Au Gravettien, dans la grotte Cosquer (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône), l'Homme a-t-il compté sur ses doigts ?During the Gravettian, in the Cosquer cave (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône), has the Man counted on his fingers?
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Publication Date
October 2006
Abstract
Negative hands, occasionally with incomplete fingers, are often found in Paleolithic caves but so far have received no definitive explanation. Nowadays they are more commonly seen as the expression of a gestural language. In this paper, we suggest that the negative hands visible in the Cosquer cave and dating from around 27 000 BP could represent counting on fingers. Several arguments are developed to support this hypothesis. Furthermore we also suggest that the dots and dashes often associated with negative hands in numerous caves, might be another, more advanced way of representing numbers.
Keywords
Main Négative, Langage Gestuel, Grotte Cosquer, Gravettien, Negative Hand, Gestural Language, Cosquer Cave
Document Type
Article
Identifier
SFS0067308_00001
Recommended Citation
Roullion, André, "Au Gravettien, dans la grotte Cosquer (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône), l'Homme a-t-il compté sur ses doigts ?During the Gravettian, in the Cosquer cave (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône), has the Man counted on his fingers?" (2006). KIP Articles. 400.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/400
