Seasons in the Stone

   The idea of a calendar begins to solidify when the totem characters are associated with seasons and climate.  In the group below you will see a family of stones. I have tried to present them so the drill/bird beak is oriented pointing to the right. The larger stone is more for votive or funerary function. The other two  are  hand tools with multiple functioning edges. You can immediately notice differences in type  and shape of the stones. Spending a little time exploring the stones, you'll start picking up the similarities. Words are not so helpful in this process: you need to spend time looking at the stones. The more you look, the more you see. At times you may want to zoom in close and other times stepping back will be helpful. The angle of light is another factor. Flipping and turning the stone is just a way to turn the page. The array of stone tools is extensive and abundant. They reflect the style and preferences of the people who created them. Tools are standardized by the hand that made them. When holding the tool in your hand and feeling the different grips, you feel the size of the hand that made them. This may help identify who it may have served. There are many more characters here. Feel free to stop and explore. I am sure you will find many more.

     In the group of images below the same group of stones have been flipped and turned and highlighted. All the totem stones have some reference to feathers and birds. As we experience today, a lot of birds migrate. we also note how birds can occupy the most hostile environments. If you visualize the glaciers ebbing and flowing at different times and at times exposing new land, this new land would be barren. Barren except for the birds that would quickly take advantage of the real estate for nesting. You can imagine timing your sea travels to take advantage of the nesting seasons to provide food and feathers crucial to survive long voyages. Bird's feathers are light, waterproof, insulating, as well as shelter from sun exposure. During the ice age even birds had their giants. These giant birds where honored. Feathers were also decorative and used to communicate  the community member's placement in the social strata. In the images below the upper left highlights the buzzard and other very large family of birds associated with death and the practice of sky burials. The image on the lower left highlights the shape of the wing. The wing and feather shape are a common in the totem design. There will be different feather head dresses corresponding with certain human profiles. The image below on the right, highlights the bird of prey. I believe the bird of prey is associated with the prime of life of the human and the power of flight of these birds. There will be different feather head dresses corresponding with certain human profiles. The image below on the right, highlights the bird of prey. I believe the bird of prey is associated with the prime of life of the human and the power of flight of these birds. There will be different feather head dresses corresponding with certain human profiles. The image below on the right, highlights the bird of prey. I believe the bird of prey is associated with the prime of life of the human and the power of flight of these birds.

    In contrast to the warmer season of the birds where a light waterproof feathers are ideal for blocking exposure of the sum, we are now exploring the frozen cold season. With the same group of stones we are now seeing the bear totem highlighted in the picture below. The bear is another totem animal that can be found in the most inhospitable environments.  During the cold season bears hibernate. If the human is cold, and knew where the bear hibernated, he could find food and warmth in the most harsh environments. It would be a safer time to approach the bear in its stupor.  If you were pregnant during a deep freeze finding a mama bear with cub hibernating, it would be a great relief providing food and a bear cloak for both mother and child. You can imagine that successful breeding year round would bring up the human population. An increase in population would increase the demand for bear cloaks. creating a positive feed back system where bear were encouraged to hibernate in numbers in a convenient location for harvesting would be ideal. Humans created that sustainable relationship with a bear burial and recorded it in the totem design. Humans created a sustainable relationship with bears by retuning the human body wrapped in the bear cloak to the same hibernating site. Bear would return each year to the site to wake up and expect the offering of the deceased. Properly managed it would be very much like bear farming with seasonal harvests. 

    In the image below are three of the many different phases of the bear totem.  Starting with the left is the bear head with it's associated human profile. The stone in the middle highlights the full standing bear cloak. The last stone on the right displays the bear burial bundle. 

I am hoping that by showing multiple stones together you can start picking up the summer/winter pattern. This pattern is consistent in all the totem stones. It may indicate that the behavior was well established through the ages. For thousands of years the bear and man maintained this relationship. The totem design is not only recording cold and warm seasons as opposite poles of the totem design but also how to survive it.

     I have altered the lighting on the same stones below to encourage you to look further. There is a lot more going on than I have highlighted. Start making your own discoveries. It does get exciting when you start really digesting this as art, as a pictorial language. Each time you look it is an archeological event. Your are viewing a history that has been ignored as too primitive to even acknowledge for hundreds of years.

The votive totem stones can come in all sizes. The larger stone from this group I believe is a funerary item. It carries extensive information. Being larger it provides more space for additional information. the human profiles with their allotted headdress. In the images below I have highlighted three profiles. There are many more, but this is a good start. The feathered folk on the left are oriented opposite to the bear cloak people. When you look at your stone and find the feathered image you can usually look the opposing side to find the bear. Winter vs summer is the start of the calendar. 

   Do not be afraid to see more than I am suggesting. Think of this as an actual archeological dig. I am just getting started myself. We are discovering together. Each stone has its story. Each artist had a style, technique, and subject that reflected their time and place. That is a lot of style when spread out over thousands of years. I believe with the right documentation this material can be assigned to a timeline, calendar and even a clock. This is exciting. Starting your own dig and documenting what you see is a great addition to what we are trying to do. Thank you so much for looking.