Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe | Genevieve von Petzinger | TED

[@matthewtopping2061]

One major problem with our interpretation of this cave art is the way that we are lighting them when we take pictures or other recordings of them. Ancient hominins from the period would have had some kind of open flame lantern. It has been demonstrated by other scholars that the combination of an open flame light source, the art, and the contours of the rock on which they are written produced a kind of rudimentary animation, or 3D storyboard. To fully understand the purpose of ancient cave markings requires more culturally and materially relativistic investigation.

[@rodicapopescu2038]

to fully understand what u saying watch the movies Ice Age..! yep

[@dalenedaylean3555]

Pardon me, but do you have any reference source regarding any scholars' interpretations of light source/3D movement? Ive just begun researching primitive cave art. I have ordered the book World Rock Art. I ran across this video and find what some scholars' believe in the lighting.....it makes perfect sense! Their only perspective in dark caves was from flame. Thank you in advance 🌹

[@andrewjungeleedavis6815]

maybe they had multiple people in there holding torches to illuminate it all

[@ojberrettaberretta5314]

add to that shrooms or other things they also consumed and the whole thing becomes its own movie

[@Firstthunder]

How cool! Man humans are awesome

[@Opceedee]

What if they were just the first tripadvisor reviews? “Great cave - bad wifi - good ventilation - stayed for 3 nights - i’ll rate it 5 fingers”

[@Riplee]

Actually there’s a modern homeless glyph graffiti system that serves a similar purpose to what you’re thinking of... and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an ancient concept, there’s some sort of memorialization going on

[@lossantoscity3249]

I believe they are equivalent to Emojis, Girls now can talk for hours just by using Emojis.

[@hooniloo7140]

Hysterical

[@kohtaoscubaclub3251]

😂😂😂😂

[@elwhiteboy6865]

"Bed was mushy, however, would spelunk here again."

[@johnking5433]

That green door the cavemen installed was functional, yet festive.

[@djszal]

Just made me lose The Game. Thanks.

[@bluejack644]

Could be one of those doors Early Grace talked about in the movie Kalifornia.

[@johnkulpowich5260]

I've seen the movie beyond the green door. Not that good. Boring

[@Theresa-Lottodo]

I don't know what they're doing, but they laugh a lot behind the green door.

[@richardkennedy8481]

I doubt that is the original color.

[@MCJSA]

I read her book, First Signs. It's really fascinating and worth looking at. Her idea to catalog abstract markings in ancient inscriptions across Europe to try to assign meaning is unique and gives evidence of very extensive social organization among people in the remote past.

[@jantyszkiewicz8823]

Thanks for name-dropping the book, topic seems mighty interesting, think I'm gonna order it.

[@ingebrecht]

The caves were the closest things that early man had to a refrigerator. The kids drawings always end up in the refrigerator.

[@bittasweetsymphony726]

yes and maybe they used to store meat far back in caves

[@peterjones5428]

Ha ha.kids drawings on fridges.so the kids drew them

[@CalifaJohn1]

Did they get a spanking when they drew on the walls?

[@Pete-Prolly]

@@draggin-up9911 "an ifiot?" lol Are you "stupif" or something? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Test7017]

Lots of the cave Art is phony. The Symbols are real www.stolenhistory.org/threads/prehistoric-cave-art-appears-to-be-fake-all-of-it.198/

[@CrowdContr0l]

Not only are the 32 symbols barely discussed, but the question about why they are so widespread is only addressed as “that is a story for another lecture”. C-

[@Liusila]

Thank you. I was worried the title was going to be fairly clickbaity when the talk started with "there is something about caves"!

[@robweeks1453]

When I'm in a cave I often find myself wondering wtf am I doing in a cave?

[@haroldwilkes6608]

Said Batman after another concussion....

[@omegaprimus923]

Sure cave boy sure

[@Flyingtaco82]

I know, right?

[@lajadda]

Same here.

[@alys.project9837]

I'd be afraid a spider was gunna drop into my hair ...

[@himoffthequakeroatbox4320]

Imagine thousands of years into the future. An alien archaeologist (or perhaps a creature evolved from meerkats) is trying to work out what "keep left", "hard hat mandatory" and "no tumble dry" symbols mean. The word "ritual" will no doubt occur.

[@HelenaMikas]

by then they will have rusted away .Modern man leaves wall art or graffiti so usually a rather angry seen or spraying like dog pee .Wouldn't say much about us ..

[@kathleenjones5835]

I live now and those fabric tags that only have symbols for care blow my mind...can you imagine them finding 10123 irons...and yet there probably a zillion irons in weird places...because we use them so little...they are up away almost looking more decorative than functional. Id cannot underground small space ...thats what scares me to death

[@williamessex3518]

@@kathleenjones5835 what?

[@nobodyimportant7567]

And all the superdomes will be called Temples.

[@douglascooper1987]

And Imagine their thoughts on TrainCar Graffiti !🤔

[@strongerandwiser2023]

Why did this ted talk seem like the entire thing was an introduction then, when you think she is going to start talking about it in detail, the talk ends....

[@MegaBorusse1900]

Thanks! That talk is so strange. Here are the symbol i worked on all this years. *5 seconds* Okay next picture. What is the whole point of this talk?

[@Causmikyoni]

Right some could be pictures from an 8 year old child and we wouldnt be any wiser

[@Causmikyoni]

@@MegaBorusse1900 that's what I was wondering i guess i gained some new information. But i figured she'd be raising big questions about the missing links in our evolution. That's what I was hoping for.

[@meNtor890]

It seems she's telling us something wholly new. The cave paintings don't just depict animals but also feature regularly occurring symbols, suggesting a form of written communication that predates every other alphabet. That's an awesome point. She showed plenty of images for 5 seconds to get her point across, of course she still doesn't understand the alphabet enough to explain it more.

[@briabeach8064]

Its so annoying when that happens

[@zaman8032]

The emotion she is going through the talk shows how passionate she is about her work! Love and respect. ❤

[@ThomasMehiar]

Agreed!

[@rubenquezada3830]

Seems feigned!

[@donaldforeman4010]

Um..... Smash!

[@wendynoto4726]

No doubt

[@clutch1141]

Don't have feelings, have thoughts. Feelings know nothing use them for expression, thought knows everything that can be known, use it for everything else.

[@Dumplinger7]

"Why always in cave?" Simple answer: The others outside where washed away by rain!

[@Mitzoplick]

Seems pretty obvious, that a cave is a much more controlled ecosystem.

[@feelinpump]

@@Mitzoplick And gave them shelter from wheater and wild animals who are hunting in the night.

[@aerrantnight3513]

THANK YOU!

[@tibolcb6446]

these people were not stupid they knew that marking in caves not exposed to any sort of weather would always be there they were just like us. Who in this world like to do the same task over and over again these people were practical people just like we are today no less no more

[@christopherm5958]

Makes total sense, thanks. Never thought of that.

[@chetisanhart3457]

I'm imagining that these symbols were written all over the place but they only survived in caves.

[@matthewbooth9265]

exactly. It's easy to imagine animal skins marked with symbols outside of dwellings, wooden posts and so on. All lost to time, but the people 30k years ago, were essentially as smart and capable as we are now.

[@KennyCollins1962]

@@matthewbooth9265 not really, just knew how to survive in their time

[@matthewbooth9265]

@@KennyCollins1962 The size of the human brain hasn't really changed in as long as 300000 years. If would definately imply that they were as smart as we are now.

[@alanoranday4448]

We underestimate the technological advancements the very first civilizations had, whose reminisces have indeed been lost to time. They may have been MORE advanced than us.

[@matthewbooth9265]

@Alan Oranday Definitely not more advanced. If they'd used plastics and even been making lead...there would be clear chemical records of it to be found in the ice cores from that period. Yes we have ice cores going back hundreds of thousands of years. Modern human activity is leaving a huge mess behind it. Anything similar in the past would have done the same.

[@TheWarriorSongProject]

maybe the cave floors weren't so high 40k years ago. lotsa water could have flowed through since then and added dirt to the cave....

[@brandelgastfergandill1757]

Usually the opposite happens when water gets in caves, seismic shift could have happened.

[@shaquilleoatmeal5975]

Maybe they were extremely small people.

