http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/malt/hd_malt.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buretj_(venus_figurine).gif
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4381893.stm
"There are many interpretations of the figurines, often based on little argument or fact. Like many prehistoric artifacts, the cultural meaning of these figures may never be known. Archaeologists speculate, however, that they may be emblems of security and success, fertility icons, pornographic imagery, or even direct representations of a mother goddess or various local goddesses. The female figures, as part of Upper Palaeolithic portable art, appear to have no practical use in the context of subsistence. They are mostly discovered in settlement contexts, both in open-air sites and caves; burial contexts are much more rare.
At Gagarino in Russia, seven Venus figurines were found in a hut of 5 m diameter; they have been interpreted as apotropaic amulets, connected with the occupants of the dwelling. At Mal'ta, near Lake Baikal, figurines are only known from the left sides of huts." (wikipedia)
[I think a typical couple's hut had 2, a female venus figurine at left of doorway, a male bird/phallus figurine at right of doorway, both acting as ritual symbolic tent stakes/house posts/totem poles. Possibly the male figurine was kept outside the entry at right, the female figurine just inside at left.]
"unlike those found in Europe, some of the Venus figurines from Mal’ta were sculpted with faces. Most of the figurines were tapered at the bottom, and it is believed that this was done so they could have been stuck into the ground or otherwise placed upright some other way."
This "Tibetan ancient tent peg" has some resemblance to the Mal'ta male & female figurines of ivory, has any similar items been found in Altai or Beringia?
http://alphaclassics.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_31&products_id=136
Except for scale it appears to resemble west coast totem poles:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Wrangell_Kiksadi_Totem_Pole.JPG/250px-Wrangell_Kiksadi_Totem_Pole.JPG
A Tlingit totem pole memorializing a woman (note closed wings, perhaps open wings represent male (cf etymology of ball & wing very similar pali/pari/pela, both fly, both related to 'pair').
http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2076
" The word totem is derived from the Ojibwe word odoodem, "his kinship group"" (wikipedia) [also odoodeman]
totem
"animal or natural object considered as the emblem of a family or clan, 1760, from Algonquian (probably Ojibwa) odoodeman "his sibling kin, his group or family," hence, "his family mark;" also attested in French c.1600 in form aoutem among the Micmacs or other Indians of Nova Scotia. Totem pole is 1808, in reference to west coast Canadian Indians."
[Very interesting etymology, possibly linked to 'awtad', 'doodad', 'wood', dado (wood cutting blade), dem-duom-domus-home; in many nomad H&G cultures, the woman is responsible for hut/tipi/tent construction, while in sedentary agricultural cultures the man is the home builder while the woman is the caretaker/homemaker.]
The ancient Egyptian djed/tet column was raised annually, symbollically by the Pharoah who had the was staff.
Very likely the European Maypole was based on similar rituals long ago. Compare to the winter yule log and the standing tannenbaum/christmas tree. Perhaps the new (Swedish) midsummerstang/(Dutch/German) maisbaum/(Anglo Saxon) maegbole/(English) maypole was the dried-out tannenbaum of last winter (trimmed of needles and branches and with added symbols/feathers/ribbons), which then became the next winters yule log? This would provide a sensible recycling notion, but I don't know if it was actually done, perhaps authorized and administered by Druids? (Druids: forest-priest watershed managers, see earlier post on Ethiopian church forests). This would parallel the Egyptian priests involved with the Pharoah's djed column raising. The recent cultural practice of girls weaving ribbons around the Maypole might descend from ancestral nomadic (eg. Beduin-like) girls pounding the stakes of the goat-hair tent, while men lifted the poles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log
." James George Frazer in his work on anthropology, The Golden Bough (p. 736) holds that "the ancient fire-festival of the winter solstice appears to survive" in the Yule log custom. Frazer records traditions from England, France, among the South Slavs, in Central Germany (Meiningen) and western Switzerland (the Bernese Jura).
My opinion: Note that tent stake was a kinship signal was traditional for archaic nomadic Hebrew/Arab tent dwellers, and that large totem poles are found only associated with people who lived in split plank houses, not tent/ tipi dwellers. The tent stake signalled "I/we dwell here" (temporary land ownership), and so did the totem pole. Perhaps the narrow figurines indicate active tent use (functional), while fat figurines indicate cave or timber shelters (lost function). Many ornately carved ivory/bone/wood figurines/Venuses/Dakota peace pipes/ritual spears may have originated as kinship signals/symbols, and only later (or never except as interpreted by extra-cultural observers?) became 'spirit/goddess' idol/symbols.
