Usually, paintings They depict real scenes witnessed by prehistoric artists. Therefore, it is striking that in some African paintings equine animals have been seen with a single horn on their heads. Is unicorns?
This question has been asked by some archaeologists and historians for centuries, and not just because of the rock art. Also because there are some local legends that describe these unicorn-like animals. In addition, in 1797 the Auditor General of State Accounts at the Cape of Good Hope, John Barrowpublished a sketch of a unicorn, allegedly copied as is from cave paintings near Tarka river, in nigeria.
This added fuel to the fire of the possible existence of a unicorn. However, a recently published study by David M. Witelson, an experienced rock art researcher, indicates that this is actually just a curious and coincidental coincidence. convergence of legends
Two legends that coincided by chance
It is true that rock paintings of alleged unicorns exist in various places in Africa. However, when compared to Barrow’s drawing, they have nothing to do with him. What he drew looked more like typical european unicornso most likely either it was not an exact copy, or the painting she mentioned never existed.
It is true that other paintings found correspond to the description of some African legends. In them a striped animal with one horncalled kamma. It means water in the local language, so these are legendary animals associated with rainHence the stripes.
If the paintings did not have these stripes, one would think that this is a somewhat inaccurate depiction of rhinos or other horned animals. But the stripes leave no room for doubt. This is an African legend which, coincidentally, is similar to European legend of the unicorn
real unicorn
In fact, there is a prehistoric animal that is believed to have inspired the legends of unicorns. It’s about Elasmotherium sibirica, Asian mammal of the rhinoceros family large pointed horntwo meters long, resulting from the joining of two rhinoceros horns.
Fossils of this animal are disappearing about 10,000 years ago, but they matched with humans long enough for unicorn legends to arise. It is for this reason that it is also called the giant unicorn or the Siberian unicorn.
It has nothing to do with him. horned and shiny horse what we are used to in Europe. But the truth is, legends mutate between cultures, and in the end, there’s usually little left of what inspired them. Perhaps that is how it was. What is clear is that this animal was not seen in African rock art, so we have no choice but to continue the hypothesis of the legend. However, that doesn’t make it any less interesting.
Source: Hiper Textual
