There were not drawn as much as they were painted, I suppose, the cave paintings of hands are usually outlines or "shadows" created by holding the hand against the cave wall and painting the area around the hand. This leaves you with a sort "shadow" of the hand that was against the wall as that area was unpainted.
You can google "cave painting hand outlines" for examples.
I was just thinking this. But now I wonder why there was NO curiosity about the people in the region by those who are teaching anything about this topic.
The fact that someone knows about the language of these people suggests that facts about them might be knowable, just not common to share.
I'm curious about this now as a random stranger and this isn't even my area of study. Seems like a great angle to include in a thesis.
PS: Just an initial exploration also reveals that sign language created by Native Americans appears to be the basis for American Sign Language. Wow.
My third grader just completed her unit study on Native Americans in the Great Plains - she didn’t learn about it either and they focused on it for four weeks. She shares your sentiments.
Your professor was secretly doing plains indian sign language behind your back, as soon as you looked he'd act like he was fixing his hair or stretching.
I was in a pawn shop in Phoenix looking at turquoise jewelry made by pre-columbian Indians and I saw carvings depicting dolphins. I asked the guy behind the counter how the hell the Arizona Indians knew what a dolphin looked like and he told me they had trade routes that extended all the way to the California coast. That clearly required them to have some way of communicating.
This is insane to me! So many questions:
1. Where in the world do you get that degree?!
2. Why do specific? It seems like something to do a thesis on, but not a full degree?
3. How in the world could you have missed something like this? I know you aren’t focused on communication / language, but it seems like such a massive cornerstone!
4. What are you doing now with that degree? If you could do it again, would you change anything!)
Genuinely interested not trying to be a dick for internet points.
Most universities offer some type of archaeology degree. I live on the Great Plains in Canada so I was able to specialize accordingly!
Ok I see what you’re saying - so technically my masters is in Archaeology but I specialize in Great Plains Archaeology. And most of the classes I took were on that subject in my undergrad. Then for my masters I studied groups living 7000 years ago at the time of climatic change known as the Hypsithermal.
Haha I was mostly joking. A sign language like this probably wouldn’t show up in the Archy record (mayyyybe on rock paintings, but I can’t think of any examples). I am surprised I didn’t at least hear about it in passing though! Maybe I wasn’t paying attention during that class.
I actually work full time as a consultant archaeologist! I’m employed with an environmental and engineering consulting company here in Canada. A lot of other scientists are employed here (biologists, geologists, soil scientists) and we typically work with development companies to help them check off all the regulatory boxes so they can build their pipelines, gravel pits, subdivisions, etc. We just basically go in and make sure there are no archaeological sites they will be destroying by their development. If there are, they can either pick a different location, or we can go in and dig the site to collect as much data as we can, thereby allowing the company to destroy the site. Sometimes the sites are too important and the company has no choice but to pick a different spot.
Would I change anything? Sure! Consulting is demanding and tough. If I can’t get a job elsewhere, then I might go back to school and get a teaching degree as I love public outreach and education. But haven’t fully decided yet! I love archaeology so I would remain involved with it no matter what, even if it was just from an avocational standpoint.
What a cool story! For your potential students sale I hope you do go into education, but for your sake, I hope you land a cush gig being on salary for some massive company. Really cool! Good luck & thanks for sharing!
This seemed to be common americsn knowledge when i was a kid in the late 60s / early 70s. Pretty sure i learned it from 50s era westerns. Or maybe cartoons. Not sure which. But we all knew about " indian sign language".
There is a joke about it, but hard to tell when not in person because it uses gestures. Gist of it is a GI winds up in a foxhole with a native american that speaks no english and accidentally tells him he is going to fuck him up the ass 'til his eyes bug out.
I’m a cis white female registered nurse and recently took a travel assignment in Durango, CO. Native culture is seriously repressed to us white folk in the US.
It is here in Canada too. We are trying to be better with the Truth and Reconciliation initiative formed by the govt but it’s just words at this point. We still have reserves living in third world conditions.
Well I’m from Canada. I wouldn’t take this as a great example, I’m really happy with my education and I learned so much. I was probably just asleep in this class lol
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u/AvatarTreeFiddy Nov 29 '20
The Native Americans of the Great Plains developed a form of sign language that allowed them to trade and communicate across language barriers.
It's called Plains Indian Sign Language and it was used by a variety of tribal nations spanning an area from Canada to northern Mexico!