[@brandelgastfergandill1757]

@@shaquilleoatmeal5975 or maybe you just have one of the best names on youtube

[@gond.freecss2512]

Brandelgast Fergandilly I mean ... your name isn't too shabby at all either ;)

[@brandelgastfergandill1757]

ChunkeyMonkey xd ikr? That's coming from a guy named Brandelgast Fergandilly

[@keithmcauslan943]

I would like to pose the possibility that they were the map of the cave system. Cave systems can be very confusing but a mark that says that way to the opening would be essential.

[@andrewmantle7627]

Good observation.

[@tunguska2370]

Subway code

[@sealyoness]

As i read your comment, i immediately thought of tramp signs, the 'code of the road '.

[@nbkhafula8381]

Thank you 🙏🏿

[@szaki]

How about the hunting scenes and animal pictures? 🙄

[@Alarix246]

Just occurred to me while watching (for the second time, as I saw it few years back already): first, as little as I know, if people were equipped with only the torch (with some pitch), there would be lot of soot on the roof of the ceiling. I believe this wasn't always the case, so I'm rather thinking they used to bring the material for making the fire and lit a fire that lasted several hours. A follow-up thought is, what in the world these people do in such remote parts of caves for so long? My memory suggested a solution: for example, the Native Americans had an initiation ritual where young men on the brink of adulthood went to a remote place to keep vigil and dream and follow their dreams. When they kept vigil for several days and nights (plus ate who knows what mushrooms or herbs which could have brought the visions even more reliably and sooner), they got dreams/visions and they remembered them. Then they went back to their tribe and let their shaman know and he would help them interpret the dreams. On the basis of this, they got their warrior name, and searched for some essence of that dream and when found, prepared it and made their own "medicine" that they wore in a pouch hanging around their neck. So, what if these places were likewise the places of their young men's vigil or initiation rites? What if the pictures on the wall were the expression of their dreams and visions?

[@DavidHeizer]

Yes, and some of the rock art takes advantage of bumps and variations in the rock's surface to give it depth - I knew someone who had seen some cave paintings by candlelight, and he said the 3D animals seemed to move in the shifting light. And they were all running toward the mouth of the cave, as if all being born, along with the vision quester emerging.

[@dingusdingus2152]

Puh-leez

[@dingusdingus2152]

@@DavidHeizer it's not art

[@nothingnegative]

Burning animal marrow does not create soot. Altamira-watch this movie.

[@anonymousher0]

I wish I remembered my visions when I take mushrooms and the like. Its like I unlock the mysteries of the universe while on mushrooms, but then forget it all when I goto sleep.

[@christopherbowen2547]

The caves in SW France were like condominiums. Warm secure with high ceilings and walls to paint on the way we hang pictures. I visited Peche-Merle and was amazed by the beautiful paintings of fish horses ‘bison’ and hand prints like signatures and a river running through. A true underworld and the origin of later Styx and Homeric underworld of Classical mythology.

[@gray_foxx583]

Embellishing!!!

[@infini_ryu9461]

Turns out we were selling them very short here about them just being pieces of art for them to get hammered and stare at. We have cracked the code of at least some of the symbols. They were used to predict the time of year animals were breeding and giving birth and then they could catch them in large herds for hunting. This makes them a form of Proto-Writing, predating other forms by a whopping 10,000 yrs or more. The Magdalenian people became a crucial culture of later Europeans to come. Perhaps they were able to do this because those that came before them had domesticated dogs some 18,000 yrs earlier and would have learned their breeding habits and times they gave offspring.

[@thecitizen61]

I don't think they had to pay rent though

[@biffa1234100]

and proven as absokute fakes lol

[@TimEasterling]

All I could think about when I watched this video was "hobo" signs. Perhaps signs telling others of what benefits or dangers lurked in the surroundings, like a treasure map for a transient population. It certainly points to a certain level of awareness that separate "others" might benefit from this knowledge. I am a not at all familiar with this area of study though, so I could just be restating the obvious.

[@bernieweber4663]

Or the Underground railroad.

[@vigilantenfdl4424]

I thought this too.

[@MaSsiVeGaming1]

Exactly, or maybe an early form of documentation.

[@RoleyChiu]

I'm almost certain that one of those signs meant "Woah let's remember the time when we totally almost died fighting that mammoth."

[@fobbitoperator3620]

Fer sure man. Getting trampled by a pissed off mammoth would be a drag...

[@TheNightWatcher1385]

Or perhaps a sympathetic magic ritual done before hunting. Where some peoples believed that drawing the scene as successful before it happened would make the hunt successful.

[@pjc7729]

@@TheNightWatcher1385 That's a good idea, fits in with the power of visualization that we have.

[@SRWill64]

@@fobbitoperator3620 You would be a pancake.

[@SRWill64]

@@TheNightWatcher1385 That's very possible. I'm sure they used to do that believing it would give them good luck. What if they went and there WERE no mammoths because the herd had moved on?

[@CommittingSloth]

Man that hand print shown near the start of the video really got to me for some reason. It’s like our ancestors telling the harsh world, “We are here, and we’re here to stay.”

[@ndowroccus4168]

CommittingSloth aye, that’s what hit me too, as if they wanted to tell the futurekind that “I was here, it’s all I have to say”

[@volfan911]

...for a while."

[@maureenmeyerhoff285]

Note- 5 fingers, there were giants with 6 fingers, maneaters. See in the days of Noah by Billy crone

[@Jrome3]

How do we not know it wasn't from a teenager using a can of spray paint just a few years ago? Lol

[@sonnymery4193]

@@Jrome3 yup mot of it is probably fake af

[@boomdawg56]

I have seen petroglyphs from the Arizona and New Mexico deserts that is incredibly similar. Tick marks, deer and bison, spirals, rectangles. No cave involved and carved not painted but the symbols are the same.

[@ellenchavez2043]

Different time period....

[@elizabethshaw734]

I lived in Morocco and I married there. My husband was the only one in the family who spoke English. When he went to the store or went to work all of us communicated and laughed at the same time and knew what the other person meant even though we didn't have a common language. I had learned quite a bit of conversational Arabic a lot of it was Moroccan Arabic known as darija but his family had no even working knowledge of English. We seemed not to need it in the evenings we spent out on the porch under the family olive tree. We entertained each other and we communicated in a way that we all understood I never knew before how many symbols I could make with my hands! :-)

[@johnirby493]

The 32 symbols were standard on early keyboards.

[@junosoft]

Really?

[@theyoungsomali]

hahaha

[@wooly1950]

@@theyoungsomali Totally agree !!

[@CottonBoxer]

point/link me to the evidence to back up what you said please and thx.

[@tabletopwarrior]

That just goes without saying. Grog's version of QWERTY.

[@ronaldbest1874]

i really hoped we would see the 32 symbols more than just a peek.

[@pabrowncoatbrewer7154]

Ronald Best i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/b8/ee/6cb8eec1ef9e9338672a6a16aae39484.png

[@stevedussault2530]

the first written language happened 2.856 million years ago this planet has been cleaned 53 times that we know of that is really all you need to know to get there

[@SublimeStim]

google scholar has a free copy of her PhD paper

[@gordo6908]

@@stevedussault2530 link?

[@christopher_ecclestone]

Pause?

[@censorbleep3018]

It is possible that this is something like convergence. The symbols are often quite basic . . . triangles, circles, zigzag. These can represent mountains, the sun or moon, and lightning. These could have arisen in isolated, groups that did not contact each other. Given the limited media available, there may well be an element of inherent symbology in us . . . particularly drawing from the natural world.

[@himoffthequakeroatbox4320]

It could. But it could be aliens.

[@censorbleep3018]

@@himoffthequakeroatbox4320 You could make a fortune working for Discovery.

[@thebigpicture2032]

Not just aliens, but ancient aliens that visited in the past. That would make it more Discovery worthy.

[@terwillagermcghee4148]

Antifa did it

[@Springheel01]

" there may well be an element of inherent symbology in us" It would be fascinating to look at what children draw in primitive tribes where they are not exposed to 2D art, if any such places exist.

[@pascoett]

The comment section - while funny to read- is telling us: we’re not that far away from the cavemen...

