Unlocking the Secrets of the World's Oldest Symbols: An Exploration of the First Signs

Don henry: Very informative, well written

Germany on Dec 02, 2023

AmyS: As an artist who takes my mark making very serious I was enthralled with this book. Very interesting, lots to ponder and the idea that we are so interconnected makes me think even more deeply about what I draw and paint.

United States on Mar 11, 2023

karenin: Dieses Buch zu beurteilen ist nicht so leicht. Sieht man es als wissenschaftliche Abhandlung? Dann stören möglicherweise die erzählenden Passagen, die das Buch sehr schön abrunden. Erwartet man eine Antwort, was die ersten Zeichen der Menschheitsgeschichte bedeuten? Dann muss man enttäuscht werden, denn - auch wenn der Titel das suggeriert - hier kann man keine finale Antwort finden.

Das Buch gibt einen sehr guten Überblick über den Stand der Forschung zum Thema. Es wird auch die Bandbreite der Höhlenmalereien, ihre Klassifizierung und geographische Verteilung erläutert. Der Blick in angrenzende Forschungsgebiete ist ebenfalls sehr aufschlussreich.

Wer also gern in diese Materie eingeführt werden möchte und dafür ein Buch sucht, ist hier sehr gut beraten. Experten, die bereits voll im Thema stehen, finden vielleicht nicht genug Neues.

Germany on Jan 06, 2023

Tamar: A super interesting new avenue of research on paleolithic art and the possible origin of written language ...

Canada on Dec 02, 2022

Mark Z. Oldknow: This book is well written, accessible and entertaining, offering a personal voice without sacrificing the requisite scientific objectivity. As it should, it raises more and better questions than simple answers. Like the art and architecture of Gobekli Tepe, the level of subjective sensitivity and technological sophistication among pre-agricultural Paleolithic peoples is unexpected. Textiles and the necessary looms, advances in proper chemistry, syntactic language before the African exodus?! The wonderful mysteries of how human consciousness and capability evolved, seemingly sudden, give me pause and giggles of excitement. These were our ancestors, our elders. If they could break through in so many ways, maybe we can find lessons in ourselves to help us still to learn, grow and heal.

Oh, and the notion of a parent lifting their toddler to leave a negative hand print on a cave wall in Southern Europe 60000 years ago just warms my grinch heart. Art communicates so powerfully that we are a community, a family, across the vastness of space/time, and echoes clues to who we are and who we could be.

United States on Nov 12, 2022

paola: Great book, well written and thorough. The first half is a detailed summary of Paleolithic art and some of Paleolithic life. For non-native speakers some description parts, such as cave's natural characteristics, might be challenging. On the other hand, von Petzinger makes us travel through ancient times. It is amazing how she showed we are not so different from our distant relatives. It is awesome to think that they might have had the same feelings, dreams and taste for fashion and art.
I read chapter 13 in particular, about the Lady of st Germain, in a frenzy way, as if I was there.

The negative aspect is that we will probably never know the real meaning of the symbols. I also miss a chapter with more details about the relation between the symbols in different continents.

May Genevieve inspire little girls all over the world to pursue a career in science. She rocks!

Brazil on Dec 13, 2021

Diwiyana: Easy reading description of European Ice Age art with an emphasis on the non-figurative geometric signs. The significance of these lesser known geometric signs is discussed at length. There are too few of them for the set to have been used as writing. But they were clearly important in their and thus worth studying alongside the prettier images of bison, mammoths and so on.

United States on Jan 02, 2017

Fredericka Jacks: I’m pleased to write a short review in praise of Genevieve von Petzinger’s book, The First Signs. The work chronicles von Petzinger’s journey across rock art sites to examine carvings, lines, dots, colors, designs, patterns, and other graphic images, some dating as far back as 40,800 years ago. This is a handsomely produced book filled with black-and-white illustrations and color plates. The author uses these drawings and photographs for the benefit of her readers, often referring to them. There are 16 nicely-written chapters which appeal not only to an educated reader interested in Paleolithic rock art but to a specialist as well. I was especially impressed by chapter 13, “The Lady of St. Germain-la-Rivère and her Mysterious Necklace,” which details a 16 thousand year old grave containing a necklace of 71 deer teeth consisting of 45 differently engraved signs. The fact that these signs were strung together in sequence (now lost) attests to very early compound signs. As elsewhere in the book, von Petzinger suggests that a case for graphic communication precedes writing. The range of topics related to the subject von Petzinger covers is comprehensive. As an experienced...

United States on Oct 13, 2016

j a haverstick: About ten years ago I visited a cave in Spain. Bucket list kind of thing. The guide had a dim orange electric lantern. No photos, of course but I remember the main accessible painting was of a fish, the coast being over twenty miles away. Entering the main chamber the guide suggested we tap the stalagmites, which emitted various ringing tones. The floor we were traversing was the ceiling of a chamber below so our footsteps were also audible. We were told the paintings had been dated to about 35k years ago. There were maybe ten people in the group who climbed a narrow trail up a ledge to the entrance. At that time, the opinion was that cave art was a spontaneous expression of the homo sapiens then arriving from Africa and that it was unique.
Times change. Now similar art has been discovered in Indonesia. Additionally, as this author indicates, there is very good archaeological reason to think such activity was present before hominids left the continent and very much art before the cave painting phase, tools with ornamental features, flutes and so on, going back 100k yrs +.
I have read two other books on this general subject in the last couple weeks. Irst there is the book,...

United States on Aug 14, 2016

Amazon Customer: A most unusual and intriguing book. It started as a real page turner until I realized I wanted to take time to really understand what the author was saying: I rationed myself to one chapter a day. So many books start off well and then sag in the middle. Not this book. This is all about us or rather our relatives who lived so long ago. The story telling approach is very engaging.

Each chapter fits into a logical sequence of ideas that really helps the reader understand how far we have reached in terms of understanding how our ancestors thought and applied that learning given the primitive tools of the time. The author also makes it clear that there are limits to how much we can learn about the signs and symbols painted, drawn, or carved on the walls of caves.

My favourite chapters include the discussion on the outdoor site in Portugal and the amazing possibility that our ancestors decorated their habitation sites with color and images and signs which could be seen by everyone. Could they be a precursor to all the advertising that we see everywhere today? Another fascinating chapter related to a deer tooth necklace discovered in southern France with an amazing...

Canada on Jul 06, 2016