ABSTRACT Art about ancient life chronicles the human condition, less evidently but potentially as significantly, as it depicts life through geologic time. Selected examples surveyed here reveal human aspirations, values, conceits, sensibilities, and foibles and suggest that further in-depth study would be warranted. Greek bronzes embellished with griffins (625–575 B.C.E.) may represent ceratopsian fossils mythologized and commodified for their proximity to gold deposits. Encelius’ anthropomorphized drawing (1557) of a fossil bivalve exemplifies a conservative deference to outdated paradigms about nature; inversely, Nicolaus Steno prized geometry—then offering a new perspective on nature—and realized in 1667 that a drawing of “tongue stones” depicted not, as commonly held, simulacra of snake tongues molded by vital forces within the Earth but fossilized teeth of a once living shark; Beringer’s “lying stones” (1726) show how human conceit can bias the interpretation of “fossils.” Artworks since the mid-twentieth century record a growing recognition that ancient life and its habitats evolved together and therefore that art about ancient life has lessons for contemporary environmentalism: Rudolph Zallinger’s diachronous murals (mid-1940s) and the Milwaukee Public Museum’s diachronous dioramas (installed in 2001) display progressions of ancient and contemporary habitats; Alexis Rockman’s dystopian landscapes use ancient and extant life to critique human responsibility for degrading environments and endangering species. We conclude that studies of art about ancient life can deepen our understanding of the human condition and the cultural context in which it is created.

Abstract Native American culture in many parts of California is preserved in fragmentary oral and conventional written histories, but also in sometimes dramatic petroglyphs and pictographs throughout the state. The symbolism of these images has been interpreted to reflect the natural environment, in particular issues related to rain. Although there is little doubt that rain was of paramount concern to native tribes, I suggest that geological context also played an important role in shaping early spiritual beliefs in general, and petroglyph sites in particular. From the standpoint of Native American philosophies and spiritual beliefs, geological unrest is not merely a reflection but in some cases an actual embodiment of the spiritual world. To understand the significance of petroglyph sites, they must be considered in the context of overall Native American beliefs. In this context, sites of repeated geological unrest would invariably have evolved great spiritual significance. Petroglyph locations and ages may thus provide independent age controls on ‘prehistoric’ earthquakes in California.

Abstract Prior to recent developments in computer-generated images, reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals were limited to static images or objects. Although a dynamic tension could be introduced to a composition or construction, it fundamentally lacked the ability to convey the motion of a now-extinct animal to its viewer. Before digital art forms the one exception to this was graphic or sequential art, generally in the form of ‘comic’ strips. This article explores how one particular comic strip came to be the mass communicator of a new dynamism in dinosaur reconstructions within 2 years of the data for the so-called ‘dinosaur renaissance’ being presented in the scientific press.

Abstract Heritage stones are stones that have special significance in human culture. The papers in this volume discuss a wide variety of such stones, including stones from Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia. Igneous (basalt, porphyry and a variety of granites), sedimentary (sandstone, limestone) and metamorphic (marble, quartzite, gneiss, slate, soapstone) stones are featured. These stones have been used over long periods of time for a wide range of uses, including monuments, buildings of architectural note, columns, roofing, tiling and lithography. A number of papers in this book provide information that is essential for eventual approval of stones as a Global Heritage Stone Resource or a group of stones as a Global Heritage Stone Province.