"They reveal the tools people used for thought and the ways in which they first gathered knowledge," says archaeologist and geologist Dr Lazaros Hatzilazaridis, who has spent 20 years studying the rock carvings in northern Greece that a resident of Kryoneri, Kavala, happened to show him one day.

The beginnings of writing

How far are the rock carvings in the Pangaios river bed in Kavala, the Angiti Gorge in Serres, and caves in Alistrati and Roussa in Thrace from the beginnings of writing? "Making them satisfied some human need," explains Hatzilazaridis.

"They are a traditional form of expression and probably aided communication," he writes in his recent doctoral dissertation "Prehistoric Rock Paintings in Northern Greece."

He traversed all of Macedonia and Thrace, making the first photographs, drawings and records of thousands of carvings of various subjects with rich layers of meaning.

Similarities and differences

Perhaps the most impressive pictures are those of the deer at Palaio Hortokopi, in Kavala, with their astonishing plasticity, and the carvings at Loutra, Aridaia, which are reminiscent of those done by indigenous Australian people.

"Some of the carvings are fine, others broad, some deep and some shallow," says Hatzilazaridis. "This is probably because there were different artists over different periods and with different tools. But there are general characteristics and similarities in the way in which the body and legs of animals are depicted (firm carving with great vigor and movement), which shows that different people carved but portray the same subjects in the same way."

"In many cases, standardization is observable and this, along with the large body of pictures, indicates a cultural phenomenon," he added.

The oldest rock carvings depict deer and other animals (in the caves of the Angiti Gorge and on rocks at Palaio Hortokopi and on bows found at Philippi, which recent research tentatively dates to the late Neolithic Age (4,500-3,500 BC).

The plowing scenes found at Palaio Hortokopi belong to the Bronze Age (2,800-1,100 BC), and a large group of rock paintings found in recent years belong to the early Iron Age (1,100-800 BC).

Many of the paintings that depict horses, probably with saddles, belong to a later period, possibly the Byzantine era.

"Rock carvings comprise a significant chapter in the history of humanity, which can illuminate the unknown past," remarks Hatzilazaridis.

Deer, horsemen, bows and arrows

The largest rock carving found in northern Greece (2.5 x 1.9 meters) is on the banks of Lake Heimaditida, but the most impressive are those in Serres and Kavala.

Those found most recently are in the Angiti Gorge in Serres, where there are about 60 carvings at the entrance to the cave, which Hatzilazaridis says were done at different times, thousands of years apart.

All are a reddish clay or iron-oxide color. Some are perfectly proportioned, indicating that the artist was a specialist at this difficult task.

There are pictures of male and female deer, bows and arrows, horsemen with and without armor, a person leading a bear, someone else leading a laden beast, a deer with an arrow or lance in its belly and many other drawings which are abstract or difficult to understand. Other pictures show horsemen ready to fight, and someone holding a lance or banner. At Palaio Hortokopi is a picture of some kind of cattle attached to a plow.

At Folia, near the top of Mt Simvolo, are more than 200 scenes carved by by succeeding generations. They include the depiction of boats (the smallest of which has four stone anchors), axes, humans, animals, plants, trees, crosses, circles, semicircles, labyrinths and other lines.

Hidden treasure

The worst enemies of rock paintings are contemporary treasure hunters. Unlike other rural inhabitants who recognize that these are ancient artifacts in and of themselves, treasure seekers think the marks point to the location of hidden treasure, and they destroy them, either while searching or in the attempt to prevent others from searching the same area.

Rock paintings of the world

Rock paintings are found wherever there has been human habitation. The best known are those in southwestern France, northern Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, the Sahara, Tanzania, Bulgaria, Siberia and Australia.

In Greece, where rock paintings have been studied since 1950, they have been found in Naxos (the largest collection is at Apeiranthos), Pangaios, Roussa, Goniko in Evros, Petrota Maroneias in Rhodope, Crete (at Asfentou), the Mani, Evia, Milos, Kero, Yioura, the mountains of Lekani and Simvolo in Kavala (in the villages of Kryoneri, Zygos and Philippi), Simvoli and Alistrati in Serres (especially beside the Angiti River), the highlands of Drama, Loutra Aridaias in Pella, around Lake Heimaditida in Florina, Halkidiki and at Mount Athos.

The paintings in Greece were created using different methods, being scratched or carved with hard, fine, sharp objects. It is not certain what tools were used, but tools made from obsidian and quartz have been found in the past.

By Thanassis Tsinganas

Kathimerini

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