Finger Flutings Research Articles

Chiaroscuro Photogrammetry: Revolutionizing 3D Modeling in Low Light Conditions for Archaeological Sites

ABSTRACT Archaeologists working in low light conditions have had difficulty producing 3D models that are both scientific and aesthetic. We are presenting chiaroscuro photogrammetry, a technique inspired by Renaissance artists, to solve this problem. The method is portable, inexpensive, low impact, adaptable, fast, and requires no additional expertise beyond photogrammetry. While first trialed on a rock and a tree that produced promising outcomes, the true test was on a panel of finger flutings in a completely dark chamber of Koonalda Cave, South Australia. The result was a 3D model of the finger flutings with evenly balanced light and deep colors, and the geometry of the model was free from holes and visible artifacts. The 3D model produced using chiaroscuro photogrammetry was visually and geometrically accurate, even more so than flash photogrammetry. Chiaroscuro photogrammetry has the potential to revolutionize 3D modeling in low light conditions for a variety of archaeological contexts.

Finger Fluting in Prehistoric Caves: A Critical Analysis of the Evidence for Children, Sexing and Tracing of Individuals

Finger flutings are channels drawn in soft sediments covering walls, floors and ceilings of some limestone caves in Europe and Australia and in some cases date as far back as 50,000 years ago. Initial research focused on why they were made, but more recently, as part of a growing interest in the individual in the past, researchers began asking questions about who made them. This shift in direction has led to claims that by measuring the width of flutings made with the three middle fingers of either hand, archaeologists can infer the ordinal age, sex and individuality of the ‘fluter’. These claims rest on a single dataset created in 2006. In this paper, we undertake the first critical analysis of that dataset and its concomitant methodologies. We argue that sample size, uneven distribution of sex and age within the sample, non-standardised medium, human variability, the lack of comparability between an experimental context and real cave environments and assumptions about demographic modelling effectively negate all previous claims. To sum, we find no substantial evidence for the claims that an age, sex and individual tracing can be revealed by measuring finger flutings as described by Sharpe and Van Gelder (Antiquity 80: 937-947, 2006a; Cambridge Archaeological Journal 16: 281–95, 2006b; Rock Art Research 23: 179–98, 2006c). As a case study, we discuss Koonalda Cave in southern Australia. Koonalda has the largest and most intact display of finger flutings in the world and is also part of a cultural landscape maintained and curated by Mirning people.

First Pleistocene rock art found in central Europe

After well over a century of archaeological research in Drachenhöhle, the largest cave bear lair in the Alps, the first Pleistocene rock art in central Europe has been discovered deep in the cave. Two small panels of juvenile finger flutings occur together with cave bear claw marks at the only water source of the area. The site is within a few metres of the cave's large human occupation site, excavated in 1921. It is attributed to the Alpine Palaeolithic or Olschewian, a tradition of montane-adapted people of the Early Upper Palaeolithic of central Europe. The generic phenomena of finger fluting and moonmilk speleothems are discussed to provide a general context for the subject. The cave art is then described and analysed, and the previous claims for “Palaeolithic” age of other central European sites are briefly considered.

Entanglements: the Role of Finger Flutings in the Study of the Lived Lives of Upper Paleolithic Peoples

During the Upper Paleolithic, Ice Age peoples in Europe and Australia used their fingers to trace figurative and non-figurative images in soft sediments that lined the walls and ceilings of the limestone caves they encountered. The resulting images, while fragile, are preserved in at least 70 caves with the oldest dating to approximately 36,000 years ago. During the first 100 years of the study of Paleolithic cave imagery, these finger flutings were largely ignored. Though they make up a larger percentage of cave art than any other form, they are enigmatic and not always visually appealing. In 1912, Henri Breuil famously referred to them as “traits parasites” (parasite lines) and deleted them from his re-drawings of cave images, believing they detracted from the figurative art. Flutings have been interpreted alternately as doodling, serpent or water images, the residue of surface preparation for making, and evidence of the moment when a shaman touches the “skin” of the otherworld. In this paper, we argue that there are three reasons why finger flutings have taken on greater significance in the study of Pleistocene visual cultures. First, theories concerning the meaning and relevance of finger flutings were developed without supporting evidence as no methodology existed by which to study flutings until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Second, there has been a broadening of the definition of “art” in a Paleolithic context to include categories of materials, including finger flutings, which would traditionally have been excluded from consideration. Third, there has been a concomitant shift from a focus on the final product—“the artwork” to an exploration of the embodied process of manufacturing the imagery—the “work” of art. Finger flutings carry with them physical evidence of this process. Finally, by presenting a detailed study of finger flutings at Gargas Cave (France), we consider what is gained by including finger flutings in the study of Paleolithic art and what this “archaeology of intimacy” can tell us about the lived lives of Ice Age peoples.

