The Maine Granite Totem Wall

 

  I have been sharing my observations of a world wide pictorial form of communication.  I first introduced the pictorial form with the stone totem pole of Gobekli Tepe where there is agreement among most that it is manmade and even a possible dating. I have observed similar patterns and subject in stones here in the state of Maine. I have become comfortable with understanding the form and patterns of the stones in Maine. I am now taking a moment to acknowledge that there is  a similarity with totem designs around the world.  To some who are familiar with my efforts I apologize for sounding repetitive as I briefly explain myself. I also suggest that those that are new here can read more on previous publications of this blog. 

   I live in Maine. I have been following the human mark here for a long time. Starting with Clovis points on the beach and noting the napping pattern. I then noted other tools and points not Clovis in design at all. Meandering napping that when followed revealed animal totems  and profiles. I found the image of the mother and child wrapped in a bear cloak and even the baby in its own bear cub cloak, and Village scenes with canoes.  All this quite often designed on one stone artifact. I know it is hard for people to see something in front of them for the first time that had been there all along. Oh, but if you do take the time to look, oh! how it astounds. 

   I don't refer to petroglyph. I refer to a sculptural artistic language. The way the design of iconography shifts from form to form like smoke is unique from other art forms. Quality of course varies, as any other human product. Some are glorious. It is not unlike M.C. Escher print shown below, where one image becomes the next. It is not linear.  It is everywhere here in Maine. 

   Maine is mostly bedrock still rebounding from the ice age so everything is still here. Tools, points, amulets, counting stones all sitting next to me in the garden. I have found material on large erratics. Maine has a hostile climate and the lichen can really take a toll on stone. I was surprised I spotted this wall of granite. It is recessed, not quite a cave, but it is well protected.

     

     It really helps to understand this as a pictorial language not relying on phonics. At a time when there were many tribes and groups moving and migrating in and out of areas having a universal communication system was helpful. During the stone age there was a diverse groups of peoples with different migration habits, oral language, and customs. There were Cro Magnons, Neanderthal, Erectus, and others with very different facial appearances.  These folks were sharing the landscape and interacting at times. This was going on for 100s of thousands of years. All these human brains were geared up to understand this pictorial language. This was a world over language can be understood by us today if we look and start to understand the form. 

    Like all languages there are patterns that are consistent. This whole stone wall is a stone totem and you can start to pick up the pattern that we have found on other stone totems. Starting with the bird form. There is a lot to see on this granite shelter. Unfortunately there are a couple of trees that obscure the view. I am still working out  the patterns myself. I make mistakes and have to regroup. 

   

        The bird forms fill the wall. The life cycle with nest and egg as well as fledging are central. The maiden with bird head dress can be seen with a large vulture like head from above. 

  

   The bear comes next. The looming bear shifts in his slumber. I have only  highlighted one pose of the slumbering bear. The totem art is often like a motion movie including multiple views and postures as the totem reveals the lifecycles and activities. 

 

     The artists were well aware of their anatomy. It sometimes helps to follow up on your own anatomy to better view the designs. Below I included a photo of  an actual bear  in slumber. Thank you to the internet. 

     The life cycle of the bear also includes the mother bear holding the baby bear as it matures. I have included in the image below two stages in the baby bear. The smaller bear is suckling. 

   

   Below is a  mother bear holding her baby bear from the internet. A hibernating lactating mother bear could supply sustenance to a human during the coldest of winter. 

    The following image is about the lactating human. In this case the human is using a bear hide for shelter. She too, like the mother bear holds her baby as it matures. the stages of the baby bear and human are presented in such a way that it suggest that the human was also creating a bear cloak for the baby. 

   Another way to survive the cold climate is to cozy up to the hibernating lactating bear. Below is Habilis, well, it looks like a good guess to me. He is demonstrating how one could hibernate with the mother bear and keep warm taking turns suckling.  It could present itself as a symbiotic relationship if Habilis had sharp sticks to protect the mother bear and her cubs while she slumbers. 

   In the image below I have found the man in the bear cloak everywhere but this is different.  Here he is sitting clutching his knees greater than life. His bear cloak hood hangs back over left shoulder. The arms of his bear cloak drape down on either side of him. He sits displaying his work on the wall behind him. In winter it is dry and protected. He is almost inviting me in. He is demonstrating how it was done. How to survive the ice age.

     Below I have highlighted some of the forms that are traditionally found. The bear and the bird are like the book cover, or book ends. I look forward to returning to this site and taking more shots at different angles and light. There is a lot more here on this wall.

   Below are the woolly mammoth which I always find exciting.  You have to be open minded to see something you are not familiar with.  

  In the images below and on the same granite stone cropping standing about 15 feet up is this tremendous female. 

    I find this art work a reflection of the intelligence of its maker. I suggest it is some of the best art I have ever seen. It is is a real gift to be aware of it existence. I do believe there is a full bodied pictorial language not based on phonics that allowed the array of early humans to communicate and record their history. It is all around us and to become suddenly aware of this is moving. We think we know everything, but after taking a moment to digest what I am suggesting, it appears there is so much we don t know about ourselves. 

  The tower of babble is a metaphor for a pictorial form of communication that did not rely on phonics so that many people's with different languages could understand. It worked for 100s of thousands of years. Then came a phonics base symbols, and monotheism with a  patriarchal current. Followed by fear and oppression, enforced filtering until a population is brain washed. I believe the human brain was once wired for spotting and recognizing this form of communication. I think that memory can be stimulated. It is a matter of looking. It is already there. It is everywhere. Once your brain is stimulated to recognize the patterns and images you will start to get a sense of the human mark. Like any other human endeavor there is error, but one can become confident with this format just like any other form of communication. 

   I have been looking at this material for many years. At first I thought this was some thing more recent and local. The use of the totem communication was present in the Americas until quite recently among the Native Americans. As I have become more comfortable with the concept myself I have found it applicable to other sites around the world. There is a drive to understand how and where this pictorial design began. Not only is it artistically moving and powerful as art history, it is truly the history of man.