Normandy, France, Mousterian industry 'scraper' includes human head effigy with face profiles on its edges and perhaps an example of the 'symbolic cosmic egg-chin'

'Human head effigy with neck facing left'

From Normandy, West of Paris Basin

Ken Johnston collection

France Mousterian industry 'scraper' includes human head effigy with face profiles on its edges. This is a presumed Neanderthal piece of figurative art. Many other iconic tool examples exist in private and museum collections but have yet to be identified because no one ever considered the possibility of their existence. Neanderthal figurative sculpture behavior could be established in short order if archaeologists just look carefully at artifacts already above the ground.

Detail of the 'eye' feature on photo 1 shows human attention to distress the surface of the flint

'Human head effigy with neck facing right' on France Mousterian 'scraper' This face on the opposite side has a forehead, eye, nose, mouth, chin and neck.

This is also a bird figure where the bird's breast is the chin of the human. This piece may be displaying the motif of the 'symbolic cosmic egg-chin' as seen in the prior posting.

'Human head left 3/4 profile, tongue sticking out'

When the breast of the bird, also an egg-like form, is isolated and rotated 90 degrees right, the elements of a human head worked in great detail in the flint may be observed. It appears the person's tongue is sticking out or he has something in his mouth. This bird-breast, egg-shape and human face combination suggests the making of a symbolic cosmic egg.

Most interestingly, the larger face on the edge and the small head on the egg form share the same stone feature as their mouths.

The question for Archaeology is "How many Lower and Middle Paleolithic artifacts currently classified as tools include art or are exclusively art objects?"