Visual Cultures in the Upper Palaeolithic

Using examples drawn from the European Upper Palaeolithic, this article advocates a visual cultures approach to studying the art of this period. Visual culture is defined as the biological, cognitive and social underpinnings of how we see, while the term art refers to what we see. A visual cultures approach to these images allows the archaeologist to explore how they were experienced, decoded and innovated upon within historically situated, overlapping and entangled communities of practice and further affords archaeologists the tools and the vocabulary they need to explore apprenticeship, active teaching, embodied cognition, situated learning, scaffolding, enskillment, the existence of chaînes opératoires and the impact of these materials on the human brain. European Upper Palaeolithic finger flutings are presented as a case study of the visual cultures approach.

The Role of Children in the Creation of Finger Flutings in Koonalda Cave, South Australia

Koonalda Cave in South Australia has long been known for having the world's largest collection of finger flutings – lines drawn with fingers in the soft surfaces of cave ceilings and walls. Until recently no research had been done to attempt to distinguish individuals or determine unique identities among the finger fluters. A preliminary study conducted in 2014 of three different panels within the ‘Art Passage’ section of the cave revealed multiple finger fluters. Among the fluters appear to be at least three individuals with hand widths corresponding to children under the age of five. This article discusses these findings as well as contextual information from anthropological records and contemporary accounts of regional Aboriginal culture to discuss the role of children in art-making and their relationship to deep caves.

Counting the Children: The Role of Children in the Production of Finger Flutings in Four Upper Palaeolithic Caves

SummaryChildren and young adults are believed to have represented up to 40 per cent of Upper Palaeolithic populations, yet little is known of their engagement in deep caves besides evidence of their hand and footprints. In this study we examine finger flutings, lines drawn with fingers in soft surfaces, in 12 Franco‐Cantabrian Upper Palaeolithic caves to look for forensic evidence of unique individuals. We find evidence of children as finger fluters in four caves (El Castillo, Las Chimeneas, Rouffignac and Gargas). We discuss the types, locations and frequency of their flutings, as well as the relationship between their flutings and those made by non‐children in the same caves and chambers. The small number of participants calls into question past theories of children's engagement in ritual and initiation in these particular caves.

Paleolithic Finger Flutings and the Question of Writing

Discussions of Paleolithic Cave Art rarely, if ever, explore the possibilities of evidence of writing and yet finger flutings (lines made by fingers in soft moonmilch or clay on cave walls and ceilings) raise significant questions as to what is writing and what internal structures would need to be evident within fluted panels to constitute writing. In this paper, the author shares findings from the French caves of Rouffignac and Gargas, and nine caves in Cantabrian, Spain. This paper does not pose to claim that finger flutings are necessarily writing, but instead raises the question of what elements would need to be present for them to be considered writing, and asks what would be the implications if they did.

Microbial diversity and activity in caves

In recent times, there have been renewed interests in cave ecosystems for both economic and scientific reasons. This is because caves can contain fossils, artifacts, Palaeolithic paintings, ancient markings in form of finger flutings and beautiful speleothems (mineral deposits). These features are attractive and their presence has led to an increase in the number of people visiting caves (tourism) with associated economic benefits to the cave management authorities and the communities in which these caves are located. Unfortunately some of these cave features are susceptible to microbial damage by indigenous and foreign microorganisms, with this risk being exacerbated by unregulated human visitation. Therefore understanding microbial diversity and activities in caves is essential for cave conservation, restoration, safe and sustainable cave tourism.

