Denisovan Ancestry in East Eurasian and Native American Populations

Sculptures transported 700 miles?

Featured June 1 on this blog: Human face profile looking left 

Featured July 8 on this blog: Feline head looking left

The above two sculptures were found by Stacy Dodd and Rod Weber at The Old Route 66 Zoo site (OR66Z), #23JP1222, near Joplin, Missouri.

When I saw the first one I was fairly certain it was made in a stone material known as Vanport Chert from Flint Ridge in Licking and Muskingum Counties in Ohio. Not long after I received photos of the feline head and it also appeared to be made of this Ohio flint from just 10 miles from my home.

The stone material used for these two sculptures is different looking from all the other lithics found at the OR66Z site. I have seen hundreds of photos over 4 1/2 years and these two objects are unique and were recovered at the same time this summer at the site.

Based on the photos, I have had confirmation from some locals familiar with the Flint Ridge material that these two pieces both appear to be from Ohio. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry testing of the two Missouri sculptures, compared to testing of known Flint Ridge chert will confirm these two stones originated in Ohio.

The motifs of these two sculptures also compare favorably to art I have well-described on this blog and have documented locally to Flint Ridge.

It is my opinion these sculptures were manufactured near Flint Ridge and transported 700 miles to the find location near modern day Joplin, Missouri. While tool stone from Flint Ridge Ohio has been documented in Missouri, this would represent the longest known transport of lithic material used for symbolic or art purposes and perhaps the longest known transport of finished sculptures from one place to another.  

The distance from the sculpture find location at The Old Route 66 Zoo site in Jasper County, Missouri to the Flint Ridge, Ohio source of the stone material the sculptures are made from, is 700 miles. Tools and tool stone from Flint Ridge are known to have been transported hundreds of miles.

Turgite formations on some Flint Ridge Ohio chert have iridescent properties and was likely highly valued by Stone Age peoples for its unique visual properties. From the John Nethers farm, Muskingum County.

A map of the Pennsylvanian "Vanport formation" of chert located in Licking and Muskingum Counties in east-central Ohio which is regarded as some of the highest quality and most colorful chert in North America.  

Regarded by many as the "World's greatest living flint knapper" Roy Miller is seen here in his quarry at Flint Ridge, Ohio.

The Roy Miller quarry at Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio

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