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/
 

Two birds depicted in flint and quartz crystals on figure stone from Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio

Two birds depicted in flint and quartz crystals on figure stone from Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio.  Artifact found and interpreted by Ken Johnston.

This side of the figure stone resembles a standing water bird, with its wing and tail raised away from its body, connoting movement.  The bird has a ground crystal eye, and a crystal head.  Note how the little sculpture stands upright on a pedestal-like base.

With scale

The blue circle in this photo indicates where the crystal was ground down to differentiate that spot visually from the rest of crystal in order to make an eye.  The eye is in the perfect spot to depict a standing, long-billed bird in left profile view.  As most all art like this, nature offered up the ideal starting form and with some modification this piece of chert was brought to life.

In this position, the same artifact would never be recognized as an art piece worked on a micro-carving scale to depict two separate birds.  However, once the birds are recognized, this is a great view of the work to remove stone material to define a bird's beak.  The area of grinding to remove quartz material is seen highlighted in blue marking on this photo.  Click photos to expand views.

PLAY>

Watch this short video of this beautiful flint and crystal bird sculpture rotating slowly on a display turntable.  The video is a little fuzzy but combined with the photos will provide a good sense of what this figure stone is like in three dimensions and how much the crystals catch the sunlight.

Bison Eye

Bison Eye

by Allen V. Deibel, The StoneCat Collection, Canfield, Ohio

BISON EYE          

                I’ve selected this artifact as a means of showing how contours and features within the stone would be worked to convey images. The imagery is concise and uncomplicated; The Ancient Artisan was likely reproducing a Bison Eye. It is just about life-sized.  This striated conglomerate was ground from an irregular cobble. This effort covers one hundred percent of the surface.

                Please refer to the frontal and side photographs. An especially interesting feature is the fleck of Quartz near the center of the eye. An Artistic technique used by portrait painters to bring life to an eye by showing a reflection on a moist eyeball.  This would be the first layer ground to this fleck to affect this image.

                A dark brown striation is the next layer.  Not only has it been ground to the oval that is the Iris, but notice the slight grayed look.  The Quartz layer that formed the fleck was ALMOST ground away above the Iris. Ground to the interface between dark and light layers. This allowed the Ancient Artisan to chip a Pupil that was distinctly dark, to contrast with the Iris.

                 The thick Quartz layer that is the eye whites and the rest of the dark back of the cobble was ground to complete the image. The angle of the grind was adjusted to provide the appropriate amount of white and the dark side was ground so as to be occluded by the white. In hand this is uncannily realistic. The intent of the Artist realized.

Not obvious in these photographs is that the fleck in the eye is an abstract image of a feline visage.  The last sight of the hapless buffalo captured in its eye, forever. This artifact illustrates more than an image but a philosophy.  -Allen V. Deibel, The StoneCat Collection, Canfield, Ohio.

(Click this link for over 100 line drawings of figure stones in The StoneCat Collection, by Allen V. Deibel)  http://s813.photobucket.com/albums/zz56/kenbjohn/Diebel%20Cat%20Drawings/

White bison (prey) shares crystal eye penetrating flint with feline (predator) depicted on reverse side

White buffalo head right profile with horn detail protruding

Artifact from the Pam Douglass collection, Jacksontown, Ohio

Multiple art pieces found by Pam and her grandson Connor

while hunting for points. 

Also in above photo, a feline (presumably lion or scimitar) lieing on its stomach with head resting on left leg/paw (which also serves as the bison horn) may be seen in left profile with the lion's head in utmost upper left.  The bottom point of the buffalo horn triangle shape is the elbow of the lion's bent front left leg.  The lion's neck and back profile stretches along most of the top of the artifact as pictured here.  The feline's tail is fully expressed, hanging down from the cat to create the muzzle line of the buffalo. 

Eye penetrates the stone, allowing light to pass through crystals

Side 2

Pam was ridiculed for suggesting the white buffalo head iconography, knowing she had multiple other examples of people and animals, on a site sometimes known as arrowheadism.com.  A kind reader in another state suggested she contact me.  Ironically, via the internet, Pam lives 2 miles from my home in Hebron, Ohio, and sells me my favorite potato salad at the corner market!  Artifacts are Flint Ridge material, Licking County, Ohio, found at Jacksontown.

The feline in top/first photo is one of the repeated motif of "lion perched above, ready to pounce" which is seen in other artifacts as well.

click photo to expand

This piece may indicate a similar expression of an ideological value of a predator/prey depiction of "bison in the eye of the cat" as described by Allen V. Deibel in the above posting.  Both Allen's and Pam's artifacts are from east Ohio.

-kbj

White buffalo born May 12, 2011, three days after this post was made:

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979392881

Maryland and Oregon artifacts demonstrate similar artist use of stone material in a pebble inclusion to feature reflective eyes

Reflective eye with wink (one eye closed theme)

Mark Jones collection, Piney Point, Maryland

From Maryland, near the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.  Found by prehistoric art and fossil hunter Mark Jones of Piney Point.  Please notice the two nostrils depicted here.  Nostrils are sometimes present on zoomorphic and anthromorphic portable rock art and are an element which can contribute to determining artifactuality.  Perhaps they were made to "add the breath of life" to the art creation.

"One eye open, one eye closed/missing" is a well documented, recurring, theme in "old world" Paleolithic portable rock art.  According to James Harrod, Ph.D., it may have endured to the Nourse/Celtic times with the mythological "One-eyed Oden" being a more recent manifestation of this meme element.  Please see Harrod's OriginsNet web site on side panel for more information.

Oregon example from Dennis Boggs 

The reflective eye is on the photo right here
Click photo to expand size

Closer view of Oregon sparkling eye

Click photo to expand size

Very up close of sparkling eye of Oregon artifact.  There may be another face depicted in micro-carving in the reflective stone material of the eyeball.

Click photo to expand size.

Reverse side depicts another face, perhaps exhibiting the enduring theme "predator bite out of head," first seen in the Oldowan and perhaps persisting to the Middle Paleolithic, as described by James Harrod in his "Four Memes..." paper with link on the right side panel.

This is my interpretation of a face, represented in green, and "bite out of the head" zone on the artifact represented in red.  In yellow is a possible second face nested within the bite zone, perhaps depicting predator taking the bite out of the head.

In another interpretation a third face may be represented on this figure stone.  So, this could be a (face(within a face))within a face))).

Five faces, two on one side and three on the reverse, may be depicted in this figure stone.