Prehistoric Rock Drawings Of Animals And Humans Were Discovered In A Madagascar Cave, Representing The First Example Of Ancient Artwork In Picture Form
In western Madagascar, prehistoric rock art drawings were found on the walls of the Andriamamelo Cave. The drawings are considered the first example of ancient artwork to be expressed in picture form.
They depict images of nature with figures that represent various animals and humans. Before this find, the presence of rock art in Madagascar was limited to etchings of basic symbols at a few archaeological sites.
The artwork also hinted at surprising connections across cultures, including ancient Egypt and Borneo, an island in southeast Asia. David A. Burney, a paleoecologist and conservation biologist who was part of the team that made the novel discoveries, explained the cultural significance of the scenes on the cave walls in further detail.
For one, some illustrations were directly linked to religious motifs in Egypt from the Ptolemaic period. On top of that, the mysterious characters and writings on the walls showed an association with the Ethiopian and Afro-Arab worlds. Finally, some symbols represented a style of cave art from Borneo that was 2,000-years-old.
To add to the surprise, at least three animals from Madagascar that were thought to have been extinct for several centuries may be portrayed in the cave art. These animals were elephant birds, a giant tortoise, and a giant sloth lemur.
For many years, it has been believed that the language, culture, and people of Madagascar can be traced back to distant prehistoric ties to Borneo and that they were strongly influenced by East Africa. The recent discovery has confirmed that was the case.
However, it is still unclear who the first Malagasy people were and when they arrived in Madagascar. The cave drawings may provide some answers to the early history of the Malagasy.
Burney and his research team, which consisted of American, Australian, and British scientists, along with Malagasy scientists from local institutions, spent several days recording the images and exploring the entire cave. They also investigated other related archaeological sites and interviewed local villagers about the art they found.
Eight of the images had Egyptian roots, which were revealed through the depictions of Horus the falcon, the bird-headed deity named Thoth, the ostrich goddess named Ma’at, and two human/animal hybrids that resembled Anubis, an ancient Egyptian god who has the body of a man and the head of a canine.
milosk50 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
After much careful searching, the team determined that the mysterious writings were a match for the letter “hawt” in the ancient Ethiopian Amharic alphabet, which was pronounced “ha.” In certain Austronesian languages, “ha” means “breath of life.”
All these connections are the result of blending Asian and African cultural aspects to produce the unique Malagasy culture.
The identity of the person or people behind the art is still unknown, as well as the exact date the drawings were made. The artwork was created with pigments of inorganic materials, so radiocarbon dating wasn’t too helpful.
So, until further relevant findings surface, researchers can only continue to make speculations.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:News
