Why are these 32 symbols found in caves all over Europe | Genevieve von Petzinger | TED

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

There's something about caves --

Ima nečeg u pećinama,

a shadowy opening in a limestone cliff that draws you in.

senovitim otvorima u krečnjačkoj steni koji vas privlače sebi.

As you pass through the portal between light and dark,

Dok prolazite kroz vrata između svetlosti i tame,

you enter a subterranean world --

ulazite u podzemni svet -

a place of perpetual gloom, of earthy smells, of hushed silence.

mesto večne tame, zemljanih mirisa, zanemele tišine.

Long ago in Europe,

Nekada davno u Evropi,

ancient people also entered these underground worlds.

drevni narodi su takođe ulazili u ove podzemne svetove.

As witness to their passage,

Kao svedoke svog prolaska,

they left behind mysterious engravings and paintings,

za sobom su ostavili misteriozne gravure i slike,

like this panel of humans, triangles and zigzags from Ojo Guareña in Spain.

kao što je ovaj prikaz ljudi, trouglova i cik-cak oblika

iz pećine Oho Huarenja u Španiji.

Sada hodate istom stazom kao i ovi prvi umetnici.

You now walk the same path as these early artists.

And in this surreal, otherworldly place,

Na ovom nadrealnom, nadzemaljskom mestu,

it's almost possible to imagine

gotovo da je nemoguće zamisliti

that you hear the muffled footfall of skin boots on soft earth,

da čujete prigušeni odjek koraka kožnih čizama na mekoj zemlji

or that you see the flickering of a torch around the next bend.

ili da vidite treperenje baklje iza sledeće krivine.

When I'm in a cave,

Kada sam u pećini,

često se zapitam šta je podstaklo te ljude da odu tako daleko

I often find myself wondering what drove these people to go so deep

to brave dangerous and narrow passageways to leave their mark?

da se odvaže kroz opasne i uske prolaze kako bi ostavili svoj trag.

In this video clip,

Na ovom snimku,

that was shot half a kilometer, or about a third of a mile, underground,

koji je sniman pola kilometra, ili oko trećinu milje pod zemljom

in the cave of Cudon in Spain,

u pećini Kudon u Španiji,

we found a series of red paintings on a ceiling

pronašli smo niz crvenih slika na tavanici

in a previously unexplored section of the cave.

prethodno neistraženog dela pećine.

As we crawled forward, military-style, with the ceiling getting ever lower,

Dok smo puzali napred u vojnom stilu, a tavanica je bivala sve niža,

we finally got to a point where the ceiling was so low

konačno smo došli do tačke u kojoj je tavanica bila toliko niska

that my husband and project photographer, Dylan,

da moj muž i fotograf na projektu, Dilan,

could no longer achieve focus on the ceiling with his DSLR camera.

nije više mogao da podesi fokus na tavanici na svom DSLR fotoaparatu.

So while he filmed me,

Dok me je snimao,

I kept following the trail of red paint with a single light

nastavljala sam da sledim trag crvene boje jedinim izvorom svetlosti

and a point-and-shoot camera that we kept for that type of occasion.

i fotoaparatom "idiotom" kojeg smo nosili za takve situacije.

Half a kilometer underground.

Pola kilometra pod zemljom.

Seriously.

Ozbiljno.

What was somebody doing down there with a torch or a stone lamp?

Šta je neko radio tamo dole sa bakljom ili kamenom lampom?

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I mean -- me, it makes sense, right?

Mislim - kod mene to ima smisla, zar ne?

But you know,

Međutim, znate,

this is the kind of question that I'm trying to answer with my research.

to je pitanje na koje pokušavam da odgovorim u svom istraživanju.

I study some of the oldest art in the world.

Izučavam najstariju umetnost na svetu.

It was created by these early artists in Europe,

Stvorili su je ovi prvi umetnici u Evropi

between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago.

pre 10 000 do 40 000 godina.

And the thing is

Ne radi se o tome da je izučavam

that I'm not just studying it because it's beautiful,

samo zato što je lepa,

though some of it certainly is.

mada ponešto zaista jeste.

But what I'm interested in is the development of the modern mind,

Ono što me interesuje jeste razvoj savremenog uma,

of the evolution of creativity, of imagination, of abstract thought,

evolucija kreativnosti, mašte, apstraktne misli,

about what it means to be human.

onoga što znači biti čovek.

