PAINTINGS of mythical animal-human hybrids are among the oldest surviving art
ever produced. New research suggests that minotaurs, satyrs, the werewolves
beloved of Hollywood and even Egypt’s animal-headed gods are latecomers to the
art scene compared with the “therianthropes” carved by the earliest artists on
bone and painted on stone.
“They go back to the dawn of humanity, to the first fully modern people,”
claims rock art expert Paul Taçon of the Australian Museum in Sydney. He
has found that in Australia and South Africa there are dozens of animal-headed
people in rock paintings and carvings more than 10,000…
