Southern Ohio cupule stone find confirms earlier interpretations of mammoth form symbolism in some of these artifacts

Anonymous mushroom hunter's Springtime find in Pike County, Ohio, is a "cupule stone" where the outline of the stone is an abstracted geometric representation of a mammoth facing left and a simple zoomorphic face profile is depicted on the mammoth's posterior facing in the opposite direction

Simply geometry of the silhouette of the mammoth reconstruction seen here may also be seen in the abstracted shape of the Pike County, Ohio, cupule stone

Manufacture of cupules has been ethnographically documented in Australia as a component of "increase rituals." If the North American cupule is related to the Australian tradition, this kind of sculpture may be seen as meaning something like "more mammoth please." If these hemispheric cupules are a result of antler billet tool dressing as Scot Stoneking has hypothesized, it may reflect the sacredness of the preparation of meta tools- or tools to make other tools, for a mammoth kill, including the flint knapping billet.

Two cupule stones from the Buckeye Lake area, Licking County, Ohio (left), and Perry County, Ohio (right), have been featured earlier on this blog as examples of mammoth iconography. The Pike County cupule stone featured here is especially like the example seen at above right in its representation of the mammoth silhouette. 

A subtle facial profile of a possible feline looking right is highlighted by the markings on this photo. White is eye mark, black is nose mark and red is the mouth of the feline. These features are made by light modification to the stone by chipping and grinding but they are there in accordance with other described examples.

The presence of a zoomorphic face in this posterior of the mammoth position, even though crude and faint, helps confirm this known element of mammoth depiction motifs as seen in other portable rock art pieces. You may use this illustration to help identify this interpreted face on the unmarked photo at (top). The feline presence here on the mammoth posterior may reflect its position as a "helper" in creating access to mammoth as a food resource in the form of carrion.

Scot Stoneking of Massilon, Ohio, has written a book on the cupstone and has replicated through experimentation how many of them were likely created. An article he wrote on the subject was published in Ohio Archaeologist and is also available in .pdf format for download.

Adams County, Ohio, cupule stone exhibiting the mammoth profile form. This object has a flat base on which the sculpture would stand in the mammoth profile position. The base is visible in the lower right quadrant of the photo and is like the base which enables the Buckeye Lake, Perry County, mammoth cupule stone to stand upright.

There is archaeological precedence for cupules on zoomorphic forms.  "Altar from house No. 45, Lepenski Vir Ib, Serbia, carved in the likeness of a fish, possibly a carp." -Don's Maps  Maybe this stone expresses the idea "More fish please."

Flint bear head figure manufactured around a quartz crystal lined cavity serving as its back lighted "hexagon eye"

Ken Johnston find, Flint Ridge, Ohio, identified as a bear head figure worked around a quartz crystal inclusion and worked to manufacture a back lighted translucent "eye"

Vanport chert bear head figure, Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio

Bear head figure translucence demonstrated by my desk lamp.

There is a defined-by-the-artist hexagon shaped area around the eye opening with cortex removal to allow light passage to the front of the stone. The hexagon shape is likely symbolic for the Stone Age artist. It is very well defined and almost perfect in its proportions. (click photos to expand and toggle for comparisons)

The translucent "eye of the bear" in sunlight. The natural crystal-lined cavity penetrates the stone to a depth of 2cm.

Side 2. There is deliberate work to expose the translucence on this side of the stone.

Side 2. Yellow line defines area which transmits light to the back of the stone. Black area has been excavated to depth of 7mm in order to get to the desired translucence. Circle-in-circle is end of eye cavity 2cm deep from other side. This stone figure may be considered a "lithophane," a term I borrowed to describe "portable rock art designed to make light appear" by exploiting transparent or translucent stone features.

Bear head figure at left with scale, (right) a large blade from several meters away, typical of tool artifacts in large numbers at Flint Ridge.

Sleeping duck sculpture with an eye and feather detail from Jeff Vincent, Mammoth Springs, Arkansas

Jeff Vincent find, Mammoth Springs, Arkansas

This is a sleeping duck sculpture in this art motif already described on this blog. Found in a context of dozens of bird figures and sculptures in Jeff's locale, including as seen in the prior posting. The sleeping duck sculpture is photographed sitting on a large rock here. The duck has an eye and there is work to depict the feathering structure as seen on a real duck below. (click photo to expand)

 Sleeping duck

"Birds in flight" from Arkansas, Ohio and the German Swabian Alps show a consistency of art forms despite geographic distance and different raw materials

 "Bird in flight" coarse stone figure identified by Jeff Vincent, Mammoth Springs, Arkansas

Hohle Fels (Hollow Rock), Germany archaeological site carved mammoth ivory "bird in flight" figure, ca. 33,000 to 31,000 BP. (Image has been flipped for a more direct comparison to the birds from Arkansas and Ohio)

"Bird in flight" flint figure, made of Vanport chert, Flint Ridge, Ohio, identified by Ken Johnston in an earlier posting on this blog

A fossilized carved ivory horse sculpture from the Arkfeld site, Clear Brook, Virginia

Arkfeld farm site, #44FK732, fossil ivory with horse carving

length 38cm, diameter 7cm at large end, weight 2.4kg

Photos by Adam Arkfeld, Clear Brook, Virginia

Adam Arkfeld writes, "This tusk was recovered in a wet clay bed formed by runoff from limestone bedrock. The ivory has been completely mineralized. It appears that the horse was carved when the tusk was still "green." The level of carving detail would not be possible on limestone."

