Researchers claim to have discovered a “prehistoric version of Facebook” employed by ancient tribes to communicate with every other. After analyzing over 3000 rock art images in Sweden and Russia, Mark Sapwell and his team from Cambridge University concluded that the websites functioned like an “archaic associated stories version” of social networks in which customers shared thoughts and emotions and gave stamps of approval to other contributions – very comparable to today’s Facebook like.
Using analytical software the scientists compared the imagery over large areas – including and taking off layers to develop a sense of how individuals built on current images. Carved from 4000 B.C. to 600 B.C., the rock art depicts folks, animals, boats and hunting scenes. It was developed by generations of semi-nomadic people, who lived a lot more inland in winter to hunt elk, and then occupied places closer to coasts and rivers to fish.
According to Mark Sapwell, a Ph.D. archaeology candidate at Cambridge University, the rock art web sites were really visible landmarks in which passing travelers would consider discover of the traces of individuals who came prior to them, including their very own mark on the globe.
“The rock art we see today is the result of a culmination of many repeated acts of carving, each responding to each other over time. Like a Facebook status invites comment, the rock art appears very social and invites addition – the way the variations of image both mirror and reinterpret act as a kind of call and response between different packs of hunters across hundreds – even thousands – of years.” Sapwell said in a statement.
Rock art identified at the Swedish site, of the only occasion where the researchers identified an elk pierced by an arrow. This uncommon carvings is not a lot clustered with other photographs. Equivalent to a Facebook post without comments. Credit: Mark Sapwell.
The rock art ranged from groups of a couple of images to complete panels with over 500 pictures. Greater clusters of photographs represented a better response and conversation among men and women. For illustration, in earlier intervals (around 4000-3500 B.C.), a silhouette fashion of elk image is virtually always witnessed among big clusters and hardly ever in isolation.
“One thrilling part of the study is that the preference in direction of these well-known images change through time. A really massive change at the images in Sweden is the shift from elk to boat pictures, as if the ‘topic to talk about’ shifted from land to water,” Sapwell explained.
The shift is dated to close to 2000-1800 B.C., a time when travel and extended-distance exchange in between communities become a lot more important. Another impressive find is the application of hybrid imagery (for instance a half-guy half elk, or half-guy half-boat), which was tried out in the early periods, but became much less well-liked from around 3500 B.C.
“So usually, what we see in these landscapes are very intriguing circumstances the place through prehistory, specific themes in everyday life grow to be worth commenting on. A small like the fashions of Facebook comments, these topics are witnessed to fall in and out of favor,” Sapwell mentioned.
A personal computer model of a rock art panel, visualizing aggregation of
According to Sapwell, the huge concentrations of rock photos attracted considerably interest simply because their social value was well understood by the people who made and read them.
“Like today, folks have always wished to really feel linked to each other – this was an expression of identity for these quite early societies, before written language,” Sapwell said.
Apparently we have been practicing social ‘liking’ and ‘commenting’ behavior for considerably longer than we recognized. This may explain the achievement and fast embracement of digital social networks like Facebook and Twitter, even though we shouldn’t be stunned if in a few centuries, archaeologist will be learning the then abandoned Facebook ruins to learn about our lives and society.
Sources and more information:
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