"And, while 18th-century accounts of European explorers along the
coast indicate that poles existed prior to 1800, they were *smaller*
and few in number. The freestanding poles seen by the first European
explorers were likely preceded by a long history of monumental
carving, particularly of interior house posts. The scholar Eddie Malin
has proposed that totem poles progressed from house posts, funerary
containers, and memorial markers into symbols of clan and family
wealth and prestige. He argues that the Haida people of the Queen
Charlotte Islands originated carving of the poles.." (wikipedia)
So were Mal'ta figurines equal to tent stakes & totem poles, or were they dolls, idols or sex objects or what?
Social markers (sign/signal/symbol) identifying spatial/temporal ownership & position within the community seems to be the original function.
Note that at Medit. island of Malta, more venuses existed much later.
Possibly: Mal'ta was old word for "waterside trade dwelling", equal to Ma'dan, Mandan (both used boats & hunted buffalo)
Among great plains Amer Indians, women assembled to craft the Tipi cover, and set it.
Among Beduin tent dwellers: young girls pound in the tent pegs, men lift the poles.
"In Genesis 3:15 God declares that the Woman will bring forth the Seed who will crush the Serpent's head" (just genesis blog)
tent, serpent, tent peg, serpent head ?
(Mal'ta site had a carving of 3 snakes with large cobra heads)
http://donsmaps.com/images24/maltahermitageplateback.jpg
Compare words: stick/stake/(strength/string) snake/rake/peck/peg/pick/pike/spike/spigot/
dig/pig/pin/punji/punt/poke/push/pull/plug/pluck/plow (bullocks pulling plows originated from pegs driven into soil and sharpened sticks used to pull up tubers, related to pig cloven/claw hoof), and paralleling pig was hog/hock/hoof/hook/crook/hoe/hole/hoick/hoist, related to peg insertion & removal.
Pharoah of Egypt: translated as "great house" or "Dominion of the tent stake" Awtad
"‘Awtad’ comes from the Arabic Root: 'WAW-TA-DAL' [note phonetic similarity to awl, idol & doll] which does indeed mean: Stakes, Pegs, Tent Poles or to drive in a stake (into ground or wall) as a literal understanding."
http://quransmessage.com/articles/pharaoh%20-%20lord%20of%20the%20stakes%20or%20pyramids%20FM3.htm
http://donsmaps.com/images11/malta0203.jpg notice photo of people next to "totem pole?" at Mal'ta site.
OBeLisK (OBa [Lith=stone] (am)?), SHiVa LingG(am), Totem pole (OD ooD(em)), Abrams' father Terah's ((O? al?)TeRaPH(im)), similar sounds (doll, idol to "-adal"), all derived from the ancestral humble tent peg (awtad, wAWTaDaL). Note too the similarity in sound in English of mother goddess, mothers' address and home post (-box) & host & guest. Compare Micmac 'aoutem' (kin) to both Eskimo dogsled (komatik) & Cree dog (atim) as that used to pull family's property.
English maypole from maeg bole (kin beam) paralleling Dutch/German mais baum. Bole/bone (rib)/boom/beam used in tents, huts, sleds & boats.
Between Arab awtad and Micmac autim we find English taut/tie/tether (bind) and knot/naut, and in Tamil katu (bind, as in katumaram-catamaran: bound logs) and nao/prahu (boat), and Malay tali (rope) and perau (boat).
Cupola (inverted 'cup-bowl' above roof, chimney cover) relates to BaMbuti mongolu and Sanskrit bungalo dome huts, derived via qupholu/kebhala or so (Persian qupha = bowlboat, Greek hoplon = round shield), where initially the 'cup-bowl' was a portable open round basket & later hidebound roundshield/bullboat.
In Japan, the red Shinto shrine gates are torii, in India, Buddhist temple gates are toran, and in the Jewish torah (see previous post), all represent the (communal) entry (door way/portal), just as the ritually carved symbolic house post/tent peg represented the front door entrance.