[@knowledgeableeducation658]

Modern day human couldn't survive in a cave now we are weak

[@hottiemchot2998]

Or cavemen weren’t that far away from us... 🤯

[@peterney2402]

They were way ahead of us.

[@garethhancock8525]

I look like a caveman, but wouldn't last 5 mins in their world, I'm even scared Of The dark

[@ThomasDoubting5]

I was thinking just that very thing.

[@lyndaseager2295]

Love how she speaks, she is really clear yet passionate. Amazing so few different signs originally but back then they probably only had a limited vocabulary. Would like to hear if she has looked at the San cave art in Africa which goes back 50,000 years and is also fascinating.

[@jamesjoelholmes4541]

Super fascinating! I often wonder about the histories that occurred long before we were able to share them with future generations. Your work is so important. Thank you for sharing this!

[@andrewmantle7627]

I think it is important to back away from the idea that these people were a little dimmer than we are. I think it is important, also, to use common sense. The vertical lines engraved in the wall looked to me like somebody started sharpening needles or something similar, and others used the striations down over the years, deepening the grooves. Sometimes I think that academics get caught up in how grand their theories are and how important they are and forget that folks were just living their lives. You can't go very deep analyzing tagging on box-cars. Sometimes it's good art, and sometimes it's a person clearing out their spray-can nozzle.

[@kathleenmann7311]

Caveman graffiti 😎👍

[@Brian-pz3wh]

The simple truth is...we think we are far smarter (and "better") than we really are. This has the potential to be disastrous.

[@musicloverlondon6070]

Interesting comment. I doubt if we'll ever really know the exact meanings behind these images and so everything's up for interpretation. Academic speculation is always interesting as long as it's recognised that it is just that - speculation. This was a fascinating lecture though.

[@HelenaMikas]

@@Brian-pz3wh how right you are.Arrogance is the word .

[@Brian-pz3wh]

@@f4fake Sounds like you have a serious inferiority complex. My experience has always been that you know yourself best and if you think you are a pos so be it.

[@brandongentry8510]

Thank you for taking the time to explore and document these early artworks. I'd also like to thank you for doing the presentation. Great information and very interesting...

[@lcagee]

There has been great evolution in the written language. From 32 symbols written on cave walls in Spain 5000 years ago to the modern era, when man can post stupid comments to videos on KZbin. 5000 years from now, some archeologist will unearth an I phone. But he will not be able to see the stupid comment because the battery will be dead.

[@GraverFILMS]

lcagee Or they'll see the stupid comment but be unable to translate it and think it has some profound deep meaning like those butt prints on that cave wall

[@jampir8571]

واقعا چرا اینجوری شده چرا چرا چرا؟

[@brittanybrown3471]

Good thing the NSA downloads everything put on the internet ever and stores it on their servers

[@mzmadmike]

+Graver: If they ARE butt prints, and they might be, that's certainly relevant to understanding our concept of humor.

[@GraverFILMS]

Mike Williamson Well if it is, it definitely shows that our humour hasn't changed much, which humour in itself is a complexity to begin with. We might be able to reason that they had around the same mental capacity that we do today, although there's not enough data to obviously conclude that but it's an interesting thought.

[@4stronaut]

These people were nomadic wanderers. There are some things all wanderers need to know - where locally to find food, shelter, medicine, women to name a few. Whether it was caves, or at the shores of distant ports, or more modern hobo symbology, cross-language boundaries were broken with symbols that represented the basic needs that could be found/fulfilld in the area.

[@cadenrolland5250]

That's what they used to think. Then why'd they crawl a half kilometer to start a sketch of it? It is way way WAY out of the way. Then why also make the symbols so abstract when you could convey so much more by basic realistic drawings. These days there is the popular idea that the drawing have religious / spiritual meanings.

[@fig4159]

Caden Rolland Truth: They haven't got a clue! But, they've gotta have "a theory"; one that they can write papers on, teach classes about, apply for grants to go to the sites to study them, etc. Otherwise, they're outta work, outta funds (and might have to get REAL jobs).

[@ericzuellig8631]

@@cadenrolland5250 None of these cave systems are exactly the same as they were thousands of years ago. Finding skeletons buried, let's say for the sake of argument 10 meters deep, would mean that the cave floor itself was lower and that debris/dust/dirt had accumulated during the intervening millennia. Cave collapses/changes due to weather or quake could drastically change the inner topography of a cave system. Second point: some abstract symbols could be related to the drawings themselves, even if just simple counters; a picture of a horse accompanied by 20 dots could mean a herd of specific size, or an extrapolation of size generally understood by the presence of those markings, not necessarily even a specific head count. If they were nomadic, perhaps they were keeping tallies from year to year as they traveled through the region again. Of course this is all speculation, but there are theories that can be applied.

[@barneysdad9193]

Fascinating. Great to hear someone speak so knowledgeably and with such enthusiasm. Great talk. Thank you.

[@brycetsawyer]

Much of what we need to know is lost forever. Under water, completely destroyed, hidden on purpose, or lost in translation. I hope we further work on Gobecki Tepe.

[@chinpowrada]

At least we know where atlantis is.

[@united.humans.organization4968]

Let's create a new world for our children ourselves. Knowing ourselves is the key to find the truth.The way to self-realization was not closed after the Buddha or any other prophet. I wanted to find it and found it within myself and now it is everywhere. Now I just wish to give it back to our world. I invite you all to come to United Humans Organization- www.unitedhumansorganization.webs.com and change the course of our education system and market oriented economy. Markets and money were made for humans and not the humans for the markets and money. Everything we really need to find is within us.It just needs a good dive within.

[@kc9kel]

yeppers. can't wait until we find Edgar Cayce's golden plates, supposedly under the Sphinx but I bet Zahi Hawass (sp?) confiscated 'em. personally...I don't think we is from here originally. how long would it take for one race to become five? (is five, yes?). go look up Earthfiles here, Linda Howe did three segments on Antarctica + black sun. Underground ancient granite self-sustaining structures. WE sure dint build 'em.

[@ronaldstarkey4336]

Which way is the dumpster... lol

[@laikapupkino1767]

Theyre hobo signs ("Mean cops in this town") ("Nice Lady lives here") left by hobo sapiens

[@kth5077]

Laika Pupkino ... hobo sapiens..??

[@tonyharrisson6823]

😂😂😂

[@DrPeter0]

Great pun!!!

[@rosskstar]

I see you won the internet some 10 months ago. Has the excitement worn off yet?

[@laikapupkino1767]

HUH??? I don't remember posting this.

[@MikeRochac]

It’s up to Weyland-Yutani to fund an expedition to find out what the engravings mean.

[@nj1255]

Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well! 😉 I thought the whole comment section would be about Prometheus/Alien to be honest!

[@garyclark6281]

Very similar to "hobo codes" found on rail cars, telephone poles, peoples front gates, to let other "Bo's" know where to get some handouts, or bad watchdogs, generous housewives, and other stuff.

[@marcomolinero5877]

I think some of it is marking what types of prey and where to find good water and prime hunting around the area of each cave. I think it would be a good idea if she were to bring an established Hunter to some of these sites. The hunter would know what areas are prime spots for hunting and other spots are prime for "spotting" prey. They probably evolved into more abstract forms when they wanted to keep information from other tribes. Those trees to me look like a way of saying summer and winter. So conclusion to me is time, place, identity of prey.

[@GargoylGirl]

Ripley agrees!!!

[@beyondrecall9446]

@@GargoylGirl not again!

[@ceebee4750]

THANK YOU for rigorously documenting these geometric shapes. What an oversight that it has not been done. Great job.

[@nishantmishra5643]

She has a therapeutic voice, I can listen to her podcast every night before going to sleep.

[@nishantmishra5643]

@Lee Smith maybe. Or maybe some of us like good bedtime stories.

[@P3L0745]

I also find her very sexy

[@ozanoutcast]

@@P3L0745 beautiful in a modest way

[@marcosfarret6127]

She has a beautiful face.

[@timothye5936]

Prehistoric cave art is awesome...I’m gonna paint the basement.

[@SiiriCressey]

Pictures, please!

[@rodicapopescu2038]

agreed !! :D

[@richardschneider4775]

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa notes from the man cave,....................no Bud Lite allowed.............haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@liviamoreira8938]

Deep respect for this woman's work.

