ICE AGE ART AND THE BEAR CULT

Avdeevo a

phalli

These are stone and bone phalli that were found inside of caves which were used for spiritual purposes. They probably relate to earth-womb rituals designed to influence the fertility of the land. It is likely that these rituals involved bestowing special powers onto chosen individuals. These phalli also hint at the possibility that caves were managed by a female priesthood. The great majority of handprints found in ice age caves were made by female hands.

Fortuna Laussel

This is an image of a pregnant female. She has her hand on her womb. She holds a horn with 13 incisions. The celestrial bull features widely in the ancient world, including the Sumerian Gilgamesh Epic (6k BP). It is associated with rain, the celestrial waters. There are thirteen lunar cycles in a solar year although the 13th is always incomplete.

Lascaux dots

At Lascaux we find this interesting sequence of 3 times 13 dots. Reading from right to left the sequence first leads to a square or passage, the second leads around it and the final thirteen moons lead to the image of a small black horse's head. In Northern mythology, horses were usually associated with the waters that lead to the underworld.

horse with claviform signs

This horse shows twelve signs being closed by a thirteenth. The rest of the thirteenths (lunar cycle) assembles to open the next solar year.

venus of willendorf

This famous sculpture possibly predates cave painting in Europe. Pregnant females and vulvas often feature in ice age cave art as the cave was probably viewed as a cave womb. Arms and head are usually always stylized and the emphasis is on the lower part of the body. In the bear cult the head relates to the celestrial realm, the heavens, and the body to the earth below.

Kostienki 1

This pregnant female is tied with rope. Found in a cave in Russia, we are reminded of the Demeter myth. Here her daughter was held captive in the underworld during winter. There are also telling resonances with the knot of Isis.

Kostienki 1b

We can see that what is tied up are the upper body sections of the figure. Minoan priestresses are depicted with an elaborate know of Isis on their backs.

Kostienki 1 c

This broken lime stone figure clearly shows the tied hands. Some scientists have tried to argue that the ropes represent 'bracelets'. The fact that this limestone figure was smashed and its parts buried seperately, indicates that it was seen to have spiritual power.

Avdeevo b

This young pregnant figure has a less stylized face, compared to 'French' and 'German' figurines. However, she is also shown with tied arms, indicating a restricition in celestial power/abundance.

Hohlen Fels VenusTracing

This venus has a very stylized head. It may have been used as a pendant but the loop on her shoulders also resonates with the image of the ancient Egyptian Ankh. There the loop symbolises the journey of the sun as it rises and sets in the underworld. The incisions on her body may have served to release her energy, captured within her 'body'. In the bear cult women often look through holes to see the dead bear in the spirit world, where he resides as their 'husband'.

vulva phallic amulet DV

This amulet from Dolni Vestonice is probably a 'world tree' or 'axis mundi'. It's lower section resembles female legs and its upper secion a male phallus. The hole is also a loop. Compare this image to the Danish bog sculptures in the next gallery as well as the ancient Egyptian WAS sceptre.

woman phallus

This is an interesting culpture. Its upper section is a phallus. However, with its lower section the figure resembles a female form with breasts. It is likely that this image, like the preceeding one, represents the union of heaven and the underworld.

Sky tent

This image from Bernifal is my careful reconstruction. I believe it shows a sky tent (as described by Ivar Lissner among the nomadic Asian bear cult worshipping people). Heaven and underworld are shown with their waters. In between is the curved earth disk (horizon). It is made up of spirit dots which in shamanism represent spirit energy.

tectiform_2 1

Here is another such sky tent, often referred to as a 'tectiform'. It is on the shoulder of a bison, which very likely contained heavenly and earthly attributes.

El Castillo sky tent

In El Castillo only the sky tent is shown over a geometric composition of floating spirit energy (see Lewis-Williams state one trance). It marks the spot in the cave where ancient people felt the earth womb connected with the heavenly realm above.

Enigmatic Spade Sign Le portel

At Le Portel such such a sky tent with droplets is above a phallus shaped rock that emerges from the floor of the cave. On its flank is the outline of a human upper torso. It is likely that the upper torso also represents a reference to the spirit realm above.

human profile_2

The human outline at Le Portel.

bear ascending with ribs

This figure has the typical elongated face and may therefore represent a bear. The erect phallus is likely a reference to the figure being in a trance where it is connected with the spirit world. Note that the legs suggest the figure is in flight. Its ribs are clearly shown.

Magdalenian bird shaman

This figure may also represent a shaman in flight (bear or human). The bird mask is a reference to the heavenly realm and indicates that the figure is ascending to the heavens where the ancestor spirits have their origin.

shaft scene Lascaux_2

A similar theme is displayed here at the famous 'shaft scene' from Lascaux. Ivar Lissner has remarked that the staff with a bird end was still in use by Asian shamans when he travelled there in the early 1950s. The bull is sacrificed as is the human who is ascending to the ancestors. The image suggests sacrifice and seasonal balance.

three horse heads

Like the ancient Egyptians, the ice age knew probably three rather than four seasons: the melting, the flowing, and the freezing, represented here as the foal, the mare and the skull. It is likely that the notches on these staffs were not spear throwers but stylized bird references. Their function may have been to be the top of a magic staff that created a connection between heaven and earth if used by a shaman, similar to a totem pole.

three owls trois freres

These three owls from Trois Freres cave may also represent a young owl in the middle, a mature owls at the right and an aging owl at the left, hinting at a spiral movement (see the three spirals on the Panel of the Owl, Chauvet Cave).

three bison Le Portel

Here too the young bison is in the middle, moves to the right, matures, turns and moves to the left where it stands in old age. Note the different floor levels for each figure suggesting perspective.

la marche individual 03

This slate drawing shows the association that was created by the lines. It is likely that shamans drew these lines onto the slate watching spirit entities 'emerging' or transforming.

Peche Merle Mammoth

This image shows what a mammoth usually looked like. Compare this image to the furless mammoth depictions from the black sector at Chauvet Cave.

Great Auk / bird of prey

Fur was often not depicted in the earth womb, probably because it was considered a gift or attribute of the heavens. This might therefore be the image of an eagle or an owl.

chinese horse Lascaux

Often praised for its naturalism this horse is actually a highly stylized map. The head has been shrunk to minimize it. It is covered in a black shadow that also coveres the mane, outline, hooves and tail. The tail is minimized without the depiction of hair. The body is filled in with a red paint, probably representing 'life energy'. It follows the outline of the horse's fur that grows longest during winter (and therefore has the greatest spirit power).

bison altamira

This bison from Altamira has the same lines mapping it out like the megaloceros at Chauvet Cave some 15k years earlier. It is a spirit map of the animal, its most potent aspects covered by black shadows.