Before Orion https://beforeorion.com/ Finding the Face of the Hero Wed, 09 Oct 2024 18:21:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://i0.wp.com/beforeorion.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Before_Orion.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Before Orion https://beforeorion.com/ 32 32 155376300 Before Orion https://beforeorion.com/before-orion-with-bernie-taylor/ Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:51:58 +0000 http://beforeorion.com/?p=799 Welcome to the Before Orion portal with Bernie Taylor. On these pages you will find images, videos and interviews exploring Bernie Taylor’s Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero (2017) and Biological Time (2004) hypotheses. Peer through the combined lenses of archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, depth psychology and mythology to rediscover some of mankind’s greatest … Continue reading Before Orion

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Bernie Taylor, Naturalist, Archaeoastronomer and Author of Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero and Biological Time.

Welcome to the Before Orion portal with Bernie Taylor. On these pages you will find images, videos and interviews exploring Bernie Taylor’s Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero (2017) and Biological Time (2004) hypotheses. Peer through the combined lenses of archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, depth psychology and mythology to rediscover some of mankind’s greatest secrets. Please share this material on social media through the icons on the bottom of the following pages and follow Bernie Taylor through the Before Orion social media links, academia.edu and ResearchGate for the latest content releases.

Are you ready to find the face of the hero?

Joseph Campbell spoke of the hero’s journey monomyth which he believed is at the core of all great myths. Was there an original hero’s journey myth or is the archetypal hero embedded in our collective unconscious as Carl Jung proposed? Could there be a mix of the two? Explore more 2 minute videos.

Latest Developments

Engraved inscriptions in bedrock from more than 36,000 years ago appear at the Gorham’s Cave on the southern extreme of the Iberian Peninsula where it meets the Mediterranean Sea. The lines on Gorham’s Etching are popularly attributed as the first known abstract art of Neanderthals. The cleaned panel tells us a different and far more interesting history of humankind.

May 2024

Netflix Secrets of the Neanderthals – The death of Neanderthal art?

The documentary is telling in not including so-called “Neanderthal art” at Gorham’s Cave in Gibraltar. Let’s examine why [...]

Sentinel Peak Drakensberg Mountains South Africa

December 2023

Rising Star Cave Engravings – Part II: The Terrestrial Plane

Cave of Bones saga followers navigating between widely dissenting beliefs on the who, when and what of the Rising Star Cave may find […]

September 2023 TORTOISE Addition Update

Rising Star Cave Engravings – Part I: The Underworld

Are the South African Rising Star Cave engravings of Homo Naledi or Homo sapiens? A closer look at the evidence […]

Recorded Presentations

Were Göbekli Tepe and other Anatolian megaliths a cultural beginning, an end, or something along the way? Consider these Ice Age images and more recent traditions in “Founding Megaliths (PDF),” as presented at the Fourth International Symposium Megalithic Monuments and Cult Practices – 2024. Learn more about cultural astronomy.

Can we connect millenniums of Upper Paleolithic cave art to indigenous traditions in our present time? Consider the evidence with “Animistic Roots of Prehistoric Art (PDF),” as presented at the 2024 VANDA Conference – #VANDAConf. Learn more about Ice Age art.

Could birds have mediated the real and imaginary in Ice Age art? Consider these Ice Age artifacts and their pictorial sources in “Feathered Beings in Ice Age Art (PDF),” as presented at the European Association of Archaeologists 2024 Annual Meeting – #EAA2024. Learn more about Ice Age art.

Is there a link that connects the range of Upper Paleolithic cave art? Consider the evidence with “Animistic Undercurrent in Ice Age Art? (PDF),” as presented at the 2024 Unravelling the Palaeolithic Conference – #UnravelPalaeo. Learn more about Ice Age art.

Connecting lunar timing traditions of animals as depicted in Franco Upper Paleolithic cave art with Native American calendars and rock art. Presentation and discussion of “Lunar Timekeeping in Upper Paleolithic Cave Art” (PDF), at The Society for Cultural Astronomy in the American Southwest.