[@liviamoreira8938]

Lol, whacko

[@PoliticalJohn]

Lívia Moreira No, seriously, what do you respect about her? Her vacuous nature, the ambivalence she has to her work, her ineptitude when it comes to peer-review?

[@liviamoreira8938]

LOL. jesus

[@justsomenuts]

+John Redman go take a weak in nature, or put together a puzzle. You sound very angry about something incredibly ridiculous. All that stress isn't good for you.

[@liviamoreira8938]

Merry Christmas, Hannukah, all of them nice holidays, everyone. Just chill. In a cave, if you will. LOL Bye

[@sealyoness]

As an artist, amateur historian and very amateur archeologist, I so envy those who have this privilege of studying this puzzle!

[@manyBlessings2all]

How about bypassing your envy and contact some of those people such as this friendly-looking lady and see if you can be included somehow, as you share her passion and interest.. dream big and go for it!

[@FORANWFS]

u sir are a buffoon

[@mnomadvfx]

@@manyBlessings2all Or just go and do what she did - see the caves and stuff for yourself. The records were thread bare before she thoroughly recorded the known sites.

[@smileyp4535]

@@mnomadvfx ah yes, let me just use all this money I don't have and start galivanting around the world. It should be that easy but it's not, it's not impossible either tho but you really have to be in the right place at the right time with the right degree for a lot of this

[@leonardodalongisland]

"Privilege"????? It has nothing to do with this over used word. She and her husband (obviously) work very hard to do what they do. Hard work ain't no "privilege."---from a fellow artist, amateur historian :)

[@vitsavicky]

This is why I am so damn proud to be human. We create things, we have crazy ideas about how things could be and we are capable of learning. Too bad most humans would rather forget and just watch TV when there's so much potential just waiting to be unleashed.

[@augustomaroja7395]

+Vít Savický 'we created all

[@ameliagryffon7097]

+nolove4thuglife why do you use all caps so much?

[@ShadowinaCave]

+Vít Savický Well said! Unfortunately, we've also created social media, where people seem to think anything they don't already know about is worthless and that their uninformed opinion is as significant and valuable as the attempts to understand of someone working full-time in that field. I support your pride, but there's despair as well.

[@augustomaroja7395]

We do not hear each other..social media is a way to say something to somebody...

[@Wayoutthere]

+nolove4thuglife Hou je mond idioot. Het nadeel van het Internet dat village-idiots nu ook een podium hebben terwijl ze vroeger met pek en de veren het drop werden uitgetrapt.

[@daledelatte9607]

It's very obvious that there were fully written languages and mathematics at least 9,000 to 15,000 years ago. We have structures around the world that attest to that. These monuments weren't constructed with only verbal communication

[@evetsnitram8866]

We have libraries and museums, they had caves to preserve their language and knowledge base.

[@illuminated2438]

Dale DeLatte very true, and mainstream academia will not recognize this fact simply because those earliest of builders and writers and mathematicians were white.

[@jpkjnn6733]

@@illuminated2438 huh? What are you suggesting? A world wide, ongoing conspiracy where racism of some kind trumps science and truth? And that literally everyone, millions of people, buy into it? That's a special kind of stupid you rarely see these days.

[@ronaldstarkey4336]

Might not be special... how do you say"get whitey"in cave language... lol

[@jojob.9689]

Or something/someone gave them that knowledge/helped....

[@WhatTheHellRachelle]

In the mid 1990’s, my husband and I owned an import and export business (home and garden decor). I designed several of our items and we had them manufactured in China. On one of the many trips I took to China, we were at a factory in the mid-northern part of China far away from any cities, save for a very small village which had no infrastructure (running water, electricity, paved roads) except for the factory which had electricity from a large generator and cold tap water along with one “outhouse” with a hole in the ground). There were mountains around us that had wide long steps carved into the sides of the mountains over centuries. These steps were used as apple orchards. When I had finished my portion of business, my translator and I went up to the orchards, which were maintained by 1 old man who lived in a very small shack (smaller than an average household bathroom). He picked up a flashlight and told us to follow him. He took us to a cave and as we got further back, we were crouching to fit the passage way. He shined the light on the walls and ceiling of the cave and there were so many drawings, nothing I could understand though (and no writing or numbers), they were extremely primitive drawings. He told us that no one knew about these caves and the drawings, no academia had ever studied them. I was in awe. My translator took several pictures of them and later transferred them to a floppy disk and gave me the disk before leaving. Unfortunately, the floppy disk ended up getting sand in it (I have no idea how) and my pictures were lost forever. Still, the experience was incredible and one I’m grateful to have enjoyed. I often wonder if the caves were ever studied (I can’t find anything online about them).

[@HairepyRoots]

Thank for sharing... That was like a very interesting short story...

[@mcgraw8098]

You had your designs made in a factory in China with no running water and a generator? What age were the small children you had making them?

[@konstantinethegr8]

The people who painted the cave work in that factory

[@realitywins6457]

Do you remember the name of the town in China, or anything more specific? I bet there's a researcher who'd be interested or knows something more

[@zachsimon5587]

Yeah.... me too

[@johnfairchild3421]

Decades Ago I visited caves All over the world. I am not trained in this field ( but I knew then it was Very Very important to Document all of the signs symbols from everyone in the whole world and put the pictures in a study guide. Aka Book for future reference and study something draws me to believe we will someday figure all of it out and we need to know Why as A Human we are Naturally curious. I know I got a double dose of curiosity. Anyway our very existence may depend on finding out what our Ancestors were trying to tell us

[@ritakonig1891]

You are right when you say that we need to find out more about our ancestors, but what we also need to do is questioning what is being put in front of us. Asking who found this? How was it done? When was it done? And mostly: REALLY? Not all that we can see is real and not all reality is visible. I like to think that many things we see have a different function; ie distract, divert, deceive and covering up the real meaning behind it. There are things that are shown via touristic leaders and when you stray from their path, you find the machinations that made this a new industry to draw people in for monetary purposes for instance. Just look deeper into the pyramids... or other topics.

[@charis128]

The paintings were done by the ancient Basque people (southern France & northern Soain) living in caves during the ice age. The outside world was inhospitable. In Basque mythology, heaven was a warm place under the ground. Spirits of the dead came from underground through the tunnels to visit the living. The living kept them at bay by always having a fire lit at the entrance to the cave. The cave paintings are messages to the dead, requests for a good hunt, etc. They were done by the women. They were in the farthest reaches of the tunnels so the spirits of the dead could see them.

[@buddydig1]

im Basque 100% my moms side. ya, its all a tale. I know family history.

[@nyakwarObat]

@@buddydig1 as in fairy tale?

[@fredriks5090]

Shelter means survival. We were once just one among many predators. There are also myths and legends about raining fire, which may very well be true regarding increased radiation and more intense meteor showers.

[@themechanictangerine]

Basques don't back more than 3500 years

[@joeycollee]

What an amazing job she has. Getting to see the first steps of becoming a thinking Human. Thank you so much for you effort, truly amazing and deserving of respect.

[@lesbooth9454]

Joe C Terence McKenna stoned ape Theory read the book or listen to the audio book and you will see why some of these drawings in the caves got pretty crazy different types of bees and sacred geometry type shapes

[@scavenger4704]

These people were already thinking humans. 50, 000 years is not enough for one species to transition into another, these people were the same thing you are. And it's not like we are that special either, Neanderthals were using complex chemical reactions to produce a kind of superglue for their tools 200, 000 years ago. Abstract thought goes waaay back still. So show some respect.

[@banditboyism]

Nothing amazing going on here. You can't have a real discussion about this without mentioning the role extraterrestrials played in our "evolution". The majority of those cave paintings had images of spacemen in suits and various flying craft.

+1

[@matthewhorizon6050]

Les Booth, although fascinating, not many experts and academics perscribe to the stoned ape theory. Plus, the idea that ingesting psilocybin in the volumes suggested by Terrence are rather copious. Plus, its just a wild leap of speculation to think our minds grew and developed, due to new senaptic pathways being formed in this manner. Its cool, but highly unlikely.

[@tsbrownie]

So humans were originally limited to 32 emojis?

