Not sure if this he correct forum. The History parameters stretch from 3200 BC up to WW2, so the Neanderthal culture is way off the beaten track. Nevertheless, they are a part of humankind’s history, so I’ll post anyway, and trust in the moderator’s guidance as to where this submission ends up. Hopefully not in the trash.
In his book Cities of Dreams (1989), the psychologist and philosopher Stan Gooch describes a remarkable find at Drachenloch in the Swiss Alps, a known Neanderthal bear-hunter site: inside a cave an altar was discovered. It consisted of a rectangular stone-built chest capped with a great stone slab in which had been placed seven bear skulls with their muzzles pointing toward the entrance of the cave. Six more skulls were set in niches in the cave wall behind the altar.
Gooch sees this as a clear indication that the numbers seven and thirteen (seven plus six) were somehow ‘sacred’ to the Neanderthal. He notes also that the constellation of the Great Bear contains seven stars, a fact which prompts him to make this rather bold and startling statement:
‘We can hardly doubt that Neanderthal had already given it this name that almost unimaginable time ago. And so in our own times it is still called the Great Bear by ourselves, by the ancient Greeks, by the Romans, the Hindus, the Ainu, the North American Indians, tribes in Africa, and many others besides.’
Gooch, Cities of Dreams, Rider & Co, 1989, pp 99-100.
Happy hunting,
M
In his book Cities of Dreams (1989), the psychologist and philosopher Stan Gooch describes a remarkable find at Drachenloch in the Swiss Alps, a known Neanderthal bear-hunter site: inside a cave an altar was discovered. It consisted of a rectangular stone-built chest capped with a great stone slab in which had been placed seven bear skulls with their muzzles pointing toward the entrance of the cave. Six more skulls were set in niches in the cave wall behind the altar.
Gooch sees this as a clear indication that the numbers seven and thirteen (seven plus six) were somehow ‘sacred’ to the Neanderthal. He notes also that the constellation of the Great Bear contains seven stars, a fact which prompts him to make this rather bold and startling statement:
‘We can hardly doubt that Neanderthal had already given it this name that almost unimaginable time ago. And so in our own times it is still called the Great Bear by ourselves, by the ancient Greeks, by the Romans, the Hindus, the Ainu, the North American Indians, tribes in Africa, and many others besides.’
Gooch, Cities of Dreams, Rider & Co, 1989, pp 99-100.
Happy hunting,
M