Early Signs in East Asia – their practical background and use
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | This paper focuses on prehistoric petroglyphs from Altai, Xinjiang, Mongolia and North China. In the first part the analysis focuses on possible understanding of some signs with free analogy to the prehistoric counters (cf. Schmandt-Besserat) widely used across Eurasia. Their use for other practical purposes includes ritual functions and marking of ownership or property. In the second part it offers an overview of Biluut petroglyph site in Western Mongolia (Kortum 2018), the timeline of petroglyphs, their orientation, proportion of motifs, change in styles, and probable authorship. Some motifs like selected animals and reptiles as well as astral symbols are understood as a mean of intentional sacralization of tribal leaders, heroes and shamans. Motifs of reptiles and fishes are then traced to their occurrence on rock paintings and pottery. Patterns of symbolic expression allow to conclude that recent studies slightly undervalue practical meaning of petroglyphs representing specific evolutionary stage of linguistically conditioned expression. |
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