Prehistoric Cave Paintings Discovered in Dominican Republic

@Wide-Eyes -- Thank you very much for the translation of the article from Spanish. Since I switched to using Opera I can't figure out how to translate anymore..

Although when I first posted this thread, I hadn't even thought of the resemblance to greys in the first picture (though now I don't know how I didn't).

I have been to the Dominican Republic a few times and have seen some of the artwork attributed to the Taino groups. One bit of rock art had spirals--like more detailed version of the two spiral like parts in the first picture. (the possible "eyes")

Like an epic thread discussed, these shapes (spirals, suns) are found worldwide. How intriguing--this is one of the reasons that drew me to ATS in the first place.


[edit on 5/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

reply to post by BluePillOrRedPill

oh, man good eye bluepill, baby.....more hints that seem to be sent to us from the past.....i have to looky at the eyes again....are they almond?.....

yep, did you guys see that....he looks just like that aviation week picture from 1988....the big circle for the eye orbit.....yesxzzzz the strait lips or lack of....

[edit on 5-8-2010 by GBP/JPY]

reply to post by GBP/JPY


Is this the one you mean??

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4226607290ce.jpg[/atsimg]

There is a resemblance, but the "eyes" seem too low in the cave art.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a9470508ee19.jpeg[/atsimg]

I'm not sure what my opinion is of this so far...

I personally believe the island of Hispaniola has been inhabited by humans for at least 16,000 years, which is the confirmed date that humans lived in Pennsylvania. Why wouldn't they live in Dominican Republic as well? Better weather. Calm seas full of sea-food. Nice beaches. Humans were just like us back then, and wanted what we want now.

In fact, 16,000 years ago, up until about 8000 years ago, the sea level was much lower, so all the archaeological data on the previous coastline is underwater now. Most people live near the coast, and that's a fact.

As for sea-travel, it wouldn't have been difficult to go from Florida to Cuba, and then Haiti. Especially 8000 years ago, you would have easily been able to SEE the next island over, and any primitive boat could have traveled over.

It would have been like a reverse of the modern Cubans & Haitians on boats to come to Florida.

I think it's stretching too far out too make any assumptions as to what either one of these "artifacts" are. If indeed they are man-made. To me there is a cacophony of reasons as to why the heck these objects exist. 5,000 years ago means it's all too easy to draw conclusions. In this time of antiquity mankind is prone to make his bid and assume a backdrop, but it's relevance is only as strong as the producer of the scenario. The nature of the universe is mysterious, our very planet is containing secrets that get revealed little by little each day. And some of interest, some that lead down blind alley-ways.

I feel that looking at these pictures, I feel no emotion or draw to them. A shape is a shape, and nothing more. The depiction is far too arbitrary, more evidence is needed plus a more thorough history on the region. Yes, no?

reply to post by signoregregorio


Of course they need to be studied more--they were just found. Although I think your hint that they may not even be made by humans is a bit absurd.

I feel that looking at these pictures, I feel no emotion or draw to them. A shape is a shape, and nothing more

And why would you feel emotion from looking at them anyway?

Plus nobody is putting forth statements of what exactly these 61 paintings and 2 carvings are supposed to depict. This site is "just out of the womb" as far as study goes.

ETA: I never said these photos from the site WERE carvings of aliens or anything else, for that matter. I simply agreed that the one resembles what "greys" are supposed to look like. I didn't say they WERE.

I am very interested to see what the experts decide after what may be a long investigation.


[edit on 5/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]

From the website: translation mine -

CAVE FOUND WITH 63 ROCK (ART) PIECES

MANY CAVES MAY STILL NOT BE REPORTED DUE TO THE LACK OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

A cave that has 61 petroglyphs and two bas-relief sculptures created by aborigines in the community of Monteclaro, Cotui, was discovered by the creator of the Cotui Ferry, Raul Fernandez.

According to archaeologist Adolfo Lopez's research, this cavern that has not yet been reported could be declared a World Heritage site by Unesco.

Sanchez Ramirez province is most known for the great number of caverns it possesses, the great majority of these containing rock art with a most important historical value to the nation; nevertheless, not all the caves have been reported.

Lopez, who is an archaeologist specializing in rock art at the Complutense University of Madrid, baptized the cave as "Raul de Monteclaro" due to it being located in the community of Monteclaro and to its discoverer, Raul Fernandez.

On his visit to the cavern, the researcher specified the existence of 61 petroglyphs and two bas-relief sculptures.

Of the bas-relief sculptures, one of them was recognized by Lopez as among the "three great sculptures of pre-Hispanic rock art," due to its strange form and because finding them is not very common.

"This sculpture is the latest, quality bas-relief that has been found in the Antilles up until this moment. It is a figure that is situated in fetal position, which makes one think that they are dedicated to fertility," explained [Lopez] - also associate researcher of the Museum of Dominican Man.

López expressed that even though he still does not know the exact age of the cave, because ceramic shards have not been found, it could be up to 5,000 years old.

OPENING UP TO TOURISM (or TOURISTIC EXPLOITATION depending on your translation)

The caves with petroglyphs allow for high levels of visitation, since they do not contain rock art elements that can be degraded by the change in conditions that such visits might provoke.

According to Lopez, the cave does not have any problem in being opened to public use since it is accessible, there are no paintings to be altered, and the rock art that it has is "spectacular."

"Raul de Monteclaro has the possibility of being one of Cotui's most important tourist attractions, because of the beautiful countryside that one can observe, the quantity of precious birds that inhabit it and the kind country folk that surround it," he noted.

Meanwhile, the archaeologist hopes that the Museum of Dominican Man or some other scientific institution might take interest in working in the cavern to be able to detect the cultural value that it possesses and its antiquity.

