#Cave Carvings

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

"The Angel's Trumpet: Unlocking Mysteries in Ancient Landscapes"

Daily writing promptYou have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for?View all responses Walking through a sandy, arid desert with my trusty two-humped camel named Horace, I wanted to find something special to remember my trip to the far eastern edge of Turkey, near Cappadocia. The scenery is sprinkled with caves and underground caverns. I knew that within this area there had to be…

[claypigeonpottery]

I’ve been really enjoying studying and copying cave art these last few months

here’s the original

I plan to add a little more texture with underglaze pencil but it’ll have to wait until it’s been bisque fired

[letmeinimafairy]

Trying new shapes while being emotional about cave art, a cave lion now. Carved river pebble, I think I'll turn it into a bead.

[serpentface]

Etadinii priest (cult of Inyamache) standing near the serpent stone, a megalithic structure predating any historical record. Contrary to first impressions and occasional jesting, this is almost definitely not a giant penis (though Some level of symbolic phallic intent is possible), and was probably shaped to cast a long shadow resembling the head and neck of a snake.

Its location is within the present-day province of Wardin adjacent to the city Jaesai, close to the border of Ephennos. A temple to Inyamache was built around it three centuries ago and greatly expanded within the past century, though the stone and the majority of the associated site remains intact.

It is most likely at least couple thousand years old, long predating the written record and having only hazy and conflicting accounts in different oral histories. Most of its original features have been worn away by erosion, but petrogylphs of a snake and rows of scimitar deer (locally extinct or possibly never extant in this area), gazelle, and aurochs remain visible (and may have been re-carved at various points in history), and there are traces of concentric rings at the 'head'. 21st century level analysis would also find traces of ochre within the lines of the petroglyphs, which were painted and repainted red for at least a couple centuries after its creation.

This is the largest single prehistoric megalithic structure located within present day Imperial Wardin (unless burial cairns constructed over slab tombs are counted) and its existence is very technically impressive, especially given the nearest possible quarry is about 50 miles away. The builders of the site were almost certainly a fairly small society of nomadic pastoralists, so the diversion of time and manpower to the quarrying and movement of this stone (and others on the site) would have been absolutely exceptional. Most similar structures from the era are significantly smaller (about human height) and found closer to quarry sources.

The stone is part of a larger site that was mostly or entirely constructed in the same period. It stands adjacent to a shallow, rounded manmade pit buffered from erosion with brick walls, encircled by smaller horizontal slabs. A single circular slab is placed in the center, which is currently referred to as the sun stone. A nearby arroyo also shows signs of modification from the same period (beyond typical redirections for irrigation), diverting any potential floodwaters away from the site to prevent inundation of the pit.

The primary purpose of this stone and the site itself is recording the winter solstice. During the solstice sunset, the snake's cast shadow approaches and perfectly engulfs the circular slab at the center, appearing to devour it. The notion that the sun is eaten by a snake (either on the winter solstice, during total eclipses, or both) appears to have been a common thread in religious belief in the region. This notion is no longer held in the Wardi sphere (the night of the solstice is the sun's yearly death and total eclipses are a concerning premature and unnatural death) but still has linguistic traces, particularly in the word for total solar eclipses being a compound form of the phrase 'swallowed sun'.

Ownership of the site has changed hands numerous times over its history, but it has been in near-continuous use by all its owners as a place to observe the winter solstice and perform related rites. Virtually all proto-Wardi monotheist animist worldviews cast the sun (or sun + sky) as God and/or the source from which all beings emanate, and most considered the winter solstice to be an exceptionally significant (and potentially dangerous) moment in the year, as the time of the sun's dying and subsequent rebirth.

Within the faith of the 7-faced god, veneration of God has shifted to focus more upon the earth (with the sun as an Extension of the earth, all parts of God's body) but the winter solstice still retains extreme religious significance- it's used in part to determine the date of the new year (which occurs on the first new Nyaram moon on or after the solstice), and is still recognized as the moment of the sun's death.

The state cult of Inyamache currently maintains this site as part of the temple grounds and uses it to measure the winter solstice in the same capacity it has for millennia, using the total engulfment of the sun stone as the signal to begin their most important rites of the year. It is understood that it's at least Possible that the sun could fail to rise the next morning if proper action is not taken to ensure its rebirth.

The serpent stone stands in contrast to the brightly plastered and painted temple (and the other prehistoric slabs on-site that have received this treatment) in remaining unaltered in the modern era. The state cult holds that the serpent stone and its associated site was created by the first men, and considers the location and the serpent stone itself to be sacred and regulated by taboo. The only people permitted to enter the site and touch the stone are Etadinii priests (who cleanse it with water once per solar month). Solar eclipses (and subsequent misfortunes attributed to them) are occasionally blamed on trespassers.

[viagginterstellari]

Snake - Htat Eian Cave, 2017

[umbralstars]

It is in my nature to make ocs and I am subjecting my current interest to it as well. Anyways I read Traces of Two Pasts and decided I would instead keep going with the ideas I had previously :). This is Úlfr Strife, he's Cloud's pa, and him and his kiddo are dressed in more traditional Nibel clothing typical of the tribes who occupy the rest of the region outside of Nibelheim.

He is also still very very dead eventually.

[marejadilla]

Tom Bagshaw, "Carved Inside", 2017, digital painting. Bagshaw was born in Bath, England.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

The Kailasa temple in Maharashtra India is a rock cut temple (one of many) and this one in particular is carved out of one single rockspace. It is in fact the largest rock cut (a whole Indian style) one out of the thirty-four in Ellora Caves -Just the grandeur, skill, and size of all this is awing.

Peak of Indian rock cut architecture.

[troytiwari]

Ellora Caves

Shiva as Kala Bhairava with flaming eyes and in a state of frenzied excitement, with the Saptamatrika at his feet.

[forcekenobi]

u ever think about how long art has been a part of the human experience and get emotional

[terebelli]

Hand-carved cave by Ra Paulette. Abiquiu, New Mexico.

[moodboardmix]

"Promenade" Wine Cellar, Cordoba, Argentina,

Interior design: Christian Schlatter,

Photography: Gonzalo Viramonte

[claypigeonpottery]

lascaux-inspired cave painting deer

[letmeinimafairy]

Two new horse pendants, a recent commission, jasper and quartz pebbles. And a second cave lion out of some kind of jasper, almost haven't changed the shape of a stone

[kodapear]

Really need to work on my backgrounds cause I'm not too proud of this one, but at least it's better than the original lmao

[ech0foxtrot]

Happy Halloween!

rat pumpkin