[@Eli9A]

+tsbrownie ahahaha XD

[@sophie_real]

+tsbrownie They had to wait 25,000 years for the next iPhone, so they were stuck with them, unfortunately.

[@carlw]

That's funny but you're correct. Everything cycles!!!! Please God don't let flares/bell-bottoms return.

[@ashleychambers1333]

Lol

[@NoahStolee]

+tsbrownie Or in other words, we're basically becoming cavemen again with emojis.lol

[@vomeronasal]

Things you write on cave walls are also very easy to quickly sketch in dirt, sand, or snow. Thus, much innovation was likely allowed to develop, and spread far beyond the mouths of the caves where we find them now.

[@Subnautica21600]

You call them cave men, I call them survivors of a cataclysmic event :)

[@tonymcchicken1993]

Yup that is about what my math is adding up to as well....

[@giespouwen8091]

Yes proven cataclysmic event around 10000 years ago by meteor impact or solar flare outburst probably the first one since they recently found the crater of the impact dating 10000 years ago

[@jomalone8301]

@@giespouwen8091 where is the crater?

[@jomalone8301]

@@forestcaine thanks for replying dude. Yeah I did some searching and did find that out. Through Graham Hancock. That guy seems to be all over it. 😉

[@clutch1141]

Yeah, there was an ice age. It's not a guarded secret. Where you're being silly is in asserting that there was an advanced society.

[@patriciahawks1511]

I had no trouble understanding her, and I thoroughly enjoyed the talk. Very informative.

[@lisavokorina6989]

To any one with a background in linguistics that makes a lot of sense. I am sorry some people here just miss the point. How do you expect her to give answers to such fundamental questions? It might take decades before we have a cohesive story of how human mind, speech and writing evolved.

[@infolord79]

She has made a career out of trying to answer a particular, fundamental, question. Why is it that wonder why some seek answers (even tentative ones) from her? Are you just trolling or are you of the mindset that "muh patriarchy" should sum up her analysis?

[@humblesentiments1553]

Exactly, we haven't even confirmed Chomsky's LAD yet, we are still stuck to hypotheses when it comes to human language let alone questions like these.

[@CastelDawn]

grow up kid

[@oscarbright8218]

Godfrey Jemand We do it so in thousands of years when every trace of the past has rotted away, we'll know where we came from. And that's important

[@bighands69]

+Lisa Vokorina How do you know that the symbols are linguistic in nature? Maybe they are a system of counting or they are not just some very rudimentary artistic expression. Some of the most basic symbols are squares and triangles. The argument that they are present over a geographical spread does not mean they are not doodles.

[@deeliciousplum]

Even during the opening few lines, I cannot but smile at the TED-like manner of presenting an interesting topic. TED Talks may have fed our hunger for exploring and for learning. The cost for this was the TED-ification of its speakers.

[@leokorn1629]

It is very different from everything i have heard of so far.

[@haroldwilkes6608]

When you're social distanced in an ice age, you doodle.

[@autumnjea]

😷😋😁

[@silentgrove7670]

I am doing the same thing at this time, doodling.

[@jennifereubank3168]

😄 true!

[@haroldwilkes6608]

@Peter Evans When you have the credentials to make a statement like this, cite them, otherwise, remain silent please.

[@haroldwilkes6608]

@Peter Evans Cite them.

[@vallangaard]

I wish she would have gone in more in depth into the symbols themselves, but still very interesting. Good video! But when she asked 'why was someone in that low ceiling cave? It got me to thinking: So here are my theories in no particular order: 1. Defense would be a logical use for caves [One way in/out, defensible while eliminating flank assaults] 2. Protection from the most extreme or hostile elements [Heatwave, tornadoes, etc] 3. Since most caves are a near constant cool temperature depending on proximity to the equator. In most cases it would have been a good place to assist in the preservation of food. [it would spoil more slowly there, removed from the sun, pests, etc] 4. We all strive to have 'a place to call home', so what better choice than one pre-made and [in most cases] impervious to the elements 5. And lets not forget the coolest things about caves.... man! what an echo!

[@haidijerlstrom6619]

Just the echo effect yeesh what better invention for a child to have the superhero dad teach them how to do in their younger years screw the huge BAT POPULATION HANGING AROUND FLUTTERING WEVE HEARD SO MANY TIME AIM STRAIGHT FOR OUR HAIR IF ITS NOT WASHED CLEAN BY GRANDPARENTS!!!!!! YA SCREW EM LISTEN TO THE OLD MAN HAVE A SECOND VOICE COMING NACK SAYING HELLO TO US THIS IS MUCH COOLER. IM STILL SMIRK8NG THANK UPU SIR ILL LAY DOWN TONIGHT REMEMBERING MAMMOTH CAVE KENKUCKY ANF CAVES IN NORTHERN MINNRSOTA. LATER IN MY TEENS THE BATS GOT THEIR FAIR SHARE AFTER THE FACT SO DID CLAUSTRAPHOBIA IM NO LONGER A CAVE EXPLPLORER. THATS FOR REST OF THE WORLD

[@judgedbytime]

They had no internet bruh.

[@Zashorigin]

Why all the dislikes???... what people were expecting?... I don't care about others but I find this fascinating. Thanks for the great work!

[@JAllenKaiser]

Because it's titled: "Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe?" - and over 12 minutes of video later, there is zero answer as to "why" ...only that there are 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe. The video doesn't even begin to answer the question it asks, so it's a misleading waste of time. ​When you're a researcher, it's your JOB to answer the questions you ask. Scientists don't publish papers or give lectures when all they have are questions. That's less than even the *first* step of forming a hypothesis...That makes this TED talk all fluff with no substance whatsoever.

[@cabbagehead952]

+Zashorigin Because this is just speculation. There isn't enough information in the archaeological record to make sense of these "32 symbols". They span thousands of years and thousands of miles and there's a very good possibility that any similarities are coincidental. Of course we'll probably never know.

[@Zashorigin]

Cabbage Head Neveetheless, any discovery takes time and because they don´t know everything, like nobody knows everything from those times and there´s always speculation, future generations might be able to know and even if they don´t know much more, it´s still fascinating.

[@factanonverba7547]

+Zashorigin they are mras that downvote any video with a woman in it or in the titile.

[@givebirthathome9806]

+Zashorigin It is fascinating---for one thing, we got to see more of the actual art, and for another, we found out "the state of the art"---that no one had even catalogued the geometrical signs until now.

[@hypsyzygy506]

Spoken language and graphic representation almost certainly develop alongside each other. "Tree dawn hunt" has a clear meaning and can be represented in three signs. Everything else is embellishment, even in spoken language.

[@brenkelly8163]

Spoken language’s development can be traced back to the brain growth, as that explosive growth involved language processing centers growth in tandem with cognitive prefrontal cortex growth at a rate faster then the normal evolutionary female reproductive system could keep up, making it too difficult for female to give birth to a self sustaining and mobile child. This development took places thousands of years before any written language came about in a sustained ideographic manner.

[@gaz8891]

Are you sure about them developing alongside ? I heard from another film that language only developed about 5000 years, and it developed from a type of chanting. If this is true, then the written graphics would have been our earliest form of communication, apart from body language and exclamatory grunts, and LONG pre-dated speech. And you say that "Tree dawn hunt" has a clear meaning, but I don't understand it ! Was that a typo ? Did you mean "Pre dawn hunt" ?

[@SendyTheEndless]

10:00 (a) Bird (b) Bird doing ballet (c) Bird on LSD

[@madeinuk68]

Very funny! Thanks you have just made my day.

[@davidcunningham2984]

+SquareWaveHeaven lol bird brain on drugs

[@this_mfr]

+SquareWaveHeaven (c) Bird doing ballet *on* LSD perhaps?

[@vladbcom]

+SquareWaveHeaven (d) a starving African bird

[@Oldmanseenalot]

lol

[@BrianWood]

This is a great talk. I love to hear what drives people to discover new things. I think it must be incredible to spend time inside these places.

[@miklas-dj9kd]

When I'm in a cave, I often find myself wondering: "Why am I in a cave? This is 2015"

[@janelle_is_artsy]

lol

[@writerconsidered]

+miklas1911 just to make it clear, We all live in caves now. Hand built caves.

