IMAGINE: THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, someone was inspired to create by tracing the outline of their hands on this cave wall. Who were they and what inspired them to LEAVE A TRACE?
“Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos upon Río Pinturas,” near the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The art in the cave dates between 11,050–7,050 BCE. (Source: Unknown artist Mariano, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Trace. A small mark or sign left behind, as in “A trace of a fingerprint.”
Trace. A small quantity or lingering hint, as in “Only a trace was found.”
Trace. To follow. To track. To discover by investigating, as in “Trace the truth.”
Trace. A light outline, as in “She traced the shape onto paper.”
Trace. To describe or delineate gradually, as in “Historians trace beginnings.”
Trace. In science; small but measurable, as in “Trace elements.”
Trace (obsolete). A path; a track, as in “A trace led through the forest.”
Trace. What my father used to call me, as in “You know, Trace …” (Short for Tracey ☺)
When he started a sentence that way, I knew a thought, an observation, a curiosity was on the way — but rarely an opinion or a judgement. Sometimes advice, but only if I insisted.
Almost 1,000 years ago, Hildegard of Bingen documented her visions in obedience and humility. It’s a rich demonstration of the limits of language in the face of the ineffable. And still, we try.
