#rockart — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #rockart, aggregated by home.social.
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"I told people I was a drummer before I even had a set."
Remembering Keith Moon , who died today 7th September 1978
#photooftheday #RockArt #TheWho #photography #music
📸 Barrie Wentzell
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"I told people I was a drummer before I even had a set."
Remembering Keith Moon , who died today 7th September 1978
#photooftheday #RockArt #TheWho #photography #music
📸 Barrie Wentzell
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"I told people I was a drummer before I even had a set."
Remembering Keith Moon , who died today 7th September 1978
#photooftheday #RockArt #TheWho #photography #music
📸 Barrie Wentzell
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"I told people I was a drummer before I even had a set."
Remembering Keith Moon , who died today 7th September 1978
#photooftheday #RockArt #TheWho #photography #music
📸 Barrie Wentzell
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"I told people I was a drummer before I even had a set."
Remembering Keith Moon , who died today 7th September 1978
#photooftheday #RockArt #TheWho #photography #music
📸 Barrie Wentzell
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From the travel journal:
An #archaeology of the 20th century; #bunkers and #rockart (Atlantic Wall #bunkers #Denmark). -
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.
-- Albert Einstein⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AlbertEinstein #Education #Wisdom
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #DefianceHouse #LakePowell #Utah
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#RockArt depicting the iconic #RainbowSerpent, and other large-format #paintings, became far more common in #ArnhemLand after European settlement, reflecting a broad shift in style, materials, and technique.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03122417.2026.2676505?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e313 #science #anthropology #archaeology #archeology #art #painting #FirstNations #AboriginalAustralians #australia #NorthernTerritory
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The new wave is not value-added, it's garbage-subtracted.
-- Esther Dyson⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #EstherDyson #TheFuture #Value
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #DefianceHouse #LakePowell #Utah
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Those who prefer their principles over their happiness, they refuse to be happy outside the conditions they seem to have attached to their happiness.
-- Albert Camus⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AlbertCamus #Happiness #Principles
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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New study finds Aboriginal artists in Arnhem Land responded to European colonization by painting ever-bigger rainbow serpents, some over 6 meters long, reasserting cultural authority through sheer scale. #RockArt #Archaeology
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A 6.8m Rainbow Serpent with a crocodile head, 29 of them in 27 sq km, and Australia’s only rock art whale with baleen. Awunbarna’s giants were painted as the buffalo shooters arrived. #RockArt #ArnhemLand #Archaeology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-the-rainbow-serpents-of-awunbarna
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'earlier than previously thought' story of the week…
Saskatchewan's largest collection of rock art #RockArt https://www.cbc.ca/news/carbon-testing-results-st-victor-petroglyphs-9.7316731
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All truth, in the long run, is only common sense clarified.
-- Thomas H. Huxley⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #ThomasHHuxley #CommonSense #Truth
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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New analysis at Murujuga finds the rain isn’t acidic and rock surface pH tracks rainfall, not emissions. The damage signal sits in the weathered rind, and points to sulfur peaks from the 1970s. #RockArt #Murujuga #Archaeology https://www.anthropology.net/p/murujugas-rock-art-damage-points
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Blood may have helped ancient Chinese rock art survive for 2,000 years
Ancient paintings on limestone cliffs in southern China have survived more than 2,000 years of heat, rain, and storms. A new study suggests their unusual durability came from a paint binder made from lime and blood...
More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2026/08/blood-in-ancient-chinese-rock-art/
Follow @archaeology
#archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #anthropology #ancientchina #rockart #rockpainting
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The Guardian: Trump’s border wall construction threatens rock art as old as the pyramids: ‘The ancestors are still here’. “The impending construction also threatens to mar or destroy an untold number of these millennia-old rock art murals that stand in the coming wall’s path. The slated construction includes 165 miles (266km) of four-to-six-foot-tall vehicle barriers and patrol roads […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/24/trumps-border-wall-construction-threatens-rock-art-as-old-as-the-pyramids-the-ancestors-are-still-here-the-guardian/ -
Remembering Keith John Moon , who was born on this day 23rd August 1946,
#KeithMoon #photooftheday #RockArt
📸 Tom Wright -
To be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.
