Y-Sign Prehistoric Symbol

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CONTENTS

• What is a Y-Sign?
• How Were They Made in Caves?
• Description of a Y-Sign
• Who Produced Y-Signs?
• Why are Y-Signs Important?
• How Prevalent are Y-Signs?
• What is the Meaning of Y-Signs?
• Related Articles
• References

What is a Y-Sign?

A "Y-sign" is made up of a V-shape above a vertical line.

According to Genevieve von Petzinger, an expert on cave symbols used in Upper Paleolithic art, it is one of only 32 abstract signs used in the late Stone Age.

How Were They Made in Caves?

"Y-signs" were made just like any item of cave art. Typically, they were painted in black manganese or red ochre, or incised on the cave wall with a sharp stone tool. Very occasionally, they were painted and incised.

Description of a Y-Sign

The shape of a "Y-sign" simply follows that of the capital letter "Y", although the paleolithic artist often shortened or elongated one or more of the three arms of the symbol.

The etymology and origins of the Y-sign, as seen in paleolithic art, can only be surmised.

Was it developed from the letter "V", the classic fork-sign? Did it originally depict a tree?

The possibilities are endless, but wherever it came from, it had real perceived value as far as Stone Age man was concerned.

Who Produced Y-Signs in Caves?

A good question. We know that animal images were created by artists with a talent for rock engraving or cave painting, but abstract and geometric symbols require much less skill.

Hence it is quite possible that Y-shaped pictographs and other abstract markings were made by laymen of varying ages, from child to group elder.

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Why are Y-Signs Important?

• Because they are one of 32 abstract symbols that together outnumber all other types of parietal art by 2 to 1. These symbols appear inside paleolithic caves, on open-air rock surfaces, and on items of mobiliary art such as shell necklaces and other portable objects. Such widespread adoption commands our attention.
• These signs are also incredibly old. Some, like zigzags and crosshatch symbols have been produced by Homo erectus, Neanderthals and modern humans (AMH), over hundreds of thousands of years.
• Being non-figurative, "Y-signs" can serve as ideomorphs, offering information to the viewer. To researchers, they offer important clues to the evolution of conceptual and symbolic thought in humans.
• Some "Y-signs" may have been used as pictograms, where their physical shape was associated with a real-world object (eg. tree, a fork in a river or stream) or a piece of information (a joining-up of something, as hinted at in the Y-shape).
• Paleoanthropologists believe some groupings of abstract signs (e.g. "The Inscription" at La Pasiega Cave) may constitute a primitive system of writing, while others are doubtful there is sufficient variety of signage for this purpose.
• Whether ideomorphs or pictograms, "Y-signs" can indicate patterns of contact between hunter-gatherer communities within a region (like the Dordogne, the Lot, or Cantabria), or between regions themselves. This can tell us a great deal about what trade arrangements existed, and what other hunting and cultural contacts were maintained by the groups concerned.

How Prevalent are Y-Signs?

"Y-sign" symbols are used in several forms of ancient art, like pottery and metalwork, so the basic shape must have appealed to early humans. However, exact details of their location have yet to emerge.

They appear in several sites of Franco-Cantabrian cave art, although their distribution is limited to less than 3 percent of sites.

What is the Meaning of Y-Signs?

Despite the ubiquity of non-figurative signs during the Upper Paleolithic, archeologists still have no idea of their meaning.

We need a far greater understanding of the cultural context of these abstract signs before we can begin to grasp their meaning.

Related Articles

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

• Scalariform
  Ladder-shaped symbol
• Segmented Cruciform
  Cross without a centre
• Serpentiform
  Snake-like symbol
• Spanish Tectiform
  Big rectangular tectiform
• Spiral
  Any spiral-shaped form
• Tectiform
  Roof-shaped sign
• Triangle Sign
  Regular geometric symbol
• Unciform
  Hook-shaped sign
• W-sign
  aka Chauvet-type signs
• Zigzag Sign
  Shaped as it sounds

For more about the chronological evolution of abstract symbolism in caves, 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) "Journey Through the Ice Age." P.G. Bahn, J. Vertut. (1997). Berkley: University of California Press, 1st edition. ISBN-13:‎ 978-0520213067.
(3) "Cave Art" Jean Clottes. (2008) Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-5723-7.