[@janelle_is_artsy]

+writerconsidered You make it sound so fancy. ..

[@miklas-dj9kd]

+writerconsidered That's some deep stuff. Makes you wonder. I often wonder: "Why am I in a hand-built cave?"

[@writerconsidered]

+ThatOneJay123 Well it is an upgrade from cave 1.0 to like cave 12.0

[@62Cristoforo]

We wouldn’t be the first people to “discover” these examples of cave art. Something inscribed in a cave 10,000 years ago would’ve likely been discovered a few years after it was written down, and then a decade later, and then a thousand years later again, and so on. Perhaps this is how the graphic ‘lingo’ spread across the Eurasian continent.

[@larryboone2216]

10,000 yrs from now When trains and subways are discovered crushed and buried By plate tectonic Some archeologists will be making same speech about graffiti.

[@caitlinkelly7687]

Larry Boone the planet won’t live that long at this rate sadly

[@johnrogan9420]

Lol...the 32 signs might be just be railroad hobo signs from 30000bc

[@budgiecat9039]

@@caitlinkelly7687 Sentient A.I. android people will be studying the 'lost human civilization that created us'

[@colin8663]

@@howard5989 jeez even thanos wouldn't have taken it that far

[@czlowiekgregor9022]

Yeah and also graffiti have an deeper meaning and understanding to it

[@jrivers0005]

She is GORGEOUS and thicker than a bowl of oatmeal! I could listen to her talking about cave drawings all day!

[@remisteele8904]

Preach

[@drunkeneagleman51]

And then draw in her cave at night. Yeah?

[@drsnova7313]

To be honest, I find the idea that those signs would likely come from a common origin a bit far-fetched. Most shapes are so simple and based on natural things that I'd say it's perfectly possible for them to have emerged independently of each other - a line, a hand, a bird in flight, a smile, an eye, etc. If there were common combinations of signs that can be found in many places, that would be something entirely different.

[@tbnzet]

Some of the signs are definitely not simple or common symbols of things in nature, like the asterisk, crosshatch, cruciform, pectiform, segmented cruciform, scalariform, zigzag, spiral, tectiform, etc. If it were easy for them to have emerged across thousands of miles, cultures/tribes, and thousands of years, without any form of communication over distances. Then why are more modern written languages and symbols not more similar?

[@kimthetruthofit6965]

N.W.O Our battle is not with flesh and blood! Aliens are revealed in the Holy Shroud of Turin First image wears Crown like an Eagle Second is wearing a Crown of Righteousness Third image has HORNS in its head NOT HIGHLIGHTED is above cup image look for two grey aliens of different species Aliens are also demons. The Great Deception of Mankind is well underway. THIS KNOWLEDGE is our strength for if we know our enemy we will not be deceived by our enemies MOST IMPORTANTLY IT reveals the truth of life itself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ He is the Saviour and reigns over ALL the dimensions on the Universe God bless you time is short kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZjVYqeqodp9opY

[@tbnzet]

@@kimthetruthofit6965 Even if that actually is the shroud of Turin, none of the extra images you show are there, it's just shadows and blobs. Why do you have to make your religion and the bible try to describe everything? The bible has been composed of many different older stories. There is truth in the bible, but also a lot of fabrication. Ancient knowledge is much older than Christ. He was probably real and an enlightened being, but many have come before him. Try to open your mind and look to cultures much older than the bible. Also, aliens are not inherently evil, as they probably had a hand in creating humans via genetic engineering. Many ancient cultures across the world have depicted their gods as non-humans coming down from the skies (space).

[@62pnpn]

@@tbnzet Fancy names for common shapes in nature..just think about the fractals of a fern leaf or snowflakes..a crosshatch is used over animal trapping pits etc. Not difficult.

[@adrienperie6119]

These are depictions of plasma instabilities caused by major solar events.

[@emmahardesty4330]

These are maps and messages among varied people without language. Yep. Not art--they just happen to be beautiful to us today.

[@TR4zest]

Some of the animal depictions are so obviously art.

[@mtlicq]

perhaps prehistoric "newspapers" or "history books" or hierarchy/or strategic position charts, early "abacuses" --- why just ärt?

[@nicholasfudge523]

...sharing is caring.....💕🙏...thanks for putting yourself out there....may you continue to have the energy and freedom to inform, educate and enlighten 🙏✨

[@kegginstructure]

While the stories have many stylistic flaws, Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series interestingly described the culture that Genevieve described from her different viewpoint. If you assume wide-ranging human migration, if the artists migrated, their art could be reproduced at many places and that would account for the scope of her findings.

[@raecrow9548]

Love that series....

[@metacomet2066]

Clan of the Cave Bear... my fav movie!

[@styx53ocean]

I'm currently reading the last book in the series, "The Land of Painted Caves." Considering all the research that goes into writing her books, I wonder if she believes the cave art is an early form of writing.

[@ravenousfire7798]

Earliest human trolling. "Spray paint your butt on Grog's wall." Archeologist: "These are complex thinkers, evolving highly developed communication skills to stay alive..."

[@mzmadmike]

Actually, if we determine that is a butt print--and lots of us see that it could be--that tells us we have continuity of sense of humor about certain subjects.

[@emperorpenguin448]

hehehehehehehehehehe

[@animistchannel2983]

"The rest of the party often consults Grog for his expertise on shapes and colors." -- Grog Strongjaw, goliath barbarian

[@johnsamu]

Grog also invented a drink called "Grog" 😅

[@ravenousfire7798]

johnsamu "He was a craftsman and always laughed at a good joke." - Grog's Headstone

[@larsrons7937]

Thank you for an interesting lecture. 6:43 - The 32 symbols.

[@harlitherainingwolf7289]

The question in the title was not addressed during the lecture.

[@vthings001]

Thanks. You just saved me 12 minutes. Good grief, I hate the story-telling approach of TED. Just get to the damn point already.

[@skizzytheerealest]

You can tell she practiced Her speech word by word like 50 times. She sounds like a robot

[@JNF-SATX]

Breezy Most speakers at TED do. I found out one guy practiced it 200 times. Considering most ppl are terrible at public speaking it makes sense

[@Adexter23]

she sounded nervous.

[@Adexter23]

yes it was. they believe thats all there was

[@mr.bojangles3005]

Tagging goes way back.

[@estellepatella2520]

Maybe those caves weren't filled with sand when the images were created. Maybe there were high walls back then.

[@fool2_ship57]

That Would Mean They Had Already Invented 'Scaffolding', Perhaps They Already Knew About the 'MATRIX' & Could Fly ! ? Besides , It Was Just a 'Fill in the Dots Toddlers Art Studio ? The' Original 'Little People' Maybe ? - ALICE , Following the 'MAD HATTER' ? - Dropped His 'Pipe', & It Rolled Deeper & Deeper ? - The 'Primordial Psych' Painting his 'Girl Friend' as the "BEAST" with HORNs ? DE'JA VU ?

[@Tigresafire]

Makes you also wonder. If the sand wasn’t there, what would be buried underneath it.

[@goodingwashington6099]

or they were hiding there from much bigger animals ...

[@bigderekkeene]

Only humans have taken communication to another level? Wrong. Orca have mastered communication to an arguably equal level and have even been shown to have regional languages. That is to say Orca from one area of the globe would be unable to understand orca from another like an English speaker would be unable to understand someone from a foreign country

[@ESDELDUR]

@@bigderekkeene this is fascinating, thanks lots for sharing! sure is as humans we still took language to a whole new planet i would say

[@drzafarullah76]

She and her husband toiled to capture and analyse them. Laudable effort indeed.

[@WorksopGimp]

They don't do it for free, big grants I guess

[@thebigpicture2032]

You don’t get huge grants for this type of work.

[@johnreeves5914]

Paint that lasted 40k years is impressive for cavemen. They're maps, not art imo. Constellations

[@JediMobius]

It's likely that different inscriptions had different purposes, but that's an excellent suggestion of a possibility which might be overlooked.

[@victorradley435]

Yeah that's why they're in caves and hard to get to places.