-- e. e. cummings⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #eecummings #Identity #Life
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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Remembering John Lee Hooker who was born today 22nd August 1917
"The blues tells a story. Every line of the blues has a meaning."
#photooftheday #RockArt #Blues
📸 Paul Natkin
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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
-- Albert Einstein⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AlbertEinstein #Hope #Life
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future.
-- George Bernard Shaw⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #GeorgeBernardShaw #TheFuture #Wisdom
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #DefianceHouse #LakePowell #Utah
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‘Petroglyph Enhancement’ with Ken Jones (RIP) discussing one of the Photoshop techniques he used to dissect ghost signs and identify content and layers that are invisible to the naked eye.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcmURnKlX2w
PS. Here are some posts featuring Ken Jones and his work on the Ghostsigns site: https://ghostsigns.co.uk/tag/ken-jones/
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I'm always fascinated by the line "we don't want to become minorities in our own country". Why not? Are they treated badly or something?
-- Jim Rossignol (@jimrossignol)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #JimRossignol #Discrimination #Hypocrisy
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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Researchers found that the 2,000-year-old Huashan rock art in Guangxi, China stayed bonded to cliff faces through monsoons and typhoons because its makers mixed blood into the lime mortar, possibly blood tied to childbirth. #Archaeology #RockArt #China https://www.anthropology.net/p/blood-lime-and-the-chemistry-of-memory
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I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
-- Arthur Rubinstein⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #ArthurRubinstein #Life #Love
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #DefianceHouse #LakePowell #Utah
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If the voter cannot grasp the details of the problems of the day because he has not the time, the interest or the knowledge, he will not have a better public opinion because he is asked to express his opinion more often.
-- Walter Lippmann⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #WalterLippmann #Democracy
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #DefianceHouse #LakePowell #Utah
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The coevolution of language and art in prehistoric cave sites [pdf 14pp] #RockArt #ParietalArt #archaeoacoustics http://evolang.org/2026/proceedings/papers/evolang16_paper_111.pdf
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It is a myth not a mandate, a fable not a logic, and a symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.
-- Irwin Edman⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #IrwinEdman #Politics
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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Grey Cairn carving, Kirkmichael, Perthshire #petroglyphs #RockArt #TheNorthernAntiquarian #RosaCamuna https://www.thenorthernantiquarian.org/tag/rock-art/page/9/
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#1359 Stan Beckensall - British Prehistoric Rock Art. Tempus Publishing Ltd, Stroud, 1999, 1st edition.
#StanBeckensall #TempusPublishing #RockArt #Petroglyphs #Prehistory #BookOfTheDay
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#Murujuga 50,000 year old & largest #rockart site in the world with 2 million #petroglyphs / rock engravings spread across the #Burrup Peninsula, part of the Dampier Archipelago in WA’s #Pilbara region. These include long-extinct megafauna, marine mammals and archaic faces - the oldest known depictions of the human face on earth.
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Dating Petroglyphs Using Measurements of Manganese Accumulation in Rock Varnish [pdf 15pp] #RockArt #petroglyphs https://www.preprints.org/frontend/manuscript/b932244972f51020d9515071205907c2/download_pub
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This one is old and therefor a bit hard to see from certain angles. I can say it is old because it has brown desert varnish developing on it--and that process takes hundreds of years. I think the older #Petroglyphs in this area have been dated to ~800 years ago.
That said it is spectacular! It shows a humanoid form with a great winged headdress or helmet.
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#NineMileCanyon #Utah #Petroglyphs #RockArt
I like the feeling of "action" in this close-up view!
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More #NineMileCanyon #Petroglyphs
These two little horned figures appear to be dancing! 🕺 💃
https://richard.mdpaths.com/travel/road_trip_2026/11_nine_mile_canyon/index.html
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There was an iconic "Oval Man" figure I'd never seen before repeated in several places.