Scientific study relies on our ability to measure time so as to organize and analyze data. The conscious measurement of time is not innate to primates and appears to be a realization unique to humans. How did we come to this conscious state of measuring time? Consider the evidence in “The Measurement of Time” (PDF), as presented at the History of Science Society 2023 Annual Meeting – #HSS23. Learn more about the path of scientific discovery.

Is there evidence of Neanderthal art? Consider these images from the San Diego Rock Art Association 2023 symposium presentation “Neanderthal Art? A closer look at La Roche-Cotard” (PDF). Learn more about the origins of art.

Can rock art be dated by the seasons of flora and fauna? Are we able to measurably survey terrestrial planes and night skies from distant millennia? Could we truly see the visions of Ice Age artists? Consider these approaches in “The Archaeometry of Space,” (PDF) as presented at the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) 2023 World Congress – #UISPP2023. Learn more about precession of the equinoxes.

Did we create art or were artistic visualizations first found within our reach? Consider these Ice Age artifacts and their pictorial sources in “Sacred Landscapes in Rock Art,” (PDF) as presented at the European Association of Archaeologists 2023 Annual Meeting – #EAA2023. Learn more about landscape archaeology.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/836799130?h=b46c8332a7

Deep discussion on lunar timekeeping and humanity at the University College of London Anthropology Department “Radical Anthropology Group” evening class series. More on lunar timekeeping.

Are there “as above, so below” themes in rock art? Consider early evidence in “Parallel Planes in Rock Art” (PDF) as presented at the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO) 2023 Inter-Congress Symposium.  Learn more about rock art.

Did we invent painting, engraving and sculpture or were these forms of art earlier found thru the eyes of the beholders? Consider these artifacts in “Origins of Cave Art – Evidence from the Archaeological Record,” (PDF) as presented at the Society for American Archaeology 2023 Annual Meeting – #SAA2023Portland. Learn more about the origins of art.

Hunter-gatherer and ancient peoples are globally recorded as teaching their cultural histories and geography through engaging ordinary and supernatural characters on a journey. Can geographic methods be taught with these epic narratives? Find the methodology in this American Association of Geographers 2023 Annual Meeting – #AAG2023 presentation “Mapping Hercules – A Geographic Teaching Tool.” (PDF) More indigenous and ancient perspectives.

Was cave art founded in altered states of consciousness? Consider the evidence in “Altered States in Ice Art?” as presented to the Association for the Anthropology of Consciousness in 2023. Explore more anthropology presentations.

Did Native Americans and European Ice Age artists share a common awareness of the natural world? Consider the evidence in this 2022 San Diego Rock Art Association symposium presentation “Rock Art in Time” (PDF) Explore more archeoastronomy research.

Was landscape pareidolia projected onto the walls of Ice Age caves? View the archaeology record through “Living Landscapes in Ice Age Art,” as delivered at the International Association of Landscape Archaeology conference – IALA 2022 (PDF). Explore more cultural heritage presentations.

Do marks in Ice Age caves form our first verifiable calendar? Consider the evidence in “Lunar Timekeeping in Ice Age Art,” as presented at the European Society for Astronomy in Culture / Société Européenne pour l’Astronomie dans la Culture conference – SEAC 2022 (PDF). Explore more archaeoastronomy presentations.

Was there a perceived connection between the Underworld, Terrestrial Realm and the Sky World in Ice Age Europe? Re-discover our hunter-gatherer cultural heritage in “Living Mountains in Ice Age Art,” (English PDF) as presented at The Arts in Society 2022 conference in English, Spanish, French and Basque. Explore more cultural heritage presentations. #ICAIS22

Did peoples on distant lands reinvent fundamental animistic traditions or have we been carrying them with us on our migrations? Explore this American Anthropological Association 2021 Annual Meeting presentation (PDF) and other videos of early animistic traditions.

