AUSTRALIAN ABORIGENES
The first cuneiform texts appeared at the dawn of the Sumerian
civilization in the period between 3500-3100 BCE. Due to the fact that before
this interval there was no writing, an older text mentioning ligamentum capitis
femoris (LCF) will never be found. Perhaps a drawing or pictogram of it will be
found on a stone.
Our assumption is inspired by the study of the rock art of the
Australian Aborigines in the style of «X-ray art». Ancient artists, depicting
animals and people, often drew bones, internal and external organs, and also
designated joints. The minimum age of the early X-ray painting on the western
Arnhem Land Escarpment in northern Australia is 5068-6636 years
(2017JonesT_WesleyD). Here, in the area of the Burrungui (Nourlangie) and
Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II) shelters, rich in rock art, human settlements
existed 24-20 Kya (2017MaySK_SanzID). Modern comprehensive analysis indicates
the beginning of the settlement of Australia and the territory near Madjedbebe
in the period 50-45 Kya (2018O’ConnellJF_CooperA). Accordingly, this is the
line before which the visual art of the indigenous people cannot be found.
Among the X-ray paintings available to us for review, we did not find a
clear drawing of the LCF in the projection of the hip joints. However, in one
of the images «Nabulwinjbulwinj» (Nourlangie Anbangbang Rock Shelter, Northern
Territory of Australia) the femur, its head, diaphysis and distal metaepiphysis
are clearly outlined. In the area of the femurs and shins a network of
intersecting zigzag lines is drawn. It may have depicted a cord-like system of
the body (tendons-ligaments-nerves-vessels) surrounding the skeletal system.
Also traced is a schematic outline of the knee joint in the form of an
oblique-horizontal line and a hip joint, where an arcuate joint space is
guessed.
.jpg) |
| Aboriginal rock art, Anbangbang shelter, Kakadu National Park, Australia Author: Thomas Schoch; source: wikimedia.org collection (license CC BY-SA 3.0, color correction). |
We studied the drawing in detail, when it was enlarged, cleared its right part from visual defects and digital noise. We have increased the contrast and clarity, and adjusted the color scheme. The main emphasis is on the right lower limb and the hip joint of the same name. As a result, a certain artifact appeared in the lower section of the image of the femoral head. It was connected to a zigzag line by a cord-like system of the femur, following in the distal direction. If our actions were correct, then it cannot be ruled out that the oldest stylized image of LCF has been discovered.
 |
A fragment of a drawing from the Nourlangie region of the Anbangbang rock shelter in the Australian National Park Kakadu; on the right half of the body, we have removed digital defects and made the following designations: 1 - head of the femur; 2 - femoral diaphysis; 3 - distal metaepiphysis of the femur; 4 - knee joint; 5 – tibia diaphysis, arrow indicates the supposed image of LCF (Author of the original photo: Thomas Schoch; Anbangbang Rock Shelter, Kakadu National Park, Australia Date 5 August 2005 Source Thomas Schoch at retas.de). |
It is possible to clarify our version only by directly examining the
picture in Kakadu National Park. We hope that this study will be carried out
someday and will confirm or refute the opinion expressed by us. In any case,
the discussed drawing shows one of the earliest schematic images of the human
hip joint, aged 24-5 thousand years.
References
Jones T, Levchenko V, Wesley D. How old is X-ray art? Minimum age determinations for early X-ray rock art from the ‘Red Lily’(Wulk) Lagoon rock art precinct, western Arnhem Land. In: David B, Taçon PSC, Delannoy J-JG, Jean-Michel, (Eds). The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia, 47. ANU Press, 2017:129-143. [books.google]
May SK, Taçon PSC, Wrigth D, Marshall M, Goldhahn J, Sanz ID. The roc art of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II). In: David B, Taçon PSC, Delannoy J-JG, Jean-Michel, (Eds). The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia, 47. ANU Press, 2017:87-107. [books.google]
O’Connell JF, Allen J, Williams MA, Williams AN, Turney CS, Spooner NA, ... Cooper A. When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul?. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2018;115(34)8482-90. [pnas.org]
Keywords
ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, doctrine, drawing, anatomy, Australia, aborigines, observation
The original text in Russian is available at the link: Австралийские аборигены
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