Anubis amulets (Amu(rru)/Anu?) of Egypt, probably via Syria/Slovenia:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/25396001@N04/4248506587/
((D)Anubians: from Blue Danube of Slovenia (Swabia-Slavia) & Anu (Lake Tana & Tana delta) of Blue Nile of Nubia, J(Y)ordan, Sud(d)an, Aldan/Jana rivers of east Siberia, Danes of Denmark, Swedes of Sweden), Ma'dan, Mandan, Dhannu/Denu (OE & Sanskrit) river shore floodplains/terraces/traders.
Compare Anubis 3ka to Lion Man of Hohlenstein (possibly brought from Africa?) cave 32ka:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anubis_standing.svg
http://www.showcaves.com/english/explain/Archaeology/Loewenfrau.html
Anubis: Associated with funeral/grave/mummification
(Note right hand holds was tent peg remover? Jackal form from older cave lion form (sphynx)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_man_of_the_Hohlenstein_Stadel
In N America, the Plains Cree people called the travois-pulling dog atim, [note pole/pull/pulka 1/2sledge-1/2boat of Volga/Bulghar/Saami], the horse misatim "big dog", while the James Bay Cree called the lion misatim. So the Egyptian jackal form of Anubis may have transformed from the ancient cave lion in mythology.
http://moniyawlinguist.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/atimw-animal-that-pulls-your-stuff/
Note bowl/dome basket/hut/boat on travois. Early form of Eskimo sled komatic or Lapp pulka sledge-boat?
http://www.sila.nu/data?atom_id=dogsled_entry&l=en
Komatic: eskimo dog sled ("kam-u-tic")
Kom: (old Dutch) bowl cf kofa/qufa roundboat, koppe/cup
-atic? related to atim?
Northern Plains Cree people called the travois-pulling dog atim ("u-tim")
Choctaw of lower Mississippi: itti homma = boundary marker pole/tree painted red
Muskogee of Florida: yat kitischee = red people (ochre?)
Hebrew, 'staff of life/bread' = matteh lechem http://concordances.org/hebrew/4294.htm
Oldest wheel & axle found in Slovene Ljubjanska/Lyubyana swamp/lake 5.3ka (same neolithic period as Otzi the ice man mummy found 150 miles away), note similarity to travois, but employed "pegs/pins" to hold square axle onto frame allowing rotation of both wheel and axle:
http://www.slovenia.info/pictures%5CTB_attractions%5C1%5C2011%5Ckolo_19.7.2011_351550.jpg
Teraph, Teraphim: Abram's father Terah, before written language, carved figurines represented home dominion & land ownership, later household "idol" or even 'gods', originally from tent pegs.
http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/pictures/pagang/Statuettes%20of%20pagan%20deities%20excavated%20in%20Palestin%20pa.htm
http://www.bible-history.com/ibh/Egyptian+Gods/Teraphims/Teraphim+Figures
(note the was tent peg remover in hand, resemblance to a nail-pulling hammer-claw)
http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com/2008/12/teraphim-of-genesis-31.html
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/thumbs/la/world/worship/pagan/p_gods/Palestinian%2520Teraphim%2520or%2520household%2520gods.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/pictures/pagang.htm&usg=__u8Adz0orFHKY_J_BhD8Yy4gTstc=&h=120&w=160&sz=4&hl=en&start=3&sig2=4Ph241K-jQfYszCLrj_mCA&zoom=1&tbnid=TvF9HpGyZZ3GwM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=98&ei=TxY8T5HZNo_AtgeCponoCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dteraphim%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1
(Terah/Terai valley of Nepal terraced taro fields (1st agriculture in Papua) gradually became over run by weedy rice which became the staple, Nepali totems (lingam)
Shivalingam: (note phonetic similarity to 'shaft')
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nepalese_stone_linga_SF_Asian_Art_Museum.JPG
Oba (Yoruba, 'God' cf Russian 'Bog', God)
YHWH/YaHWeH/JeHoVaH (JaH ObaH?)/YesHuWaHa/YesHiVa/Shiva in the same dialectical pattern as we see in LeViTiCus/VaTiCan/VeDiC-MeDiCal/MuSiCal/MyThiCal/MaGiCal; when associated with VeNeTian/VoYaGer/ViKinGer/DaNuBian/PhoeNiCian/PuNiC/FinNiC/AiNu produces a (textile or hide-skinned) summer-tent-based nomadic herd hunting salmon/tuna fishing diaspora with female built sites, peg/post addresses, and a proto-law/medicine system. Veni, Vidi, Vicci!