The most elaborate version was on this magnificent panel. There are sheep, stars, what I think are water/rain symbols, and two human figures that appear to be holding something above their heads. Wow!
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Happy 77th Birthday to Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, OBE . Born today 29th May 1949
"Most of us in this business are insecure little show-offs."
#photooftheday #RockArt #FrancisRossi #StatusQuo
📸 Frank Griffin
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Megalithic Societies : Old Questions, New Narratives [pdf 301pp] #megalithic #menhirs #dolmens #RockArt https://www.academia.edu/166926171/Announcement_of_up_and_coming_volume_Megalithic_Societies
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Rediscovered megalithic engravings in Slovakia: 3D reconstruction and comparative analysis of a forgotten Neolithic site [html, pdf 9pp] #megalithic #menhirs #RockArt https://doi.org/10.1038/s40494-026-02399-6
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A new study suggests that symbols engraved on artifacts up to 40,000 years old in Europe may have been precursors to the earliest writing systems.
Read more: https://omniletters.com/marks-from-40000-years-ago-may-be-a-precursor-to-writing/
#Archaeology #AncientHistory #Prehistory #EarlyWriting #OriginsOfWriting #WritingSystems #RockArt #AncientSymbols #ArchaeologicalDiscovery #ScientificStudy #HumanEvolution #AncientEurope #40000YearsOld #HistoryMysteries #AncientCivilizations #Antiquity #ScienceAndHistory #RecentResearch #CulturalHeritage
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Discovery Reveals 10,000 Years of Rock Art in Sinai.
An Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered a previously unknown site in southern Sinai featuring rock paintings and inscriptions that reveal 10,000 years of history, from prehistory to the Islamic period.
Read more: https://omniletters.com/10000-years-of-rock-art-in-sinai/
#Sinai #Archaeology #AncientHistory #RockArt #Egypt #Prehistory #IslamicHistory #ArchaeologicalDiscovery #CulturalHeritage #MiddleEast #HistoryLovers #AncientCivilizations
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Scientists Identify the World’s Oldest Rock Art in an Indonesian Cave.
Discovered in Indonesia, the world’s oldest rock art is 67,800 years old and reveals new clues about the migration of the first humans to Australia.
Read more: https://omniletters.com/scientists-identify-the-worlds-oldest-rock-art-in-an-indonesian-cave/
#Archaeology #RockArt #AncientHistory #HumanEvolution #Prehistory #Indonesia #CaveArt #EarlyHumans #Anthropology #ScienceNews #ArchaeologicalDiscovery #WorldHistory
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The Echo of a Hand Across Millennia: Decoding the Cave Hand Stencil
Introduction
Imagine the dim glow of flickering firelight, casting dancing shadows on rough cave walls, thousands of years before history began. In the silence, broken only by the gentle breath of a painter, a hand presses against the cool, damp stone. A cloud of red ochre pigment fills the air, settling around the hand to leave a lasting imprint. This humble act resonates through time, speaking volumes across countless generations. The hand stencil, a ghostly echo from our distant ancestors, represents humanity’s earliest attempt at permanence—a poignant declaration: I was here. These timeless marks, etched in caves worldwide, whisper of identity, presence, and belonging, inviting us to imagine the lives, dreams, and stories of those who came before.
Creation and Technique
Creating a hand stencil required careful preparation and delicate execution. Artists mixed powdered ochre or manganese with binding agents such as animal fats or saliva, creating a vivid, lasting pigment. Hollow bone tubes, reeds, or even direct blowing through pursed lips were used to spray this mixture onto cave surfaces, leaving negative hand impressions as the pigment settled around the outstretched fingers and palm (Pike et al., 2012). Positive stencils, conversely, involved coating the hand directly with pigment and pressing firmly onto the rock. The skill and care in producing these artworks suggest the artists were respected community members entrusted with preserving their group’s identity.