While all species communicate in one way or another,

Mada sve vrste komuniciraju na ovaj ili onaj način,

only we humans have really taken it to another level.

samo smo mi, ljudi, zaista to preneli na viši nivo.

Our desire and ability to share and collaborate

Naša želja i sposobnost da delimo i sarađujemo

has been a huge part of our success story.

predstavljala je veliki deo priče o našem uspehu.

Our modern world is based on a global network of information exchange

Naš savremeni svet se zasniva na globalnoj mreži razmene informacija

made possible, in large part, by our ability to communicate --

koju omogućava, većim delom, naša sposobnost da komuniciramo,

in particular, using graphic or written forms of communication.

a naročito koristeći grafičke ili pismene oblike komunikacije.

The thing is, though,

Međutim, stvar je u tome

that we've been building on the mental achievements

da smo gradili na mentalnim postignućima

of those that came before us for so long

onih koji su bili tu toliko davno pre nas

that it's easy to forget that certain abilities haven't already existed.

da je lako zaboraviti da izvesne sposobnosti nisu već postojale.

It's one of the things I find most fascinating

To je jedna od stvari koje smatram fascinantnim

about studying our deep history.

u vezi sa izučavanjem naše daleke istorije.

Those people didn't have the shoulders of any giants to stand on.

Ti ljudi nisu imali velikane da se oslone na njih.

They were the original shoulders.

Oni su bili prvobitni velikani.

And while a surprising number of important inventions

Mada je iznenađujuć broj važnih pronalazaka

come out of that distant time,

potekao iz tog udaljenog vremena,

what I want to talk to you about today is the invention of graphic communication.

danas želim da vam govorim o pronalasku grafičke komunikacije.

There are three main types of communication,

Postoje tri glavna tipa komunikacije:

spoken, gestural -- so things like sign language --

govorna, gestovna - kao što je znakovni jezik -

and graphic communication.

i grafička komunikacija.

Spoken and gestural are by their very nature ephemeral.

Govorna i gestovna su kratkotrajne po svojoj prirodi.

It requires close contact for a message to be sent and received.

Potreban je bliski kontakt da bi poruka bila poslata i primljena,

And after the moment of transmission, it's gone forever.

a nakon trenutka prenošenja, zauvek nestaje.

Graphic communication, on the other hand, decouples that relationship.

Grafička komunikacija, sa druge strane, raskida tu vezu.

And with its invention, it became possible for the first time

Sa njenim otkrićem, prvi put je postalo moguće

for a message to be transmitted and preserved

da se poruka pošalje i sačuva

beyond a single moment in place and time.

izvan određenog momenta u prostoru i vremenu.

Europe is one of the first places

Evropa je jedno od prvih mesta na kojima počinjemo da viđamo

that we start to see graphic marks regularly appearing

da se redovno javljaju grafičke oznake

in caves, rock shelters and even a few surviving open-air sites.

u pećinama, potkapinama,

čak i na nekoliko opstalih nalazišta na otvorenom.

But this is not the Europe we know today.

Međutim, to nije Evropa kakvom je danas poznajemo.

This was a world dominated by towering ice sheets,

To je bio svet kojim su dominirale uzdignute ledene površine,

three to four kilometers high,

tri do četiri kilometra visoke,

with sweeping grass plains and frozen tundra.

sa prostranim travnatim ravnicama i zamrznutom tundrom.

This was the Ice Age.

To je bilo ledeno doba.

U toku proteklog veka,

Over the last century,

more than 350 Ice Age rock art sites have been found across the continent,

više od 350 nalazišta iz ledenog doba sa umetnošću u kamenu

otkriveno je širom kontinenta,

decorated with animals, abstract shapes and even the occasional human

ukrašenih životinjama, apstraktnim oblicima, i ponekim čovekom,

like these engraved figures from Grotta dell'Addaura in Sicily.

poput ovih urezanih figura iz pećine Adaura u Siciliji.

They provide us with a rare glimpse

One nam pružaju redak pogled

into the creative world and imagination of these early artists.

na kreativni svet i maštu ovih prvih umetnika.