The letter WaW in Hebrew is a picture of a tent stake, my name in Arab/Hebrew is Daud ~ Dawood which uses WaW after the Da-. In Chinese, Da-wei. In English, David.
Egyptian symbols from nomadic tent past: djed/tet symbol from beduin tent stake, was symbol from tent stake remover, ankh as knot of rope around stake (originally tendon?).
http://www.crystalinks.com/djed.html
Tents derived from hides draped over wigwam/mongolu dome huts where fat & meat was scraped off, then hide was inverted & dried, giving warmth to dwellers in areas outside the tropical rainforests. Tendons/vines held the skins over the wicker frame (first bull/bowl boats), later portable stakes were used/carried in more open tree-less plains country, where the woven wicker frame was replaced by straight poles, pulled behind with the leather cover.
Ancient Hebrew table was a round leather hide on the ground which people sat around.
Is there a link between Komi-Zyrian people of arctic Russia and bowl-boat-using Syrians of Tigris?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komi-Zyrian_language
http://llmap.org/languages/kpv.html
related to Finnic & samoyed, name intriguing, related to Hurrian/Assyrian/Syrian?
Syr-yan (cf jor-dan) related to Yana/Jana/Aldana in Siberia etc.?
Did "Sumerian" derive from Su-mer-yana (south mer delta?) or Samoyen/Saamyan? Sumerians are said to have come earlier from the north, they were not Semites.
saami (Lapps of Finland), komi related? three of them are Uralic: Hungarian, Permic Zyrian Komi and Samoyedic Nenets
Beehive dome house of Caddo:
http://caddolegacy.com/grassthatchedhouses.aspx
Investigating whether "Maypole" is a cognate to totem pole/shivalingam/obelisk/tent peg:
apparently so, but the definition changed when Christianity became dominant in Europe. Probably derived from maeg-bole? (cf proto germanic mais baum) "kin tree/beam". The English word tree bole may have been from earlier woven wicker & hide bowl boats (parical/coracle/cup/qufa) being replaced by streamlined shallow dugout canoes cut from tree trunks (compare Dutch kom (bowl) to Dutch boom (tree, pole, beam)
boom (n.)
"long pole," 1540s, from Scottish boun, borrowed from Du. boom "tree, pole, beam," from a M.Du. word analogous to O.E. beam (see beam).
bowsprit
"spar extending from the bow of a ship," late 13c., probably from M.L.G. bochspret, from boch "bow of a ship" (see bow (n.2)) + spret "pole" (cf. O.E. spreot "pole," Du. spriet "spear;" see sprit).
Baton Rouge
city in Louisiana, U.S., a French translation of Choctaw itti homma "red pole," perhaps in reference to a painted boundary marker. [compare to Red Wing & Mississippi river Indians painting red on trees]
yard (2)
"measure of length," O.E. gerd (Mercian), gierd (W.Saxon) "rod, stick, measure of length," from W.Gmc. *gazdijo, from P.Gmc. *gazdaz "stick, rod" (cf. O.S. gerda, O.Fris. ierde, Du. gard "rod;" O.H.G. garta, Ger. gerte "switch, twig," O.N. gaddr "spike, sting, nail"), from PIE *gherdh- "staff, pole" (cf. L. hasta "shaft, staff").
windlass
device for raising weights by winding a rope round a cylinder, c.1400, alteration of wyndase (late 13c.), from Anglo-Fr. windas, and directly from a Scandinavian source such as O.N. vindass, from vinda "to wind" (see wind (v.)) + ass "pole, beam."
totem
animal or natural object considered as the emblem of a family or clan, 1760, from Algonquian (probably Ojibwa) odoodeman "his sibling kin, his group or family," hence, "his family mark;" also attested in French c.1600 in form aoutem among the Micmacs or other Indians of Nova Scotia. Totem pole is 1808, in reference to west coast Canadian Indians.
