VMs (f80v) critter identified

[Linda]

EDIT: Sorry, I made a mistake, the discussion was about the goat/lamb/sheep, and I was looking more at the image of the lion when I started writing this, I will correct the post below.

It's not a lamb, it's a full grown ram.

Hi Koffee, welcome back.

Ah you beat me to it, i was going to ask how it could be a lion when there is a leopard later that looks more like a lion.

I used to think it was a ram but it is true the features are more like a goat, or the genus Capra. That is why my pet id on the dark aries at the moment is an ibex. A female, to be specific. Note the red dot. There is a red dot on the leo as well, i think she is female too, again, not usual in most representations of leo, and yet makes some sense. The darker bull is a male, not sure about the lighter one though.

It seems like some questioning of tradition might be embodied in the depictions of at least some of these, if they are indeed symbols of the zodiac, which they do seem to be, overall. Gemini looks similar to male female pairings of the time, but may yet be two men, as gemini used to be depicted, ie  as identical twins, not fraternal. 

I think the missing pages would hold Capricorn and Aquarius. The Aries and Taurus duplicates allow for more detail within the circles, note there are half the amount of nymphs within as for the rest of the circles. It may also be commentary on changing calendars over time, switching systems. Myself i think it is because these are not zodiac months but ages, but most of mankinds' written history occurs within the last three of these. We are still in Pisces now, just as they were in vms days, and before 6000 years ago or so things were more nomadic and less is known about culture, architecture was basic, and various languages remain unknown today. In Gemini we find the last of the clothed people, and the architecture (tubs) is all knocked over. It is knocked over in half of Pisces too  whether that is a premonition or something that occurred is unclear, seems like flooding is involved with them being coloured green and decoration gives way to pock marks by mollusks.