Ten Years in Rouffignac Cave: a Collective Report on Findings from a Decade of Finger Flutings Research

Ten Years in Rouffignac Cave: a Collective Report on Findings from a Decade of Finger Flutings Research

New Methods and Approaches in the Study of Finger Flutings

New Methods and Approaches in the Study of Finger Flutings

Paleolithic finger flutings as efficient communication: Applying Zipf's Law to two panels in Rouffignac Cave, France

Two fluted panels in Rouffignac Cave, France, appear highly ordered as opposed to other panels that appear haphazardly made. Is it possible to objectively establish that an intention to communicate thoughts and ideas lay behind the fluting of the two “ordered” panels? To help answer this, we apply a concept from communications theory called Zipf's Law, which can establish whether data represent “efficient communication” or are random. Applying the law to the two panels (using the number of fingers in each fluted hand as the variable) shows that the two panels may constitute efficient communication. We conclude by discussing related matters, including the idea of Paleolithic notational markings.

The Study of Finger Flutings

Archaeologists have usually glossed over parietal finger flutings, especially non-figurative and non-symbolic lines. This article develops a nomenclature and defines four forms to provide a descriptive structure from which to build analyses. It then develops methods for such investigations, using experiments and studies of physiology to derive information about the fluters from the flutings. The methods are applied to each of the four forms of fluting, showing which approaches may be most useful for each form. Broader questions and applications are touched on, including approaches to meaning, figures, and other families of parietal markings such as hand stencils. This approach to flutings augments other approaches to prehistoric ‘art’ by seeking to know about the artists themselves, their gender, age, size, handedness, and the number of individuals involved in creating a panel.

About rock markings and rock art: A response to Rosenfeld

This debate paper addresses a proposal to exclude from rock art such phenomena as cupules, hand stencils, abraded grooves and finger flutings, and instead to regard them as gestures and call them ‘rock markings’. It is argued that this term has already been taken, being the generic name of all forms of markings on rock, that the proposed division is not testable and that it is impractical. The proposal also derives no support from empirical evidence and ethnographic perspectives.

Karst in siliceous rocks: the speleothem medium of finger flutings and its isotopic geochemistry

The isotopic geochemistry relating to the re-precipitation of calcite in caves is considered, in terms of its theory, natural manifestations, and relationship with questions of radiometric dating of carbonate speleothems. Specific forms of’ such deposits are considered, together with the various modification processes they are subjected to. More specifically, particular forms of rock art found within, as well as on or under such deposits are examined, such as finger flutings commonly found in caves of Europe and Australia. Some of the variables relating to their occurrence are elucidated, their preservation and possible dating is reviewed in the light of these factors, and new radiometric data from South Australian caves are introduced and discussed.

On the Evolution of Language

Previous articleNext article No AccessDiscussion and CriticismOn the Evolution of LanguageIain Davidson, William Noble, Philip Lieberman, Sonia Ragir, and Robbins BurlingIain Davidson Search for more articles by this author , William Noble Search for more articles by this author , Philip Lieberman Search for more articles by this author , Sonia Ragir Search for more articles by this author , and Robbins Burling Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 34, Number 2Apr., 1993 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/204153 Views: 10Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1993 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:April Nowell, Leslie Van Gelder Entanglements: the Role of Finger Flutings in the Study of the Lived Lives of Upper Paleolithic Peoples, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 27, no.33 (Jul 2020): 585–606.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-020-09468-5 Philip J. Barnard From Executive Mechanisms Underlying Perception and Action to the Parallel Processing of Meaning Barnard, Current Anthropology 51, no.S1S1 (Jul 2015): S39–S54.https://doi.org/10.1086/650695Steven Mithen Palaeolithic archaeology and the evolution of mind, Journal of Archaeological Research 3, no.44 (Dec 1995): 305–332.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02232718 Konrad R. Fialkowski On the Evolution of Language, Current Anthropology 35, no.44 (Oct 2015): 445–448.https://doi.org/10.1086/204301Alan A. Beaton, Kenneth Hugdahl, Philip Ray Lateral Asymmetries and Interhemispheric Transfer in Aging: A Review and Some New Data, (): 101–152.https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46884-0_5