Stone Gallery Photograph by Carsten Peter

I’m really enjoying this month’s issue of the National Geographic magazine, particularly the beautiful article ‘Hands Across Time, Exploring the Rock Art of Borneo’, also found on NG’s website.

Deep within the cliffside caves of eastern Borneo, 10,000-year-old paintings featuring the hands of the artists themselves may offer clues about ancient migrations. Thus begins an excerpt of the article, well worth reading. Then view the photo gallery.

The interactive image is magical and powerful. Ghostly hands–many decorated with dots, dashes, and other patterns–reach out from the wall of Gua Tewet in the rain forest of eastern Borneo. Dated back to more than 10,000 years ago, the stenciled hands may suggest initiation or shamanistic rituals, perhaps related to prehistoric Aboriginal art in Australia. The French-Indonesian expedition team called hands connected by long curving lines, at right, a “tree of life.” The design may symbolize ties that connect individuals, families, territories, or spirits to each other.

Luc-Henri Fage, the author of this story, wrote on the occasion of this, his ninth expedition:

I’d thought back to my first expedition here 17 years ago. A documentary filmmaker and magazine editor, I had set out on a 700-mile (1,100-kilometer) trek from one end of Kalimantan to the other with a few caving friends. Halfway across the island, taking shelter under a rock, we found ancient charcoal drawings on the ceiling. When I returned to France, I was surprised to learn that no such rock art had ever been reported in Kalimantan. I returned in 1992 with Jean-Michel Chazine, a French archaeologist and specialist in Oceanian prehistory. Two years later we discovered prehistoric paintings in East Kalimantan. In 1995 Pindi Setiawan, an Indonesian anthropologist, joined our team, and together, year after year, we found dozens of caves with paintings throughout the region, some with unique designs hinting at a mysterious forgotten people.

They have found about 1,500 hand prints in 30 caves.

And then there is their marvellous website Le Kalimanthrope, about past expeditions and amazing photos of exquisite prehistoric artwork. Most of it is in French, but the numerous pages of photos with almost 40 photos of Gua Tewet speak for themselves.

After blogging about cuneiforms last week, I happened to go its source, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. I noticed this announcement:

“FROM ABOVE: IMAGES OF A STORIED LAND,”Adriel Heisey’s Aerial Photographs of the American Southwest Desert Offer a Unique Look at Ancient and Modern Landscapes. It looks like a fascinating exhibition, on until October 2, 2005, so if you are in Philadelphia…

Chaco Canyon, Casas Grandes, and the Aztec Ruins National Monument are among the places photographed by Adriel Heisey, whose dramatic pictures are captured from a unique vantage point: his homebuilt, one-man, ultra-light airplane.[…] Heisey’s photographs offer viewers an uncommon opportunity to explore the complicated, curious, and often breathtaking patterns that people have imposed on the land over the years. The ruins of living structures and ritual facilities, remnants of roads, dry rivers and canals, and images carved into desert gravels that are featured in these images carry a wealth of information about how past generations of humans have pursued their basic needs. They mark important transitions such as the move from the migratory life of the hunter/gatherer to the more sedentary village life of early farmers and traders. At the same time, there is a juxtaposition of modern elements – new homes, cars, highways, fences, power lines, and even footprints – that remind the viewer of the unceasing nature of change and the ongoing impact of human interaction with the earth.

Disappointed that the museum website only features one image, I’ve been doing a bit of virtual exploring to learn more about Adriel Heisey. There’s an exhibition catalogue available, and National Geographic also has an article, photos and videos by Heisey on an earlier project, but not too many photos of this exhibition that I could find.

Inspired by the long list of sites photographed by Heisey, I went exploring and found many riches. Here are a few: Ancient Observatories: Chaco Canyon, Casas Grandes, which is also on the World Heritage List, and Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Una Vida petroglyphs – from Chaco Culture National Historical Park

The American Southwest is an area I’ve never been to, but has numerous fascinating natural and manmade features that I dream of visiting and photographing myself one day, now re-inspired by Heisey. Hmm, I wonder why most archaeological sites seem to be in hot, dry places? (I’m heat intolerant.)

Update August 7.05: Here’s a review Art/Air Show by Edward J. Sozanski including a mention of a slide show of some of Heisey’s work.