comunicação gráfica e a habilidade para preservar e transmitir mensagens além de um único momento no tempo podem ser muito mais antigas do que pensamos.

A linguagem escrita, a marca da civilização humana, não apareceu simplesmente da noite para o dia. Milhares de anos antes dos primeiros sistemas de escrita completamente desenvolvidos, nossos ancestrais rabiscaram sinais geométricos nas paredes das cavernas nas quais se abrigavam. Genevieve von Petzinger, paleontologista, pesquisadora de arte rupestre e TED Bolsista Senior, estudou e codificou essas marcas antigas em cavernas pela Europa. A uniformidade de suas descobertas sugerem que a comunicação gráfica e a habilidade para preservar e transmitir mensagens além de um único momento no tempo podem ser muito mais antigas do que pensamos.

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

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.

Chris Stringer | St. Martin's Griffin, 2013 | Book

Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth

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.

Ian Tattersall | St. Martin's Griffin, 2013 | Book

Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins

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.

Learn more

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