[@michaelkovtuschenko2206]

Oh god she said pronoun, everyone run to your safespaces, put your pink hair on and get your sjw spears out lol... on a serious Note we as a species need to stop making everthing all about just ourselves and whether or not we are offended by words of a stranger, violating rights of another so you get your way or making the most money And come together as a whole and figure out what all These monolithic structures Are and lost civilizations are all about...i fear its a look Into our future. They either Made them using dinosaurs Are Aliens by the BILLIONS Just showed up and landed everywhere...They will return and its said that the time is overdue. We need to Be ready or all are doomed

[@J4TiDotCom]

Current paint wont last couple years.

[@fool2_ship57]

'Paint' , Back Then Was 'Made in the USA', by 'OCRA PEOPLE' , Not 'Chinese . . .

[@cheayunju]

I read a paper that looked at the abstractions as entopics, or kind of built-in shape perceptions experienced when humans see things in darkness or hallucinate. There seems to be patterns and shapes that emerge from the physical eye itself and the visual cortex when the visual stimuli is not sufficient (darkness, mental impairment) or sufficient enough to easily decode from memory. To me, this suggest that the abstract symbolic writing systems that represent spoken utterance might have derived from a creative use of these naturally occurring entopic images.

[@MotokoBlaugrana]

By any chance, do you have a link where I can read about it? Thanks

[@bertanewton2271]

Entoptic phenomena

[@shaunclark425]

ACTUALLY PEOPLE WERE SPEAKING FROM THE START.. THEIR PROBLEM WASNT SPEACKING BUT NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY WERE TOLD...

[@oscarbright8218]

Shaun Clark Let me guess... told by TEH LORDD?

[@aluq3769]

Im interested too.

[@yadigjamesgang-xs7jj]

Sign, sign, everywhere are signs. Blocking out the scenery and blowing my mind.

[@earthlingjohn]

Do this Don't do that Can't you read the sign

[@fobbitoperator3620]

Not "blocking out," but telling the past stories of the scenery. Mind blown!

[@stevemcqueen1096]

So I got me a pen and a paper, and I made up my own little sign. Thank you Lord for thinking 'bout me. I'm alive and doing fine.

[@stevemcqueen1096]

@james kenyon I thought so too. I couldn't resist.

[@stevemcqueen1096]

@james kenyon My first name is Steve and all my friends gave me various famous last names throughout the years. Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Steve McQueen, etc. Like em all but settled on McQueen.

[@Doodlebug48]

Very interesting talk. Can't wait to hear more from you as you decifer more. Thank You, from Texas!

[@DarinHibbs1]

Made me curious...but didn't explain the 32 shapes.

[@realdiamondshow]

We'll...that's because she doesn't know! Er....., hello???

[@awfullyawful]

John Hylton Hi! 👋

[@jackroller8237]

Darin Hibbs , that's because she needs the money first....

[@DegreesOfThree]

The Thunderbolts Project explains the shapes. Most of the symbols are drawings of cometary (plasma) phenomena which they're seeing in the sky. That's why there's uniformity in the symbols across vast distances. The Chinese have something similar called the broom star catalogue. (Broom star = comet)

[@padd6007]

That's the point my man. It's to get you thinking.

[@Nightowl_IT]

Maybe they did not crawl. Look at the soil on the ground.

[@spellingquestionable]

Please explain what your intuitive (?) remark.

[@Nightowl_IT]

@@spellingquestionable Maybe there wasn't that much earth in the cave? Maybe it got flooded with mud?

[@danmeyers708]

Caves do fill with sediment and debri over time not necessarily that long .

[@DementedCaver]

I'm pretty sure that folks crawled in at least some of those areas even way back then. Perhaps the caves seemed no more harsh to them back then than the above ground world....perhaps even less so. For many the underground at that time was considered a holy place to the nature based religions and in a sense they would go that extra mile to get closer to God essentially.

[@tharp769]

I noticed that too. I thought maybe the cave(s) filled w/water & earth when the ice melted. It was the ice age. Hmm.

[@idfy2599]

If I wanted my "art" to survive, I would keep it from vandals and the elements. So putting it deep in a cave would be an ideal choice. Maybe they were the scholars of their day.

[@gungatim6630]

Love that thought. I bet you're right.

[@48956l]

Why would you put art in quotes?

[@alrightyru]

European cave art is the main part of the final book, seventh I think, of the Jean Auel book series Clan of the Cave Bear. Ayla finds the scholars and caves. I read the book a few years ago :)

[@idfy2599]

@@48956l some people might not think of it as art. Some think of it as a story. So I meant it as whatever you decide the pictures are to the individuals who view them.

[@48956l]

@@idfy2599 It's a visual depiction created by a human, few people would say that isn't art. Art can tell a story, they're not mutually exclusive. Things can have multiple classifications.

[@danielhanawalt4998]

Very interesting video. The origins of art and the written word. Enjoyed this very much.Thank you TED and Genevieve von Petzinger.

[@ldn0224]

Having seen some of this Europe and many in the southwest the similarities are unmistakable.

[@seanmcdonald5859]

If you went into that cave and slithered along with inches between the ceiling and floor . . . . . You are braver than me.

[@patrickOboyle]

Maybe the signs were something like.. An "i was here" sign. Like..today. Extreme sports like redbull stuff..but back then..the extreme sport was seeing how deep in a cave you could travel..and then leave your signature to say you were there? Just a theory.

[@mzmadmike]

It's certainly possible some of it are tribal recognitions and markings for supplies. The Inuit do that with inukshuk--rock cairns that, depending on shape, mark a shelter, a route, or emergency supplies. It's possible caves were holy sites and these are tribal markings, or the line of dots might represent the number of people in a group that visited, and some of the other abstracts may reference supplies left in a well-traveled area. "Smut's people were here, left 10 spearheads. Please replace any you use. See you next winter." That could be expressed in a coded form with 3 symbols and some dots, if the intent was understood.

[@mzmadmike]

BTW, to be pedantic, you don't have a theory, you have a concept. If the concept can be tested it becomes an hypothesis. If it is tested further and can't be readily disproven, it becomes a theory.

[@wombat2248]

Hoop T. Coupe I had a flashback to the film Arrival when she showed a short sentence on a board and the methods employed to understand its meaning and if we didn’t how easy it would be to misinterpret what’s being said and that’s just trying to decipher another human language . If we ever have first contact hopefully they are far enough advanced to make communication possible . Very interesting video .

[@JohnWilliams-gp6ec]

A rite of passage into manhood, perhaps?

[@danL1011]

MW: "you have a concept." Concept can mean a lot of things that do not involve speculation. At the very least, we have a conjecture. But you are correct about being pedantic. ;-) From Wikipedia: Scientific theories are the most reliable, rigorous, and comprehensive form of scientific knowledge,[4] in contrast to more common uses of the word "theory" that imply that something is unproven or speculative (which is better characterized by the word hypothesis).[5] In light of the fact that "theory" was used and not "scientific theory", it would be far safer to assume the writer meant the common usage of the word.

[@mrsscattycathy]

A fascinating talk. I am and have been always fascinated by signs especially cave art. Can you imagine how much cave art is still hidden around the world. Thank you.

[@Subnautica21600]

The truth is stranger than fiction. I recommend the works of Randall Carlson to get the big picture.

[@pieterpost1224]

@JESSE B kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ-Whoeuo7uZms0

[@pieterpost1224]

@JESSE B sean hross

[@jumpingship1362]

No crawling for artist. Mud flowed in at some point. Especially if cave has a lower point. But why didn't the moisture dissolve the art ?

[@sideeggunnecessary]

Maybe there were caves that had their paintings eroded for the reason you mentioned, and only a select few caves just happened to have used a pigment that resisted moisture, or a cave that resisted weathering from the outside particularly well.

[@greekphotographer1]

simple, most caves at some point isolated from outside world, no water, even air came through !!!! entrances discovered by chance, eartquakes, etc..

[@murataht]

I am still waiting for the next episode of this talk !

[@maryfountain4202]

They were travelling, from what I recall the earliest known skeletal remains in Spain/Portugal are thought to be travellers from northern Europe.

[@stevenwalden2313]

I'm thinking that earth was washed into the cave at some point make the once open passages narrow.

