[{"id":297,"title":"Could a primeval version of the Basque 'Jentilak' tale be 25.000-year-old?","sha":"e5de088102b2752e8ff7b0f97af43f9d","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"In the deepest part at the end of Llonín Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain), a fortuitous configuration of minor protuberances and cracks in the wall suggests the lateral outline of an 80 cm high anthropomorphic head, whereas a minor depression indicates the eye. Around 25.000 BP, our Late Palaeolithic ancestors covered the eye with a carefully painted set of red radiating lines and also painted a 40 cm high anthropomorphic female figure on the neck.\r\n\r\nWe can only speculate about the meaning of this pictorial narrative. However, if the tales of the Basque 'Jentilak', the Celtic 'Balor' and 'Yspaddaden Penkawr', the Ukranian 'Vij\", the Hopi 'Hásohkata' and similar giant creatures with heavy or long brows and eyelids might have Palaeolithic roots (Lajoye 2014: 41), the combination of a head (a giant emerging from the 'other side' of the wall in a deep cave), an eye covered with long lines (representing the hairs of the brow?) and a 'heroine' (who closed this eye or had the power to open it?) may have illustrated a Palaeolithic proto-version of these myths.\r\n\r\nSincere thanks are due to Julien d'Huy for his very useful suggestion to compare Llonín's ideograph with the tales analyzed by Patrice Lajoye.\r\n\r\nLajoye, P. 2014. Balor et Yspaddaden Penkawr de par le monde. À propos du motif F571.1. Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée 2: 1-51.","created_at":"2016-04-07T09:56:46.299Z","updated_at":"2016-04-16T13:08:36.144Z","zenodo_id":106385,"doi":"http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.49309","subject":null,"tags":["llonín cave","prehistory","palaeolithic","pictorial narrative","ideograph","mythology"],"vote_count":1,"view_count":1,"score":1.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":"Some_thoughts_on_Llonín_Cave's_giant.pdf","attachment_content_type":"application/pdf","attachment_file_size":716992,"attachment_updated_at":"2016-04-07T15:00:04.425Z"},{"id":423,"title":"“Venus” cult and “Old Man” mythological motif have already existed since 50.000 BP","sha":"1f4721f6245f2381151e80353baea721","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"If human language and genes spread “in tandem” as postulated by Michael Witzel, the split up time of the major phylogenetic lineages may provide a minimum age for the origin of Palaeolithic myths. \r\nIf this hypothesis is true, the distribution pattern of the motif about an “old man with hanging eyelids; so old that the eyelids hang to his chin and must be lifted up”, can only be explained if a primeval version has already existed in Southwest Asia by 50.000 BP, before people living there split up into East Asian and European phylogenetic lineages. \r\nThe presence of Upper Palaeolithic “Venus” figurines and images in Europe and East Asia may also hint at the existence of a primitive “Venus” cult and the myths connected therewith by 50.000 BP, before people split up into separate East Asian and European communities. \r\nA 25.000-year-old pictorial narrative in Llonin Cave (Spain), perhaps illustrating a Palaeolithic tale about a bushy-browed giant living in a deep cave and a “Venus” creature, apparently combines elements of the “Old Man” motif and one of these “Venus” tales.\r\n","created_at":"2017-11-03T08:53:03.248Z","updated_at":"2017-11-06T06:00:52.552Z","zenodo_id":1042173,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1042173","subject":null,"tags":["palaeolithic myths","\"old man with hanging eyelids\"motif","\"venus\" cult","pictorial narrative"],"vote_count":0,"view_count":1,"score":0.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":true,"attachment_file_name":"Attachment_0.jpg","attachment_content_type":"image/jpeg","attachment_file_size":1296923,"attachment_updated_at":"2017-11-03T08:53:03.209Z"}]