palanquin
"a covered litter," 1580s, from Port. palanquim (early 16c.), from Malay and Javanese palangki, ultimately from Skt. palyanka-s "couch, bed, litter," from pari "around" + ancati "it bends, curves," related to anka-s "a bend, hook, angle," and meaning, perhaps, "that which bends around the body." Some have noted the "curious coincidence" of Sp. palanca, from L. phalanga "pole to carry a burden."
stake (n)
"pointed stick or post," O.E. staca, from P.Gmc. *stakon (cf. O.N. stiaki, Du. staak, Ger. stake), from PIE root *steg- "pole, stick."
pig
probably from O.E. *picg, found in compounds, ultimate origin unknown. Originally "young pig" (the word for adults was swine). Another O.E. word for "pig" was fearh, related to furh "furrow," from PIE *perk- "dig, furrow" (cf. L. porc-us "pig," see pork).
spigot
late 14c., "plug used to stop the hole of a cask," probably from O.Fr. *espigot (cf. Gascony dialect espigot "core of a fruit, small ear of grain"), dim. of O.Prov. espiga "ear of grain," from L. spica "ear of grain" (see spike (n.2)).
taut
early 14c., tohte, possibly from tog- [compare to 'dog'], pp. stem of O.E. teon "to pull, drag," from P.Gmc. *tugn, from [IMO unlikely] PIE *deuk- "to lead" (see duke).
tone
mid-14c., from O.Fr. ton (13c.), from L. tonus "a sound, tone, accent," lit. "stretching" (in M.L., a term peculiar to music), from Gk. tonos "vocal pitch, raising of voice, accent, key in music," originally "a stretching, taut string," related to teinein "to stretch" (see tenet).
string (n.)
O.E. streng "line, cord, thread," from P.Gmc. *strangiz (cf. O.N. strengr, Dan. streng, M.Du. strenge, Du. streng, O.H.G. strang, Ger. Strang "rope, cord"), from *strang- "taut, stiff," from PIE root *strenk- "tight, narrow; pull tight, twist" (see strain). Gradually restricted by early M.E. to lines that are smaller than a rope. Old English meaning "ligaments, tendons" is preserved in hamstring, heartstrings.
Eskimo skin boat being transported over ice on sleds, childrens, adults:
http://tycoontalk.freelancer.com/photography-forum/148118-children-chasing-a-bowhead-whale.html
St. Laurence island eskimo angyapik umiak boat: http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html
Amur river trading Ainu with 'itaomachip' sewn plank boat and shallow dugout canoe:
http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/search/label/Ainu
Kanak/Kanaka: Austronesian/Melanesian/Polynesian/Malaysian/Indonesian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanak_people
Kanak Totem poles in New Caledonia, as Great House door posts and roof poles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanak_doorpost_Inv.MH31-50-2.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanak_house-2.jpg
Compare the Kanak wood carvings to the Giant Easter Island Moai stone statues:
http://www.easterislandtourism.com/what-to-visit/easter-island-statues/
These Moai had been originally 1 meter tall ("Tiki" in Marquesas isles.), sitting in ahu altars, then enlarged in the same way that US west coast Indians enlarged their totem poles upon establishing sedentary villages and halting nomadism and regulating warfare.
The Maori of New Zealand carved wooden totem poles:
Symbol of 10th month: Pou-tu-te-rangi (pole raise sky, similar to Malay kutub angkat langit)
http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=39
Turkish Crescent/jingle/Chinese hat - a long post/walking stick with bells, originally from Central Asian shaman/santa clause
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_crescent
Manasota canoe in Florida: http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/search/label/Manasota
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1362138/The-1-000-year-old-canoe-excavated-10-years-discovery-amateur-archaeologist.html
"The Manasota people provided the indigenous culture on the west cost of Florida.
They were a race of hunter-gatherers who lived there from around 550BC until around 900AD.
Weedon Island, where the canoe was discovered, was a key religious ground for the culture, and many people and objects were laid to rest there in sand burial mounds. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1362138/The-1-000-year-old-canoe-excavated-10-years-discovery-amateur-archaeologist.html#ixzz1nhLiniiv
link of manasota to minnesota?
Australian marsh canoes from bark, hand paddled: http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2010/05/ten-canoes.html
Yurt & skin boats:
http://skinboatjournal.blogspot.com/2012/02/yurt-or-skin-on-frame-portable-dwelling.html
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