Post by Franz GnaedingerNational Geographics, October 1988, published a beautifully illustrated
article on the Lascaux cave. The caption to the roaring stag says
Fantastic nine-point antlers
rise from the profile of a
roaring red deer in the Axial
Gallery, its legs apparently
left purposely incomplete.
Under the deer, 13 dots and
a rectangle could be ident-
ifiers or hunting tallies--yet
another mystery in the glory
of Lascaux.
'Identifiers' comes close. The big dot, standing rectangle and horizontal
line of 13 dots (read in the running direction of the horses) are a year,
New Year on midsummer (big dot, June 21), followed by 13 periods of 28 days,
in all a regular year of 365 days. The roaring stag is resting, he is the
Magdalenian anticipation of the Ptolemaic primum mobile that makes the moon
and planets and sun revolve around the Earth - the stag as prime mover is
resting himself (legs left unfinished purposely) while lending his running
power and stamina to the sun horse and moon bull. Stags have been observed
and reported to leap ten or even fourteen meters wide and two or even three
meters high, and running for sixty kilometers when being hunted. And they
prefer oak forests, remember CER KOS quercus èrkos.
Divine or Cosmic Stag ('primum mobile' of Magdalenian mythology and
astronomy)
National Geographics, October 1988, published a beautifully illustrated
article on the Lascaux cave. The caption to the big stag painted in the
gallery says: "Fantastic nine-point antlers rise from the profile of a red
deer in the Axial Gallery, its legs apparently left purposely incomplete,
13 dots and a rectangle could be identifiers or hunting tallies--yet
another mystery in the glory of Lascaux."
Marie E.P. König identified the niche at the rear end of the gallery as
midwinter, the line of descending horses as the tired winter sun horse,
and the pair of antithetic ibices as emblem of the winter solstice.
From there the sun horse moves along the gallery to the midsummer hall,
in clockwise direction (like the sun does). The pair of lovely 'Chinese'
horses convey the joy of a warm spring after a long and harsh winter.
Then comes a dancing horse, just before the big stag. This one, two meters
tall, roaring, is calling out to the horses, asking them to approach.
He is the 'primum mobile' or prime mover who makes the sun horse and moon
bull run, the horse just before him dance and prance, exult in the pleasure
of the near summer - the midsummer hall begins right behind the stag.
The ideogram under him (read from left to right, in the running direction
of the sun horse) consists of a big dot, a standing rectangle, and
a horizontal line of 13 dots which replaces the forelegs of the stag.
The big dot represents New Year on the summer solstice, June 21 in our
modern calendar. The standing rectangle may suggest a calendar pattern
of 28 by 13 pebbles for 364 days, and the line of 13 dots the 13 months
of 28 days in a year - together a regular year of 365 days, which replaces
the incomplete forelegs of the stag: he symbolizes running time that unfolds
in the running of the sun horse and moon bull.
Now for the "fantastic nine-point antlers" that encode a further calendar,
the lunisolar calendar of Lascaux, together with ideograms of a subdivided
square that indicate a subdivision of a square into 3 by 3 small squares,
one of those ideograms below the antithetic ibices in the midwinter niche.
h i b
g a c
f e d
The nine points of the antlers correspond to the nine periods of time
a b c d e f g h i, the five longer points of the right antler to the five
periods a b d f h that form an oblique cross and have 41 days each, and
the four shorter points of the left antler to the four periods c e g i
that have 40 days each, in all a regular year of 365 days.
Also this year can be laid out with pebbles. Begin with a square of 14 by 14
pebbles and insert a square of 13 by 13 pebbles in the spaces between. Thus
you obtain what I call a syncopic square. (The smallest syncopic square is
the five on a dice, two by two dots, and one in the middle.) Now also the
period of 41 days forms a syncopic square: 5 by 5 pebbles, inserted 4 by 4
pebbles. The resulting calendar pattern, the big syncopic square with the
five smaller syncopic squares, can be found in the Lascaux chapter of my
paper http://www.seshat.ch/home/mathe.pdf
Now for the ingenious lunar aspect of this calendar. Eight subsequent periods
correspond to eleven lunations or synodic months counted in the 30 29 30 mode
or the less accurate 29 30 29 mode, for example
a b c d e f g h 41 41 40 41 40 41 40 41 sum 325
30 29 30 29 30 29 30 29 30 29 30 sum 325
If a full moon occurs on the summer solstice, June 21, beginning of period a,
another full moon occurs eight periods later, at the beginning of period i,
May 12 in our calendar. Eight years correspond to 99 lunations; then you have
to add two leap days, and take the slow shift of the lunar period into
consideration.
The big stag is involved with times. He makes time go on by conveying his
energy as 'primum mobile' or prime mover to the sun horse and moon bull.
Actually, 'primum mobile' was a concept of Ptolemaic astronomy, the power
that makes the moon and planets and sun and fixed stars revolve around the
Earth. In the light of Lascaux, this idea reaches far back in time.
Stags were always depicted in cave art, however, from Lascaux onward, they
gained much importance. In the Lascaux cave have been counted eighty-five
red deer, cervus elaphus, always placed at strategic points of a hall or
gangway.
Why had the stag been chosen as prime mover?
Cervus elaphus, dubbed king of the woods, originally preferred open meadows
and oak forests (remember CER KOS quercus érkos). The male can reach a height
of 170 centimeters, and a weight of 250 kilograms in France, 425 kg in the
Karpates. He was observed and reported to leap up to ten or even fourteen
meters wide, two or even three meters high, and run a stretch of sixty
kilometers when hunted in a drive. The stag has a truly amazing running
capacity, which predestined him as prime mover in the animistic world view
of Lascaux. And he lent his power and stamina specifically to the horse
CER KOS CER S *kers- 'run' *hursa horse
Consider also the phonetical proximity Hirsch *hursa, Hirsch the German stag
and *hursa the Proto-Germanic form of English horse.
Eyeteeth of stags, often incised, had been widespread pendants in the
Magdalenian era, perhaps worn as amulets imploring walking and running
power and stamina for a human being from the Divine Stag? also many years,
a long life from the Lord of Time?