Zodiacal Dating Prehistoric Artworks

Abstract

Recent work has shown that animal symbols in European Palaeolithic cave art and at two ancient sites in southern Turkey, namely Gobekli Tepe and Catalhoyuk, can be interpreted as star constellations, practically the same constellations we continue to use in Europe today. It appears they were often used to represent dates using precession of the equinoxes, where each animal symbol represents a constellation corresponding to one of the solstices or equinoxes. Here, I trace the evolution of this method for writing dates after Catalhoyuk was abandoned in the 6th millennium BCE through to its last known use in Pictish symbol stones during the 1st millennium AD.