The expert affirms that the rock art of the Dominican Republic is considered tangible world heritage by Unesco.

"One must only prepare the cave report and have it presented so that Raul de Monteclaro cave could be perfectly accepted as a World Heritage site," he added.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS NEEDED

Adolfo Lopez signaled the need for strengthening the study of Archaeology in the nation due to this being the perfect place to develop this science.

"It becomes paradoxical that the Dominican Republic is the country that has the most rock art in the world and that only about 5% have been worked (exploited) because there are no specialists in the area," he considered.

Consulted on the scarcity of archaeologists int he country, the director of the Anthropology degree program at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Diorys Lantigua, explained that every science such as that has purpose, but that a degree program in the university "does not open up for opening-up's sake."

"In order to open up a degree program in a given university, one must conduct a field study to see the needs [it has]," he/she added.

(EDIT: Museum of Dominican Man is a more appropriate translation)


[edit on 5-8-2010 by Sphota]

reply to post by Sphota


Thank you very much.

The last part of the article says the following:

PRESERVATION OF THE CAVES
Adolfo Lopez assured that in order to preserve the caves with rock art, especially that of Raul de Monteclaro, the following measures must be adopted: -No touching or highlighting the petroglyphs with physical means.

-No modifying them in order to put them into public usage because the caves were ancient temples where rock art was provided in a very meditated way.

-Hanging corresponding, informative signage and establishing a surveillance system and guided visits.

-It also becomes important to respect the fauna in the cavern, above all the bat colonies. To do this, the presence of biologists in the creation of public use projects in the caverns is fundamental, since their orientation is fundamental to guarantee the safeguarding of cave fauna.

In the meantime, Jose Manuel Mateo, the director of the department of biodiversity of the Ministry of the Environment, requested that a letter be sent to that entity with the information collected from the Raul de Monteclaro cave in order to guarantee its protection.

EDIT:
You're very welcome. As a note, however, the name of the museum in the article should be interpreted as "The Museum of Dominican Man" because their website actually defines the instituation as "Una institución gubernamental dedicada a la preservación de la cultura dominicana en su conjunto y diversidad."

...dedicated to the preservation of "Dominican" culture.

I had a feeling when I was translating that "dominicano" referred to "man" and not "museum".

[edit on 5-8-2010 by Sphota]

reply to post by Sphota


Not just a bat colony, but colonies--plural. Hmm, that may put the kibosh on attracting loads of visitors right there...
Or perhaps they could rent anti-guano hats at the entrance.

woow that is very interresting!! i hope we can discover more and more about the past... any available picture would be great

Originally posted by BluePillOrRedPill
Hmm. Strange shape of a rock to carve a face on, huh? Looks like a typical bulbous headed grey imo.

That's what I was implying when I said our 'outside' friends (prior to your post).... Seems not many people realised I was talking about the greys Cheese & Rice, I need to be more direct in my explanations in future.

[edit on 5-8-2010 by TortoiseKweek]

reply to post by Chamberf=6


Maybe the bats made the petroglyphs to exalt their gods...

...or maybe they are randomly formed from guano deposits.

More likely, I would say the Americas have been populated longer than we assume.

Aw here I go thinking the glyph's would depict a platano w/no socks! hehe!!

sorry, double post

[edit on 5-8-2010 by Sparkitekt]

Well, it's being mis-reported at this point. There are petroglyphs but not "cave paintings" (pictographs.) I'm dubious of the age of the first photo; the brightness of the lines shows that it's not THAT old and in fact could be as young as only 100 years old.

The second one, however, is very old indeed.

There are some of us who study rock art, but the problem is that it's of vague provenance... is it archaeology or anthropology? How do you date it? How do you figure out how many cultures and who they're related to?

Carolyn Boyd here in Texas and a few others around the world study it. But there's not a great rush among scientists to go study it.

If someone would buy me and the hubby a plane ticket, I'd be there in a heartbeat, cataloging and investigating (and publishing!)

Originally posted by Sphota
reply to post by Chamberf=6

 

More likely, I would say the Americas have been populated longer than we assume.

We (the evil scientist community) have reasonable evidence that the Americas have been populated since 20,000 BC (and there's some evidence that indicates dates up to 30,000 BC. 3,000 BC is well within the range of when people were in the Americas (and in fact the pre-Olmec cultures were alive and thriving and well at the time.)

reply to post by Chamberf=6


Because people feel emotion about everything they look at to some degree or another ?

Besides, I'm just responding to the level of people jumping the gun here and thinking it's alien origin and then applying it to the ancient-astronaut hypothesis.

I was implying that before anyone jumps to conclusions further examination is needed to which you agree. I sense a personal bias and want for these to be something more and an adherence to the adage "abscence of evidence is not evidence of absence." My personal bias is that it's insubstantial at this moment but promising. Yet, people need to stop jumping to wild conclusions because it makes the entire community seem nutty. Sorry you misunderstood, better times ahead I assure you.

reply to post by Byrd

Well, it's being mis-reported at this point. There are petroglyphs but not "cave paintings" (pictographs.) I'm dubious of the age of the first photo; the brightness of the lines shows that it's not THAT old and in fact could be as young as only 100 years old. The second one, however, is very old indeed.

I'm not sure you read the full articles.
The photos I found are of course not paintings...never said they were. They are the two carvings mentioned in the articles.

There are sixty-one (61) cave paintings that there are not photographs of yet (at least that have been made public).

Unless, that is, you have some inside information or knowledge of this finding in Monteclaro to say there are no paintings found??

[edit on 7/8/2010 by Chamberf=6]