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Serpentiform Sign

Abstract snake-like symbol
in Upper Paleolithic caves

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Serpentiform Prehistoric Sign
A Paleolithic serpentiform symbol. Image by Cave Signs Design. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What is a Serpentiform?

In prehistoric art, a "serpentiform" is a curvilinear abstract motif, shaped like a snake. It consists of a single squiggle, which artists would probably achieve with one stroke of a brush.

It is one of 32 abstract signs documented by sign-expert Genevieve von Petzinger, which were used in Franco-Cantabrian cave art between 40,000 and 10,000 BC.

How Prevalent are Serpentiforms?

The "serpentiform sign" is found in 11 French caves containing Upper Paleolithic art. That's around 7 percent of the total.

More common symbols include Line signs (73%), Penniforms (25%), Circle signs (19%), and Flabelliforms (18%).

Where are Serpentiforms Located?

In France, serpentiform pictographs first appear in the Ardèche region, before moving north to the Grande Grotte d'Arcy-sur-Cure in the Yonne département, and northwest into the Périgord, during the Gravettian period.

Later, during the Magdalenian period, there are two clusters of sites with Serpentiforms: one in the Périgord, and another in the foothills of the Pyrénées, with one site in the far north at Gouy Cave in Normandy.

This widening spread suggests this motif migrated into other regions of Europe.

For more about the evolution of paleolithic signs, see: Timeline of Prehistoric Art (from 540,000 BC).

Caves Containing Serpentiforms

Paleolithic caves and shelters with serpentiform signs, include:

When Did Serpentiforms First Appear?

"Serpentiforms" first appeared in Chauvet Cave in the Ardèche, during the era of Aurignacian art, around 35,000 BC.

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Mysterious Cave Signs

Arguably the most puzzling form of cave art is the abstract sign or symbol.

During the Upper Paleolithic, these markings were replicated in caves across Europe, without any clear explanation.

Often, thousands of years elapsed before they were repeated.

Why were these strange symbols created? What purpose did they serve? How did the same shapes spread across the Continent?

What was so important about these signs that made artists repeat them, over and over?

Nobody knows.

Meaning

Archaeologists still haven't a clue what prehistoric signs meant, or why they were produced. Which is hardly surprising, given the time lapse. We were not the intended audience.

Nonetheless, there are tons of theories about the meaning of these strange symbols.

Petzinger, for instance, thinks they have a symbolic role: a desire to communicate ideas that were not easy to portray in a physical form.

Jean Clottes, however, does not accept the implied symbolism of these signs. He insists that the cave signs being almost always associated with animal figures, cannot be said to be truly symbolic.

Other researchers have taken up this connection between the signs and the animal paintings. They ask: Why are signs typically placed next to paintings? When were they added?

Other scholars explore the communication attributes of signs. Were these mysterious symbols an early type of writing? Were they ideograms?

The lack of answers to these questions highlights the need for more structural research, combined with AI analysis, and greater knowledge of hunter-gatherer culture.

See also our article on the Meaning of Cave Art.

Related Articles

For details of other paleolithic caves that contain abstract signs, see the following articles:

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) "Making the Abstract Concrete: The Place of Geometric Signs in French Upper Paleolithic Parietal Art." (2005) (Thesis) Genevieve von Petzinger. University of Victoria, Canada.

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