Since their discovery,

Od njihovog otkrića,

it's been the animals that have received the majority of the study

većinom su bile izučavane životinje,

like this black horse from Cullalvera in Spain,

poput ovog crnog konja iz pećine Kuljalvera u Španiji

or this unusual purple bison from La Pasiega.

ili ovog neobičnog ljubičastog bizona iz pećine La Pasiega.

But for me, it was the abstract shapes, what we call geometric signs,

Međutim, kod mene, apstraktni oblici, ono što nazivamo geometrijskim znacima,

that drew me to study the art.

privukli su me izučavanju umetnosti.

The funny this is that at most sites

Zanimljivo je da su na većini nalazišta

the geometric signs far outnumber the animal and human images.

geometrijski znaci daleko brojniji od slika životinja i ljudi.

Kada sam počela sa ovim 2007. godine,

But when I started on this back in 2007,

there wasn't even a definitive list of how many shapes there were,

nije bilo ni konačnog spiska koliko oblika tamo postoji,

nor was there a strong sense

niti je bilo jakog mišljenja

of whether the same ones appeared across space or time.

o tome da li su se jedni isti javljali u prostoru i vremenu.

Before I could even get started on my questions,

Pre nego što sam mogla da počnem sa svojim pitanjima,

my first step was to compile a database

moj prvi korak bio je da sastavim bazu podataka

of all known geometric signs from all of the rock art sites.

svih poznatih geometrijskih znakova sa svih nalazišta sa umetnošću u kamenu.

The problem was that while they were well documented at some sites,

Problem je bio to što, dok su bili dobro dokumentovani na nekim nalazištima,

usually the ones with the very nice animals,

obično na onima sa vrlo lepim životinjama,

there was also a large number of them where it was very vague --

postojao je i veliki broj onih gde je to bilo vrlo nejasno -

there wasn't a lot of description or detail.

nije bilo mnogo opisa i detalja.

Some of them hadn't been visited in half a century or more.

Neke od njih niko nije posetio pola veka ili više.

These were the ones that I targeted for my field work.

To su bile one koje sam izabrala za svoj terenski rad.

Over the course of two years,

Tokom dve godine,

my faithful husband Dylan and I each spent over 300 hours underground,

moj verni muž Dilan i ja proveli smo po 300 sati pod zemljom

hiking, crawling and wriggling around 52 sites

u pešačenju, puzanju i provlačenju kroz oko 52 nalazišta

in France, Spain, Portugal and Sicily.

u Francuskoj, Španiji, Portugalu i Siciliji.

And it was totally worth it.

Potpuno je bilo vredno toga.

We found new, undocumented geometric signs at 75 percent of the sites we visited.

Pronašli smo nove, nedokumentovane geometrijske znake

na 75 odsto lokacija koje smo posetili.

This is the level of accuracy I knew I was going to need

To je nivo preciznosti za koji sam sam znala da će mi trebati

if I wanted to start answering those larger questions.

ako hoću da počnem da odgovaram na ta veća pitanja.

So let's get to those answers.

Pa, hajde da dođemo do tih odgovora.

Barring a handful of outliers, there are only 32 geometric signs.

Izuzev nekoliko odstupanja, postoje samo 32 geometrijska znaka.

Only 32 signs

Samo 32 znaka

across a 30,000-year time span and the entire continent of Europe.

u toku perioda od 30 000 godina i na celom kontinentu Evrope.

That is a very small number.

To je veoma mali broj.

Now, if these were random doodles or decorations,

Da su to nasumične žvrljotine ili ukrašavanja,

we would expect to see a lot more variation,

očekivali bismo da vidimo mnogo više varijacija,

but instead what we find are the same signs

ali umesto toga pronalazimo iste znake

repeating across both space and time.

koji se ponavljaju i u prostoru i u vremenu.

Some signs start out strong, before losing popularity and vanishing,

Neki znaci počinju kao jaki, pre nego što izgube popularnost i iščeznu,

while other signs are later inventions.

dok su drugi znaci kasniji izumi.

But 65 percent of those signs stayed in use during that entire time period --

Ipak, 65 posto tih znakova ostalo je u upotrebi tokom čitavog tog perioda -

things like lines, rectangles triangles, ovals and circles

poput linija, pravougaonika, trouglova, elipsi i krugova

poput ovih koje vidimo ovde s kraja ledenog doba,

like we see here from the end of the Ice Age,

at a 10,000-year-old site high in the Pyrenees Mountains.

na nalazištu starom 10 000 godina visoko u Pirinejskim planinama.