[@Xelmo187X]

Steven Walden the mud flood

[@FoxFleet]

@@Xelmo187X - Good catch guys! IF there was a flood or floods then debris caught up in the caves would have been a GOOD resource! And the marks look like cave markers or which cave am I in and when I cave it is NOT a language...they are just markers or reminders to me... I need language to tell others about it or what to look for; like, small aquatic eggs, water fowl eggs, dry dock, dry storage, fresh water caches, natural stair up to cache, strong current ahead, here not there, needs a ladder, biting eels which would be a natural in caves and good, quick eating, etc.

[@fool2_ship57]

@@FoxFleet Wasn't That Recently Made Into a 'Reality Show' ?

[@samtraji1]

This are the earliest "zigeunerzinken". These are signs to things you needed to know about your surroundings at that time. Things like good hunting or trap setting area. Fishing ponds, rivers and other water sources. Warnings signs of dangerous places or predators or even safe spaces who are easy to protect or hide. Signs of fertile land for farming, of fruit trees. Some could indicate next shelters or other friendly or hostile tribes. The only thing you need to do to decode this is; gather information of the surrounding area of the found signs and make find the conections. And i would go for the most obvious as this isnt a secret code but intended for simple and universal language.

[@johnrogan9420]

Water ...an essential ingredient to human existence.

[@chrisw3869]

Exactly; the first things I thought of was "hobo signs" that itinerant workers would leave along railways to communicate.

[@Billainthewild]

smartest thing Ive read here . Thank you

[@samtraji1]

@@Billainthewild yeah went through the comments aswell. i dont know why it isnt obvious. But im a idiot savant so there are lots of things that normal ppl comprehend while i struggle.

[@samtraji1]

@@chrisw3869 ah hobo signs. I didnt know what those are called in english. Thx

[@VitalMedia-ql6zy]

This is a good talk, for about 4 to 5 years I have been illustrating petroglyph symbolism in my artwork. I concentrate mainly on the UK, Wales, Scotland, and Irland also recently some of the signs in this film are visible on Orkney. Not sure where the images from the film at 8-49 minutes in are from, however, these same complex geometrical signs are visible on Orkney. Also, at 10-51 on the film the feather plant or symbol from Spain is a common symbol from Orkney... I get the feeling from studying and painting these symbols that they are signs from our ancient ancestors trying to reinterpret natural forms or even subconscious shamanic coding. Fanciful thinking I know, however since using these symbols and mixing with archetypes I feel like my consciousness has expanded. I think neolithic people were much like us today, and they were still using these symbols, what if it is the precursor to modern language and the expansion of human consciousness? I think this is a credible perspective of the evolution of written or even spoken language and conscious creative action in creating the symbols. This is a link to my artwork... peteryankowski.co.uk/

[@chrisc7248]

O [] ~ ∆

[@ojberrettaberretta5314]

lol ik you would be also interested in our fungal friends

[@debbiecurtis4021]

Some runes look similar to a few if these symbols. They could have meant: River, lake, stream, well, spring, mountain, and animal names.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

@@debbiecurtis4021 And the squares can mean houses, settlement sites...

[@carlabakelaar8912]

Gorgeous art work!!

[@christinemorley2213]

I Thank You! Since people have stopped reading books & worrying about spelling, language has lost some of its meaning but created a new universal kind of system in which everyone can understand each other. Maybe we should learn from past languages & compare them to the languages of today, to find a language we can all understand. This way we can get to know each other better across all cultures & beliefs.

[@leyodydy]

The meaning of hand prints on a cave wall? We were here and you weren't, now you're here and we're not.

[@vicadamebbborla6127]

Great idea 👍

[@christrinder1255]

If you believe, as I do, that these cave painters were survivors of previous civilisations who had advanced technology , before disasters destroyed them, then the cave geometric shapes and other signs, then could make sense. It’s their remembrance and remnants of their written language.

[@victorvelie3980]

the problem is a true advanced civilization would leave some obvious evidence, unless you mean like advanced for a stone age civillization

[@wuuspigs]

@@victorvelie3980 Definitely. An advanced civilization would have left plenty of undeniable proof of their existence. Not a handful of triangles, handprints and stick-figures that if you squint, tilt your head and disregard all the evidence they're made by primitive humans, you might be able to shoehorn your idea in there.

[@elzevierjaviergarcia890]

Christ Trinder At some point, cave artist "wrote" what others in their time might write on the soil and get easily deleted while some others documented over clay-ostraca.

[@jkilmon]

I highly recommend Genevieve Von Petzinger's book "The First Signs."

[@jeffbensley8582]

Not a proto language. Who would they be communicating with that hidden away? And the geometric patterns overlap the animals. These are the patterns you see in a trance state. The shamen went into caves and experienced trance state and believed they were seeing a spirit world. They began decorating with images of what they'd seen to help get into trance state.

[@kimthetruthofit6965]

N.W.O Our battle is not with flesh and blood! Aliens are revealed in the Holy Shroud of Turin First image wears Crown like an Eagle Second is wearing a Crown of Righteousness Third image has HORNS in its head NOT HIGHLIGHTED is above cup image look for two grey aliens of different species Aliens are also demons. The Great Deception of Mankind is well underway. THIS KNOWLEDGE is our strength for if we know our enemy we will not be deceived by our enemies MOST IMPORTANTLY IT reveals the truth of life itself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ He is the Saviour and reigns over ALL the dimensions on the Universe God bless you time is short kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZjVYqeqodp9opY

[@1973Grejluder]

Few symbols means some kind of importance I know that Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) only had small cotact with anthropologists.But his "Hierarchy of needs" could be used in this context. Cos what if some of the symbols were used to indicate what status the cave was(owner or free) and the next 2 the first 2 stages(Physiological needs, Safety needs).

[@leonardodalongisland]

Invoking Maslow feels like a stretch. Maybe you can expand on this theory-as of now I'm not agreeing (as if my input holds any weight). and, what is "Cos"?

[@richardschneider4775]

so these were the first nursing care plans based on Maslow Hierarchy of needs........brainy joke..................... good writing.................. thank you

[@sunpowerguru3993]

The spiral shape is a Hopi migration symbol. I'm wondering if the modern Hopi wisdom keepers could shed some light on what some of these other shapes mean. In other words, there may still be indigenous peoples who understand these symbols, and that seems an obvious place to start.

[@mouthpiece200]

+SunPower Guru Almost impossible that these would be remembered. No culture can retain its information for tens of thousands of years.

[@sunpowerguru3993]

Upon what data do you base that assumption? According to your theory, we will wake up one day and forget our alphabet?

[@mouthpiece200]

SunPower Guru Hey pal, why don't you look up a Phoenician alphabet and see how familiar it looks? Then ask yourself if a small tribe of stone-age people can maintain there's, except for 10x the time scale. Good luck. :D

[@sunpowerguru3993]

Yes, languages and writing systems have been lost to time. This doesn't imply that ALL systems must eventually go this route. As I pointed out, the spiral is a known Hopi symbol... it's meaning is still known, at least as used by the Hopi. This seems to me to be proof positive that the meanings of some of the other symbols might still be known too. If you think it's impossible, well... I'm ok with that.

[@mouthpiece200]

SunPower Guru And how long has the Hopi tribe been culturally distinct? A thousand years at best? We don't need them to tell us that characters can last a long time, because the Latin Alphabet has also survived, and twice as long as that. But all cultures gradually change over time and become unrecognizable to their past. Languages with a writing system probably change slower, because the culture can be passed down in physical form, generation to generation. But stone age people with no writing system have basically zero chance to pass down cultural information for 30 thousand years. Ever tried to play the game "telephone" with a chain of thousands of people?

[@timomastosalo]

6:47 So they were sending emojis to each other? And now we are returning to that communication :)

[@Jan96106]

Synchronicity (which I think can have roots in the past). Wouldn't it be fascinating to inhabit human consciousness in a specific (reflective) human being back in that time to see the world through that individuals eyes just to know what they really thought and felt as opposed to what everyone conjectures?

[@corthew]

Damn those kids and their graffiti!

[@wyllomygreene7700]

reminds me of "hobo signs" (just Google it)

[@beamsinvestigations1986]

They could have just been saying 'Kilroy woz ere'.

[@dublininnis9695]

32 OG gangs

[@Scribe13013]

You gotta be an ice age kid to understand

[@shawneeindian]

why is this the first thing i also thought of?