About life, childbirth and death: 8,000-year-old rock paintings were found in Turkey. PHOTO
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In Turkey, rock paintings about 8,000 years old, discovered in the Inkaya cave, have been deciphered. The main theme of the drawings is life and death. There are also detailed images of pregnancy and childbirth on the rocks, Arkeonews reports. During the same research, scientists discovered another cave located 5 kilometers from the Inkaya cave. The discovery of both caves is one of the most important in Anatolia in recent years. Rock paintings shed light on the life of people in the Neolithic era. For example, the find indicates that prehistoric people knew a lot about childbirth and pregnancy. Read also: Archaeologists have found the oldest rock drawing of an animal. It’s a pig. PHOTO Photo: Dr. Derya Yalçıklı/Arkeonews The paintings found in both caves date back to the Late Neolithic period. They were discovered in 2015, but scientists described the researched find in the journal Praehistorische Zeitschrift only now. The research was led by scientist Deriya Yalchikli from Canakkale University. When the team analyzed the Baltalin and Inkaya caves, they found that they had different functions. The drawings in one of the caves depicted hunters, and in the other – religious figures. “The social and religious systems in Western Anatolia during the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods is an important question in Anatolian archaeology, and the study of wall paintings in the Baltalin and Inkaya caves may provide some important answers,” said archaeologist Deriya Yalchikli in an Arkeonews commentary. “Treasure hunters” partially damaged the Inkaya cave because they used dynamite. But despite these damages, the cave gave researchers important information about the Neolithic era. Life and death are the themes of rock paintings in the Inkaya Cave. The Inkaya Cave is located 2.5 km from the Delice district. There are drawings on each of the walls. The main part of the composition on the left side of the entrance also depicts four people dancing. To the right of them is a man in fur and with his hand extended forward. He is a shaman who helps human spirits pass to the world of the dead. To his left is a fetus growing in the mother’s womb. And on the other wall – a man with a snake behind his back. Experts interpret this image as the “moment of death”, because the snake represents death. Also in the picture there is a dead man without a head, which is given to the vultures. Parts of the drawings representing life depict the formation of a fetus in a woman’s womb, its development and birth, as well as the joy of the emergence of new life in the community. Researchers note the role of the shaman in this process. “Life and death are the themes of the rock paintings in the Inkaya cave,” scientists say. In their opinion, the Neolithic rock paintings from the Inkaya Cave will help fill a gap in the history of Anatolian painting and sculpture. We will remind, earlier in Vietnam, spices for curry were found, which can be 2 thousand years old. The aroma is preserved. Read also: 100,000 years earlier than previously thought: scientists have found evidence of ancient burials. PHOTO
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