Bird head shaped limestone plaque considered in context supports possibility it was shaped in prehistory

Limestone plaque with possible bird head profile, from near Hawks Nest state park, Ansted, West Virginia, near the confluence of the Gauley and the New rivers. The park is named for the large numbers of birds of prey which nest in the old stone cliffs in the rich riparian environment.

  

Artifactuality is not evident on the tablet itself but its context, find location and possible imagery make it a candidate for recognition by someone in prehistory resulting in it being among crude tool lithics on the valley floor.  The discovery of two bird heads in a small survey area make it possible some more could found in the immediate locale with a closer look, and this could reinforce the liklihood of artifactuality here.

Right profile bird head silhouette image

A human shaped stone from the survey site, 30 meters along a West Virginia creek bed

side 2 of human shaped stone exposed by Shade Creek

A suspected duck head figure stone found in the same 30 meter surface survey of Shade Creek in Kanawah County, WV.  Even though the subject of this posting does not have any plainly evident signs of human agency, having found it in a cluster with this duck head and tools, make it possible it was worked into form or perhaps at least recognized as being bird like and manuported to a cultural site.  The duck rock was the subject of an earlier posting found here:

http://portablerockart.blogspot.com/2011/07/relative-ubiquity-of-portable-rock-art.html

An unnatural number and proportion of triangular or rhomboid shaped flat stones, enough to demonstrate a pattern of human agency to me, were found in a sampling of the current bed of Shady Creek, Ansted, West Virginia.  The creek bed cuts 1 to 2 meters into the valley floor, exposing suspected crude tools and a couple of bird figure art artifacts.

click photos to expand

My interest in crude and opportunistic stone tools led me to observe patterns of human agency on non-tool artifacts and artifacts which resembled simple images of people and animals.  This led to my study of portable rock art.  In West Virginia, I was able to find an abundance of worked stone material and two possible bird head sculptures from a random stream-cut valley floor location in the hollow.  Thanks to Bill Niday family for allowing me access to their land.

The rhomboids were often made on tabular stone blanks using buffer technique according to James Harrod, Ph. D., at the web site originsnet.org.  These tools may indicate the presence of Homo erectus or other early humans in America.  These articles are generally dismissed as "geofacts" by archaeologists.

http://originsnet.org/cccgallery/pages/e)rhomboids.htm

http://originsnet.org/cccgallery/index.htm

The near 90 degree angle in the lower right corner of the plaque, almost as if the bird head is truncated by the corner of a "frame," makes it possible for the object to rest on a horizontal surface in a correct viewing orientation.  The head could have been inserted into a slit or gap on a log or wooden staff for display or as a wooden bird body the stone head was attached to. (click photos to expand)

Worked flint resembles a crested bird's head and stands on a base to orient such a figure stone correctly

Worked flint resembles a crested bird's head, with an "eye" seen in this view, and stands on a nice and likely intended base to orient such a figure stone correctly

Artifact from Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio.  Find and interpretation by Ken Johnston.  One suspected artifact incorporating bird head imagery might be a fluke but with a couple of compelling birds having emerged from the Flint Ridge area in Licking County, Ohio, a possible motif here is worth further investigation and study.  Please also see the posting "Least Bittern" for what could be a similar execution of bird head imagery found in near proximity, 10 meters, from this possible crested bird head.  I have wondered if these simple nature based images could have been created for children to ponder and play with as "toys" or maybe they had another significance.  The possible intended bird imagery may be familiar to us, but uses and meanings are not attainable from rock art of the long past.

http://portablerockart.blogspot.com/2011/06/least-bittern-head-awaiting-feeding.html

Artifact is pictured on a centimeter (cm) grid for scale.  The beak on this side is lined with quartz crystals.

The Flint Ridge Knap-in, the largest gathering of flint knappers in North America, takes place September 2, 3 and 4, 2011, at Flint Ridge, Glenford, Ohio, just east of Newark and about 1 hour east of Columbus. That's Friday through Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  Hope to see you there!

http://www.flintridgeknapin.com/
 

Several possible portable rock art pieces from western Montana reported along with concentrated icons from a Portland, Oregon, garden

A possible worked human face "mask" from western Montana.  Finder Nona A. writes "I found it in Sanders County, Montana. Above the town of Thompson Falls. I also found some other suspected art pieces from the same general area."

