The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

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of paving stone from the floor of the settlement and stacked in the storerooms of the
museum at Koblenz were found to be covered in fine engravings. Renewed excavations
at Gönnersdorf produced many further examples. The engravings were done on slabs
of locally occurring slate using a stone burin (a pointed tool). Much as children in the
nineteenth century used slate for writing on, these plates had been lightly engraved
with a sharp point, the freshly made lines showing up as white-grey against the dark
background. When the dust is wiped off with water, the lines “disappear” and the surface
can be used again and again. What remains is a dense mass of superimposed lines that
only show up with oblique lighting and must be carefully traced to reveal the various
figures among the swirling lines.
Originally the slates had been quite large, up to one meter in width. They had
been progressively broken up into smaller pieces and even split into thinner sheets.
At each stage the surfaces were used for drawing. Some of the larger drawings were
reconstructed from more than a hundred fragments. The pieces of slate finally ended
up on the floor, presumably to keep the Gönnersdorf people and their belongings out of
the mud. There is no suggestion that the art was intended to end up on the floor, which
is not an unknown practice in later cultures.
The engravings include very naturalistic portrayals of a wide range of animals,
though there is no unified style. Horse and mammoth are the most commonly
represented species, though the list of others is long and varied. The details are often so
accurate that it is possible to identify not only different species but even sex and season,
i.e., winter coat or summer markings. Individual animals such as the horse are shown
with mane, nostrils, accurate hooves, tail and even the anal flap. It is possible to compare
the mammoths of Gönnersdorf with carcasses preserved in ice in Siberia. It seems the
Gönnersdorf mammoths were a different species with small tusks. The woolly rhino is
portrayed, as are several deer species, several bovids and several goat species including
a single picture of the rare Saiga antelope. Many bird species can be identified and,
interestingly, two species of seal, although Neuwied is some 300 kms from the sea, and
in Magdalenian times was at least 550 kms distant!
In total contrast to the animal pictures, those of humans are restricted to very
stylized and reduced images of females. Almost exclusively without heads, hands or
feet, these images show an extreme of abstraction. With almost masterly skill the female
figure was reduced to one or two lines and yet is recognizable as such. Many of the
figures is presented in rows or in facing pairs. From the position of the torso in relation
to the buttocks there is a distinct impression of rhythmic movement. It is hard to avoid
the feeling that dance is being represented. One picture in particular stands out. It shows
four female figures all facing (moving?) in one direction. Their bodies are decorated with
rhythmic bands of horizontal lines, the hips with “belts” and crossed patterns which
may represent clothing. The second figure from the right is more bent than the others
in expression of the weight she is carrying on her back. A frame, resembling an Indian
papoose is strapped to her back, possibly the earliest portrayal of an infant in the whole
history of art.