Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia, c. 16,000-27,000 BP / j)fanspl28
"Samples of incised lines some of which are deeper than usual and were probably abraded with several strokes of a hard piece of stone. Scale in inches. Photographs by R. Edwards [Plate 28]." "There is a number of these fan-shaped forms in South West 3, but, as a distinct pattern, they merge into other more amorphous groupings of finger markings." South West Wall, Section 3 "is the most visually impressive part of the marked surfaces in the Art Passage. A large area of the wall, 67 feet long and up to 22 feet high is almost completely covered with deeply impressed grooves" (70). Section 3 approaches the Squeeze.
Palaeoart Interpretation (James Harrod): These appear to be an example of a 'Fan Motif', a set of lines which seem to radiate from a 'point' source (bottom/left image) or 'circular' source (top/right image). This motif is known at least from Lower Paleolithic Bilzingsleben through Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe and elsewhere [see Feliks, J. 2007. Musings on the Paleolithic Fan Motif. In (Reddy, Peddarapu Chenna (ed.). Exploring the Mind of Ancient Man: Festschrift to Robert G. Bednarik:249-266. New Delhi: Research India Press.] As I suggest under image (n) interpretation, it appears that they may be intentionally set in symbolic opposition or complementarity to another motif, Concentric Circles, at the entrance to the Squeeze.
Photo © R. Edwards, in L. Maynard and R. Edwards, in Wright, R. V. S. (ed.). 1971. Archaeology of the Gallus Site, Koonalda Cave. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies: plate 28. |
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