Another view of the mask.  A possible head with face comprises the bas-relief right eye.  The left eye is depicted as "missing."

This piece has a similarity to the duck head identified from a West Virginia stream two postings ago.

A worked face icon which resembles the artifact from the prior posting "Rick Prince finds a siltstone pebble..."  The artifact here seems to be a depiction of the "one eye open, one eye closed" motif seen throughout Middle-Paleolithic portable rock art.

Nona has created a web site with more pictures of the suspected art she has identified coming from the  concentrated area of her garden.

http://nonasrocks.yolasite.com/

Relative ubiquity of portable rock art among crude tools in Eastern North America demonstrated by informal sampling of West Virginia creek bed

Duck head right profile.
 

Found in association with hard stone tools in Shade Creek at Ansted, Kenawah County, West Virginia. Finds and interpretation by Ken Johnston.

Find location is a few miles from the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, which together form the Kanawah River, an Ohio River tributary. Despite its name, the New River is one of the oldest rivers in the world.

In an informal surface sampling of approximately 30 meters in length of the creek bed, in the Skaggs/Lucas families' hollow at Ansted, dozens of stone tools and two bird head sculptures were found in about two hours of surveying for stones which evidenced apparent human modification. Tool photos are included here to demonstrate context of the portable rock art finds. The second bird head sculpture will be featured in a separate posting on this blog.
 

Duck head reverse side with scale

Duck head features an 'eye" in bas-relief in the anatomically correct position.

View from above.  The "bump" seen at the peak of the stone in this photo is the duck's bas-relief eye.  Two round nostril divots may be seen on the top of the duck bill on the left side of the photo above and illustrated below with green circles.

Detail of the tip of the duck bill as seen from above looking down.

When the view of the artifact is turned upside down from the duck view, the sculpture transforms into another bird in whole body form, not just the head.  The duck's mouth serves as a tail feathering representation when seeing the sculpture in this whole bird view.

Upside-down duck head side 2 also looks like a second whole bird integrated with the duck head.

Knife found in the 30 meter sample area that also produced two bird head sculptures, including the duck in this post

Knife side 2

Knife as likely held in use

Hand axe, convex side

Percussion pitting on reverse of hand axe

Hand axe as held

Awl/perforator type tools worked to points

Reverse sides of points

Detail of reduction with possible intent to leave a bulb or knob to assist grip (seen as the rounded form in lower right of tool).

An abrading block

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauley_River

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_(Kanawha_River)

-kbj

Perhaps a Least Bittern (bird head sculpture standing upright on base)

Least Bittern head and beak, from Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio.

The artifact stands on a base with the beak pointing skyward, just like a living Least Bittern awaiting feeding.

artifact is pictured on a centimeter grid for scale and perspective

(click photo to expand)

Side 2

(click photo to expand)

side 2 standing

John James Audubon reproduction of the Least Bittern in its typical, beak pointing up position.  The flint sculpture here captures not only the look of the Least Bittern but also its most notable observable behavior which is the young clustering with beaks in the air awaiting the regurgitated food to be provided by the mother, heads swaying like the wind-blown reeds and grasses of the water's edge.  As soon as mother leaves to bring back and regurgitate food for the chicks, it's beaks up and moving to the rhythm of the long grass to camouflage themselves and be in ready position for her return.  For this reason, birds (and specifically beaks) are thought to be symbolic of new life and motherly sustenance.

The nesting Least Bittern is observable in the shore area of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, near Flint Ridge today.  When I saw the flint, my immediate thought without hesitation was "Least Bittern!!!" and then the painting on the wall of my study.  The artifact beak has a slight curve where the Least Bittern's beak seems more straight. It seems to be the closest looking species of water bird currently in Ohio and may have been the species in the mind of the creator of this piece of flint.

If not intentionally produced as a sculpture, the likeness to a bird could have been recognized in prehistoric times and resulted in the piece being set aside. The perfectly flat base and ideal standing position of the sculpture form argue for intent to create a presentable bird head sculpture here.