And while certain signs span thousands of kilometers,

I dok se izvesni znaci prostiru hiljadama kilometara,

other signs had much more restricted distribution patterns,

drugi znaci su imali mnogo ograničenije obrasce raspodele,

with some being limited to a single territory,

od kojih su neki ograničeni na jednu teritoriju,

like we see here with these divided rectangles

kao što vidimo ovde sa ovim podeljenim pravougaonicima

that are only found in northern Spain,

koji su pronađeni samo u severnoj Španiji

and which some researchers have speculated

i o kojima su neki istraživači nagađali

could be some sort of family or clan signs.

da bi mogli biti neka vrsta porodičnih ili plemenskih znakova.

On a side note,

Uzgred,

there is surprising degree of similarity in the earliest rock art

postoji iznenađujuć stepen sličnosti najstarijih umetničkih dela u kamenu

found all the way from France and Spain to Indonesia and Australia.

pronađenih od Francuske i Španije do Indonezije i Australije.

With many of the same signs appearing in such far-flung places,

S obzirom na to da se mnogo istih znakova javlja na tako udaljenim mestima,

especially in that 30,000 to 40,000-year range,

naročito u tom opsegu od 30 000 do 40 000 godina,

it's starting to seem increasingly likely

počinje da izgleda sve verovatnije

that this invention actually traces back to a common point of origin in Africa.

da tragovi ovog pronalaska zapravo vode do zajedničkog porekla u Africi.

But that I'm afraid, is a subject for a future talk.

Međutim, bojim se da je to tema za neke buduće priče.

So back to the matter at hand.

Vratimo se temi na kojoj smo.

There could be no doubt that these signs were meaningful to their creators,

Nema sumnje da su ovi znakovi imali smisla za svoje stvaraoce,

like these 25,000-year-old bas-relief sculptures

kao što su ove skulpture u plitkom reljefu, stare 25 000 godina,

from La Roque de Venasque in France.

iz La Rok de Venask u Francuskoj.

We might not know what they meant, but the people of the time certainly did.

Mi možda ne znamo šta su značile, ali ljudi tog vremena svakako jesu.

The repetition of the same signs, for so long, and at so many sites

Ponavljanje istih znakova, toliko dugo i na toliko mesta

tells us that the artists were making intentional choices.

govori nam da su umetnici namerno vršili odabir.

If we're talking about geometric shapes,

Kada se radi o geometrijskim oblicima sa specifičnim,

with specific, culturally recognized, agreed-upon meanings,

u kulturi prepoznatljivim značenjima oko kojih postoji saglasnost,

than we could very well be looking

vrlo je moguće da gledamo

at one of the oldest systems of graphic communication in the world.

u jedan od najstarijih sistema grafičke komunikacije na svetu.

I'm not talking about writing yet.

Ne govorim još uvek o pisanju.

Jednostavno u ovom trenutku još nema dovoljno znakova

There's just not enough characters at this point

to have represented all of the words in the spoken language,

koji bi predstavljali sve reči govornog jezika,

a to je uslov za celoviti sistem pisanja,

something which is a requirement for a full writing system.

niti viđamo da se znaci dovoljno redovno ponavljaju

Nor do we see the signs repeating regularly enough

to suggest that they were some sort of alphabet.

da bismo utvrdili da su bili neka vrsta alfabeta.

But what we do have are some intriguing one-offs,

Međutim, imamo neke intrigantne jedinstvene primerke,

like this panel from La Pasiega in Spain, known as "The Inscription,"

poput ovog prikaza iz La Pasiege u Španiji poznatog kao „Zapis“,

with its symmetrical markings on the left,

sa simetričnim obeležjima na levoj strani,

possible stylized representations of hands in the middle,

mogućim stilizovanim prikazom ruku u sredini

and what looks a bit like a bracket on the right.

i nečim što pomalo izgleda kao zagrada desno.

The oldest systems of graphic communication in the world --

Najstariji sistemi grafičke komunikacije na svetu -

Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, the earliest Chinese script,

sumersko klinasto pismo, egipatski hijeroglifi,

najstarije kinesko pismo -

all emerged between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago,

pojavili su se pre 4 000 do 5 000 godina,

with each coming into existence from an earlier protosystem

pri čemu je svaki proizašao iz prethodnog protosistema

made up of counting marks and pictographic representations,

sačinjenog od brojanja znakova i piktografskih predstavljanja,

where the meaning and the image were the same.

gde su značenje i slika bili isto.