Geographical Distribution
The universality of hand stencils spans continents and millennia, connecting disparate groups through a shared expression of humanity: – El Castillo Cave, Spain (approximately 40,800 years old), where stencils offer a vivid glimpse into the artistic traditions of Europe’s earliest inhabitants (Pike et al., 2012). – Leang Timpuseng Cave, Indonesia (around 39,900 years old), highlighting the global reach of this simple yet profound gesture (Aubert et al., 2014). – Cueva de las Manos, Argentina (circa 11,000 to 7,500 BCE), bearing witness to the enduring legacy of hunter-gatherer communities (UNESCO, 1999). – Maltravieso Cave, Spain (66,700 years old, Neanderthal), pushing back the boundaries of our understanding of human creativity and symbolism (Hoffmann et al., 2018).
Anthropological and Cognitive Significance
Hand stencils offer anthropologists a rare glimpse into the minds of early humans, revealing their cognitive sophistication and symbolic capabilities. Jean Clottes (2016) interprets these markings as powerful symbolic dialogues, possibly connecting humans with spiritual worlds or ancestors. Such interpretations illuminate the complex, multi-layered meanings embedded in these ancient symbols, suggesting hand stencils were not mere decorations but deeply intentional expressions of identity, spirituality, and community bonds.
Makers of the Marks
The diversity among hand stencil creators adds depth to our understanding of prehistoric societies. Morphometric studies indicate that women and children were significant contributors, evident from the varying sizes and proportions of handprints in sites like Pech Merle and Rouffignac Cave, France (Van Gelder & Sharpe, 2009). Indeed, roughly one-quarter of known stencils were crafted by young hands, suggesting these caves were inclusive spaces of communal gathering, learning, and cultural transmission (Guthrie, 2005). The presence of young artists underscores the social nature of cave art, where cultural heritage and knowledge passed seamlessly across generations.
Symbolic Meanings
Hand stencils often carry deeper symbolic meanings, frequently depicted with intentional missing fingers, possibly signifying complex communication methods, ritualistic practices, or symbolic gestures of sacrifice and belonging (Snow, 2006). At Gargas Cave, the repeated appearance of such stencils implies deliberate artistic choice rather than accidental loss or injury, hinting at a sophisticated form of proto-communication or ritual symbolism (Groenen, 2016). These enigmatic symbols provoke endless curiosity and interpretation, inviting us to explore ancient societies’ profound yet mysterious belief systems.
Neanderthal Artists
The revelation of Neanderthal-created hand stencils at Maltravieso Cave drastically reshapes our understanding of these ancient relatives. Dating to approximately 66,700 years ago, these artworks predate modern human presence in Europe, demonstrating Neanderthals’ capability for abstract thought, artistic expression, and symbolic communication (Hoffmann et al., 2018). This discovery challenges long-standing stereotypes, positioning Neanderthals as sophisticated beings with complex social structures, rituals, and creative traditions—indelibly marking their legacy within humanity’s shared heritage.
Personal Reflection and Modern Resonance
Handprints transcend historical and cultural divides, resonating deeply within modern consciousness through their universal symbolism of identity and continuity. Today, a child’s handprint evokes a profound emotional connection, bridging the vast temporal gap between ourselves and our ancestors. As parents guide their children’s hands onto clay or paper, they unknowingly echo the same intimate gesture practiced thousands of years earlier in shadowy caves. This continuity reflects humanity’s enduring quest for meaning, connection, and permanence, uniting generations through shared gestures of presence and belonging.
Conclusion
Hand stencils serve as timeless symbols of humanity’s deepest needs: recognition, belonging, storytelling, and community. These simple marks assert presence, convey complex meanings beyond language, and profoundly connect us to our earliest ancestors. They invite modern observers to reflect on our shared humanity and the eternal impulse to leave a mark upon the world, asserting with silent dignity: We are here.
