ArtsLookUp.com Logo

Segmented Cruciform

Cross-like abstract sign
Used in paleolithic cave art

Main A-Z Index

CONTENTS

Segmented Cruciform Prehistoric Abstract Sign
A Paleolithic segmented cruciform symbol. Image by Cave Signs Design. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What the heck is a Segmented Cruciform?

A "segmented cruciform" is a type of cross that doesn't connect in the middle. According to Genevieve von Petzinger, an authority on cave signs from the era of Upper Paleolithic art, it is one of only 32 abstract symbols used during the Stone Age.

How Were They Made in Caves?

Segmented cruciforms were produced just like any other image. They were painted or drawn (usually in black manganese dioxide or red ochre), or engraved on rock with a burin or other sharp stone tool. On rare occasions, they might be both painted and incised.

Description

In prehistoric art, the "standard cruciform" symbol (named after the Latin word for "cross-shaped") is formed by two perpendicular intersecting lines.

By comparison, a "segmented cruciform" sign is composed of four arms of a cross, none of which touch each other.

The shape is best described as a plain cross with each arm pulled away from the central join, leaving an empty space where the intersection used to be.

A "segmented cruciform" symbol is likely to be more right-angular in composition, whereas the two lines of a "standard cruciform" often intersect at an oblique angle.

The empty space in the centre of the "segmented cruciform" composition does not have to be empty. The paleolithic artist may arrange his symbol around a natural feature in the rock or use another symbol, like a dot, to fill the space or emphasize an idea.

Back to top

How Common are Segmented Cruciforms?

"Segmented cruciforms" feature in several forms of paleolithic art, so the basic shape must have resonated with early humans. However, exact details of prevalence and location have yet to emerge.

They are present in several sites of Franco-Cantabrian cave art, although they are less common than the regular cruciform signs (13 percent).

Why do Abstract Signs Matter?

In Europe, abstract pictographs outnumber other types of cave art by a factor of 2 to 1. Such predominance commands our attention.

Cave signs were created for hundreds of thousands of years, by Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Found mostly on cave walls, they have also appeared on items of mobiliary art dating back to the Middle Paleolithic.

Being non-figurative, abstract symbols are more likely to serve as ideomorphs, offering some type of information, or possibly advice, to the viewer.

To researchers, they offer important clues to human development in the area of conceptual and symbolic thought.

Some of these prehistoric symbols may also act as pictograms, if their shape is used as a pictorial representation of an idea or piece of information.

Some anthropologists believe that abstract signs constitute a primitive system of writing, while others are doubtful that the symbols can provide enough variety for this purpose.

Whether ideograms or pictograms, these markings reveal patterns of contact between paleolithic caves within a region (like the Dordogne, or the Lot, or Cantabria), or between regions themselves.

This can tell us a great deal about trade routes, and what hunting and cultural contacts were maintained within or between regions.

What Do Segmented Cruciform Signs Mean?

Despite the predominance of non-figurative signs in Stone Age caves, we still have absolutely no idea what any of them mean, including segmented cruciforms.

We need to understand the cultural context of these abstract signs before we can decode their meaning.

See also our article on the Purpose and Meaning of Cave Art.

Related Articles

For details of other important cave signs and symbols, see the following articles:

For more about the chronology of Stone Age cave art, see: Prehistoric Art Timeline (540,000 BC).

References

(1) "The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World's Oldest Symbols." Genevieve von Petzinger. Atria; Illustrated edition (28 Mar. 2017) ISBN-10: 1476785503. ISBN-13: 978-1476785509.
(2) "Cave Art" Jean Clottes. (2008) Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-5723-7.

Back to top

Home