A journey before the records of the Mesopotamians and ancient Greeks to re-discover earlier sources of our scientific heritage in “Upper Paleolithic Constellations” (PDF). Presented at the European Society for Astronomy in Culture / Société Européenne pour l’Astronomie dans la Culture Conference on Cultural Astronomy & Ancient Skywatching – SEAC 2021. Explore more archeoastronomy presentations.

Are sacred mountains psychological and archaeological connections between world cultures? Consider this Iberian-western North African archeological evidence in “Sacred Mountains in the Upper Paleolithic” (English PDF), as presented at the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) World Congress XIX. This video playlist offers narrations and text in English, español, française, berber/Tifinagh and Moroccan darija.

Hunter-gatherers and ancient peoples around the world have the common tradition of a bird-person intermediary to the divine. Is this proof of a Great Almighty or that this spiritual tradition comes from a common source deep in time? Explore one answer with “Angelic Messengers or Mortal Projections?” (PDF), as presented at the International Association for the Psychology of Religion 2021 Conference. Discover other Upper Paleolithic traditions.

EXPLORE MORE VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Popular Bernie’s Blog Posts

September 2023

Rising Star Cave Engravings – Part I: The Underworld

Are the South African Rising Star Cave engravings of Homo Naledi or Homo sapiens? A closer look at the evidence […]

Albert Einstein Theory of Relativity

October 19, 2021

Journal of Geography Book Review – The Knowledge Machine

Few topics exist that are off limits to the scientific community. Paramount among these taboos is the legitimacy of the scientific method, as any such interrogation places […]

Gobekli Tepe Pillars

June 1, 2020

Physics Today – “The Rich Past of Astronomical Discovery“

Exploring the history of astronomy is a more challenging journey than one might expect. To understand how humans have viewed the stars, readers must be ready to grapple not only with astronomical concepts, but with […]

Bernie’s Latest 2 Minute Video

Was the first art constructed by the hands of people or did we identify art in the world around us? Consider Pablo Picasso’s revelation about humanity from the Paleolithic Cave of Altamira and a more recent intriguing observation. Unveil Picasso’s secret.

Discover more 2 Minute Videos

Fun Audio Podcast Interviews

Animism, archetypes and the journey traveled thus far on the Explorer Poet podcast.

Eternal Myths on Casting Through Ancient Greece with Mark Selleck

The Art Thief on the Ignorance was Bliss podcast with host Kate Wallinga

Session 1 – Religion and Science and Session 2 – Linking the Sun and Animal Habits on The Rock Art Podcast with host Dr. Alan Gold

More podcast interviews

Latest Conference Posters

Ice Age Mapmakers?

Earliest known map from the Upper Paleolithic depicting an Iberian Peninsula to western North Africa journey as presented at the American Association of Geographers 2021 conference – #AAG2021 More Academic Lectures and Conference Presentations.

IAUS 367

Teaching Astronomy Through Art & Myth

Upper Paleolithic Iberian constellations as presented at the 2020 International Astronomical Union Symposium – #IAUS367 in Argentina. More on archaeoastronomy.

Latest Papers

Lunar Timekeeping in Upper Paleolithic Cave Art

Archaeology/prehistory examination of lunar calendars among hunter-gatherers in Eurasia and North America as well as earlier usage pictured in the Ice Age French cave of Lascaux. More on archaeoastronomy.

Bernie Taylor is a naturalist, author and cultural astronomer whose research explores the origins of mankind’s creativity and awareness of the natural world. His works in these areas include Biological Time (2004) and Before Orion: Finding the Face of the Hero (2017) which explore a deep root to mankind’s creative capacity by looking at how hunter-gatherers viewed themselves through Paleolithic cave art to 40,000 ago. Bernie proposes that select cave paintings are fundamental pieces in the human journey to self-realization, the foundation of astronomy, and a record of biological knowledge that irrevocably impacted some of the artistic styles, religious practices, and stories that are still with us. Bernie is widely interviewed on podcasts, presents highly interactive programs at high school through graduate level classes, and gives engaging talks at popular conferences and academic symposiums across social and physical science disciplines.

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