Works Cited
Aubert, M., Lebe, R., Oktaviana, A. A., Tang, M., Burhan, B., Jusdi, A., … & Brumm, A. (2019). Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature, 576(7787), 442–445. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1806-y
Aubert, M., Pike, A. W. G., & Stringer, C. (2014). Pleistocene cave art from Sulawesi, Indonesia. Nature, 514(7521), 223–227. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13422
Bednarik, R. G. (2008). Children as Pleistocene artists. Rock Art Research, 25(2), 173–182. https://www.academia.edu/1443733/Children_as_Pleistocene_artists
Clottes, J. (2016). What is Paleolithic Art? (D. Coltman, Trans.). University of Chicago Press.
D’Errico, F., & Vanhaeren, M. (2017). Hand to mouth: The origins of symbolic behaviour seen through the study of dental wear and artefacts. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372(1725), 20160377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0377
Groenen, M. (2016). Handprints and fingerprints in rock art. Arts, 5(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts5010007
Guthrie, R. D. (2005). The Nature of Paleolithic Art. University of Chicago Press.
Hoffmann, D. L., Standish, C. D., García-Diez, M., Pettitt, P. B., Milton, J. A., Zilhão, J., … & Pike, A. W. G. (2018). U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neanderthal origin of Iberian cave art. Science, 359(6378), 912–915. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap7778
Pike, A. W. G., Hoffmann, D. L., García-Diez, M., Pettitt, P. B., Alcolea, J., De Balbín, R., … & Zilhão, J. (2012). U-series dating of Paleolithic art in 11 caves in Spain. Science, 336(6087), 1409–1413. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1219957
Snow, D. R. (2006). Sexual dimorphism in European Upper Paleolithic cave art. American Antiquity, 71(4), 663–678. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600039840
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (1999). Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/936
Van Gelder, L., & Sharpe, K. (2009). Women and girls as Upper Paleolithic cave “artists”: Deciphering the sexes of the hands at Rouffignac Cave, France. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 28(4), 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2009.00332.x
Wreschner, E. E. (1983). Red ochre and human evolution: A case for discussion. Current Anthropology, 24(5), 605–625. https://doi.org/10.1086/203067
Zilhão, J., Angelucci, D. E., Badal-García, E., d’Errico, F., Daniel, F., Dayet, L., … & Higham, T. (2010). Symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by Iberian Neandertals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(3), 1023–1028. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914088107
Zilhão, J., & d’Errico, F. (1999). The chronology and taphonomy of the earliest Aurignacian and its implications for the understanding of Neandertal extinction. Journal of World Prehistory, 13(1), 1–68. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022348410845
#AncientHumans #Anthropology #ArchaeologicalFinds #Archaeology #ArtHistory #CaveArt #DeepHistory #EarlyHumans #HandStencils #HumanOrigins #HumanStory #NeanderthalArt #Paleoanthropology #PaleolithicArt #Prehistory #RockArt #ScienceCommunication #SymbolicArt #WorldOfPaleoanthropology #archaeology #evolution #history #Science
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By nature all men are alike, but by education widely different.
-- Chinese Proverb⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #ChineseProverb #Education
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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Fossil fuel expansion in Murujuga Cultural Landscape?
"No federal government should prioritise short-term economic gain over Earth’s climate and human health." >>
https://theconversation.com/woodsides-bid-to-expand-a-huge-gas-project-is-testing-both-labor-and-the-coalitions-environmental-credentials-247340
#FossilFuels #WA #extractivism #FastTrack #pollution #ParisAgreement #ClimateBreakdown #Murujuga #IndigenousHeritage #RockArt #iconoclasm #loss -
The Disney-ABC-Time-Warner-Microsoft machine -- exists only because we turn it on. If enough of us turn it off, it is gone. Think of it: It is in your power to plunge Bill Gates into poverty, to send Peter Jennings off to 'Good Morning, Saskatchewan,' to rid the world of Disney-licensed products, to see Martha Stewart and Jerry Springer reduced to talking only to each other. Disconnect now!
-- Michael Kelly (Editor-in-Chief, National Journal)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #MichaelKelly #Microsoft
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
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The only successful way to predict the future is to invent it.
-- Alan Kay⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #AlanKay #Innovation #TheFuture
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Pictographs #RockArt #NativeAmerican #Utah
