Negative Handprints Fish Canyon (200/1300) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
If there is a single symbol for humanity, it is the pictograph of the human handprint.
Group of Handprints (0/1300) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
From the Paleolithic to modern times the images persist in our visual vocabulary. They may well be the very first artistic expression.
Hand images were created in a variety of ways. The handprint on the left is a pictograph (painted image) created using the hand as a stencil, then blowing paint or powder on top through a reed. The middle handprint is a pictograph created by painting the hand then pressing it on the rock. The image on the right is a petroglyph (etched image) created by pecking on the rock, likely using two stones: one as a chisel and one as a hammerstone.
If you think about it, handprints are the original ‘selfie’ -- the very first way that people recorded their passage. That urge to leave a visual mark that says, “I was here,” is uniquely human.
Panel of Hands in El Castillo Cave, Spain (-40000/-30000) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
While the handprint is a symbol of all humanity, each person's print is different, leaving us with a personal connection to the individual who left it. Even a 36,000 year old handprint like this one in El Castillo, Spain, creates that sense of connection.
Thousands of Handprints (-9000/-5000) by Gregory CrouchAncient Art Archive
Handprints can be found on all 6 continents and across all ages of human creativity.
Some images are old and well defined, like these at Cueva de los Manos in Argentina.
Handprint Cave Belize (1200/1250) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
Others, like these Maya handprints in Actun Uayazba, Belize, are more recent, but less defined.
Anasazi hand print (200/1300) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
How can you see such a personal representation and not feel connected to the long line of humanity?
Handprints are truly timeless, the universal symbol of our species.
Handprint petroglyph (900/1400) by Stephen AlvarezAncient Art Archive
Bye!
Stephen Alvarez
Gregory Crouch
