Scientists Now Say Prehistoric Man Enjoyed 3D Cinema Too

Written by Willy Danzinger Thursday, 08 July 2010 20:38

VIENNA.- As far back as the Copper Age our ancestors viewed "films" in an open air cinema setting - and, moreover, in 3D with surround sound. This conclusion arises from the discovery of sites containing prehistoric rock engravings, which provided an audio-visual experience to people from the time of Ötzi, the prehistoric iceman, to that of Roman Emperor Augustus. The largest European concentration of these engravings can be found in Valcamonica in Northern Italy. St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences is part of a Cambridge led international project that uses the latest digital media technologies to bring to life the closest experience prehistoric peoples had to cinema.

Prehistoric people enjoyed a primitive version of cinema, according to Austrian and British researchers, who are currently seeking to recreate these ancient visual displays. Rock engravings from the Copper Age found all over Europe in remote, hidden locations, indicate the artwork was more than mere images, researchers from Cambridge University and Sankt Poelten's university of applied sciences (FH) in Austria believe.

Copper Age Cinema
Dr Frederick Baker, who works at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and is a guest lecturer at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, explains how this prehistoric cinema experience might have unfolded: "In our view, the images that the Copper Age people engraved in the rock are not random in nature and constitute active components of an audio-visual performance. The viewer s eye encountered one rock image first and was then steered from there to other locations with other such images. Moving images were not yet available; however, sequences of images were generated as if they are in animation. Moreover, the images were viewed in a deliberately selected environment, which often provided a spectacular vista of the surrounding valley landscape. In addition to the visual sense, the ear was also taken into consideration as the rock images can frequently be found in locations with special echoes. Consequently, these images are not static snapshots but images that generated narratives in the minds of their viewers just like the cinema."

The rock-engraved "cinematic scenes" present, among other events, duelling, hunting scenes, houses and dancing people. It is interesting to note that death never appears in the images, and they rarely include women. The scenes - which represent the beginning of narrative art - were produced in the period between 2,500 and 14 BC. Thus, the rock images, which are distributed throughout Europe, extend from the very late Neolithic Age to Roman times. With 200,000 images, the highest concentration of such engravings is found in Val Camonica near the municipalities of Paspardo, Cimbergo, Nadro and Capo di Ponte in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. New field studies, which form part of the project, are being carried out there in September.

"The cliff engravings... in our opinion are not just pictures but are part of an audiovisual performance," Frederick Baker of Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology said in a statement Tuesday. "There was still no moving image but (the pictures) created sequences like in animation... this was not just a treat for the eyes but also for the ears, as these rock engravings are especially found in locations with particular echoes."

"In this sense, the rock engravings are not just static images but pictures that created a story in the mind of the viewer -- just like at the cinema," added Baker.

Cambridge University and FH Sankt Poelten have now launched a "Prehistoric Picture Project" with Weimar's Bauhaus university in Germany to recreate these films, using computer technology to establish the sequence of images and animate them like in a cartoon.

The project is being conducted in Valcamonica, in Italy's northern Lombardy region, where the highest concentration of such engravings -- some 100,000 pictures -- can be found.