So a picture of a bird would really have represented that animal.

Dakle, slika ptice bi zaista predstavljala tu životinju.

It's only later that we start to see these pictographs become more stylized,

Tek kasnije počinjemo da vidimo kako piktogrami postaju stilizovaniji,

until they almost become unrecognizable

sve dok nisu postali gotovo neprepoznatljivi

and that we also start to see more symbols being invented

i počinjemo da vidimo da je izmišljeno više simbola

to represent all those other missing words in language --

da bi predstavljali sve druge reči jezika koje nedostaju -

things like pronouns, adverbs, adjectives.

kao što su zamenice, prilozi, pridevi.

So knowing all this,

Znajući sve ovo, izgleda malo verovatno

it seems highly unlikely that the geometric signs from Ice Age Europe

da su geometrijski znaci iz Evrope u vreme ledenog doba

were truly abstract written characters.

zaista bili apstraktni pisani znakovi.

Instead, what's much more likely

Umesto toga, mnogo je verovatnije

is that these early artists were also making counting marks,

da su ovi rani umetnici ostavljali oznake brojanja,

maybe like this row of lines from Riparo di Za Minic in Sicily,

možda kao što je ovaj red linija iz Riparo di Zaminike na Siciliji,

as well as creating stylized representations

pored stvaranja stilizovanih predstava

of things from the world around them.

stvari iz sveta oko njih.

Could some of the signs be weaponry or housing?

Da li bi neki od znakova mogli biti oružje ili sklonište?

Or what about celestial objects like star constellations?

A šta je nebeskim telima kao što su sazvežđa zvezda?

Or maybe even rivers, mountains, trees -- landscape features,

Možda čak mogu predstavljati reke, planine, drveća - odlike predela,

possibly like this black penniform surrounded by strange bell-shaped signs

možda kao ovaj crni peniform okružen čudnim znacima u obliku zvona

from the site of El Castillo in Spain.

sa nalazišta El Kastiljo u Španiji.

The term penniform means "feather-shaped" in Latin,

Termin „peniform“ znači „u obliku pera“ na latinskom,

but could this actually be a depiction of a plant or a tree?

ali da li bi ovo zapravo mogao biti prikaz biljke ili drveta?

Some researchers have begun to ask these questions

Neki istraživači su počeli da postavljaju ova pitanja

about certain signs at specific sites,

o određenim znacima na određenim mestima,

but I believe the time has come to revisit this category as a whole.

ali mislim da je došlo vreme da se iznova razmotri cela ova kategorija.

The irony in all of this, of course,

Ironija u svemu ovome je, naravno,

is that having just carefully classified all of the signs into a single category,

što odmah po brižljivom klasifikovanju svih znakova u jednu kategoriju,

I have a feeling that my next step will involve breaking it back apart

imam osećaj da će moj sledeći korak biti njeno ponovno razbijanje

as different types of imagery are identified and separated off.

jer su različiti tipovi slika identifikovani i odvojeni.

Now don't get me wrong,

Nemojte me pogrešno shvatiti;

the later creation of fully developed writing

kasnije stvaranje potpuno razvijenog pisma

was an impressive feat in its own right.

bio je impresivno postignuće samo po sebi.

But it's important to remember

Ipak, važno je upamtiti

that those early writing systems didn't come out of a vacuum.

da ti rani sistemi pisanja nisu proizašli iz vakuuma,

And that even 5,000 years ago,

i da su, čak i pre 5 000 godina,

people were already building on something much older,

ljudi već gradili na nečemu mnogo starijem,

with its origins stretching back tens of thousands of years --

sa korenima koji sežu desetinama hiljada godina unazad -

to the geometric signs of Ice Age Europe and far beyond,

do geometrijskih znakova iz Evrope u vreme ledenog doba i pre toga,

to that point, deep in our collective history,

do tog trenutka, duboko u našoj kolektivnoj istoriji,

when someone first came up with the idea of making a graphic mark,

kada je neko prvi put došao na ideju pravljenja grafičke oznake

and forever changed the nature of how we communicate.

i zauvek izmenio prirodu načina na koji komuniciramo.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)