Hi Ian

Sorry no earlier comment, but have been away...

Question for you: the "connection" between Lascaux and Egypt seems very tenuous, both in terms of chronology and continuity of attestation. So: have there been any recent studies of the Atlas Mountains rock art (abundant for many different periods) which might "join the dots" in terms of any proposed migration of these styles / skills / ideas between Egypt and France? I confess my deep ignorance of this subject, so a pointer to any recent work e.g. on dating, or on coincidence of symbolism, would be helpful. Alternatively are there any other European regions in the Iberian peninsula or further east than Lascaux, to indicate a connection?

At present this evidence seems to be in its infancy as far as developed theories of population movement or cultural transmission go. Climate conditions in north Africa in the period 15,000 - 5,000 BC seem to be significantly more benign for human beings than 5,000 BC onward, but there does not seem to be yet a demonstrable connection between these cultures and the later proto-Egyptian Nile-based cultures, yet connections to the Mesopotamian cultures are established.

In other words, yes it is of interest, but how is it relevant to a forum devoted to historical chronology? Does the alphabet posited for Lascaux have any hope of decipherment? We can all trawl through mythology to find "confirmation" of Atlantis, of universal floods, of diasporas of peoples to distant places, of "ancient aliens" bestowing cultural advances on primitive peoples and so on, and I suspect many people on this forum will avoid such speculation as if it were the plague (include me in this!).

BTW - on a specific point, your pentagrammaton of "God" does not seem to be symmetrical i.e. the "name" does not read the same in both directions, whereas your extended tetragrammaton (YHVH+Y) does...

Regards

Kim