Close up of horse head and neck, including incised lines

Adam Arkfeld notes the Virginia carved horse head has a stylistic similarity horse imagery from Lascaux cave, France. The Arkfeld example also quite distinctly has the "whiskery lines" just behind the horse's mouth like the France example.

Lascaux cave horse head image

Horses from Lascaux and the Arkfeld ivory carving have lines behind the horse's mouth as seen in the reproduction image at right above. They are very finely carved but still distinct in the Arkfeld example.

These Magdalenian period carved ivory and bone figures from Europe depict bridled horses. The carved horse head on a gomphothere tusk is featured in the current issue of Pleistocene Coalition News along with other site information by Adam Arkfeld and Jack Hranicky, R.P.A. 

Horse head carved on ivory, Hohle Fels, Germany, ca. 30,000 years BP. (image flipped for a more direct comparison to the Arkfeld site example)

Tip of a mammoth tusk carved as two reindeer depicted one behind the other; 13,000 years old approximately; Montastruc, France, © The Trustees of the British Museum

One eye open, other eye shut, feline and human faces in micro-art on a pebble from the Columbia River valley

Micro-art feline face

Isolated image from the pebble of a one eye open, other eye shut or missing feline face (with tongue out) interpreted by Ken Johnston. The right eye is a small cluster of quartz crystals and the left eye contains some empty space, affecting the known one eye open art motif. Figure stone find by Dennis Boggs at Irrigon, Oregon.

Dennis Boggs find, Irrigon, Oregon

Here I interpret a human head with one eye open, other eye shut or missing representation on the same pebble. There are two nostril holes worked on this face to add the symbolic breath of life to the figure. There may a recognition or representation of the two hemispheres of the human brain on this figure.

One-eyed human and feline figures have been described from Eurasia as well as North America on this blog. Jan van Es of Roermond, The Netherlands, taught me what to look for in Paleolithic micro pebble art and this North American figure is similar to those van Es has shared from Lower and Middle Paleolithic archaeological sites he is familiar with from northern Europe.

The typical context for Mr. Boggs' finds include worked pebbles like at left and center, as well as suspected manuported exotic stones like at right. A number of stones appear worked to access quartz crystal inclusions and will be featured in a future posting here.

Left is the figure stone featured in this article. Right is another Dennis Boggs human head figure stone featured earlier on this blog. One may see the similarity in the stone working technique/technology used in the manufacture of the eye elements on both figures.

Feline figure as the stone fits most comfortably in the hand, as if the cat is reclining on outstretched front legs. The "front legs" feature is very smoothed as if worn by rubbing and accomodates the thumb perfectly when held like this.

Feline face looking out from the "cave" created by the human hand when it is held as a "rubbing stone."

African lion with tongue out like feline on the figure stone (left eye illustrated as missing)

Texas flint with two facial profiles on its edges in the Acheulean tradition

Texas flint with facial profile on upper right edge identified by Bill Waters

ca. 500,000 to 100,000 B.P. Dunbridge, U.K., handaxe with human face profile on edge interpreted by Ken Johnston to compare to Texas example above it.

Eye, two nostrils and (smiling?) mouth worked into this same Texas flint (side 2) as a human head left profile, interpretation by Bill Waters, Bill Waters collection

At some point in time, North American Archaeology will have to explain and account for the existence of Lower and Middle Paleolithic "Old World" art forms being found here.

This human facial profile on the edge of this Texas handaxe from the Bill Waters collection was featured in an earlier posting on this blog. This is a known expression of the Acheulean tradition in Western Europe and has been documented by several serious amateurs there and by early art scholar James Harrod, Ph.D. at OriginsNet.org

Master flint knapper and figure stone investigator Bob Doyle of Maine created this flint with a human facial profile on it as an experiment in "replicative archaeology." Bob uses the word "carve" to describe his work on the face details. 

Arkfeld site in Virginia reports portable rock art and carved ivory in current issue of Pleistocene Coalition News

Adam Arkfeld find, near Clear Brook, Virginia, registered site #44FK732

photo from Pleistocene Coalition News, March-April, 2014, issue

Landowner and amateur archaeologist Adam Arkfeld with assistance of Jack Hranicky, RPA (Register of Professional Archaeologists), recently reported on this possible engraved stone among many suspected art objects from the Arkfeld farm site in Pleistocene Coalition News. The art objects described from the site include a suspected (fossil bone) figure with what appears to be a carved horse's head as well as many other horse-like objects.

Without consideration of the possible engraved lines interpreted by Mr. Arkfeld, the overall outline shape of this stone is here interpreted as representing the profile head of a feline joined with the profile head of a bird. The joining of animals in this manner has been described by Paleolithic art author Pietro Gaietto. The feline is facing left and bird is facing right. A markup I made on the photo here illustrates how the two creatures are joined at the back of their heads.

From site #23JP1222 in Missouri in a posting April 5, 2014 on this blog, also interpreted as a feline head looking left joined with a bird head looking right. The Arkfeld site #44FK732 find may be seen as analogous to the site #23JP1222 find.

Eyes and mouth make faces

Pebble with face. Jeff Vincent find, Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, in the context of other portable rock art objects

Macario Solis find, Yakima County, Washington

Numerous iconic artifacts identified by Mr. Solis from a 50 acre area. He writes "This rock appears to be a small hammer. On the stone, you can see a sun. Within the sun, you can see two eyes and a mouth. On top of the sun, you can see an image of a little girl."

Eye and mouth elements arranged within a pattern trigger primal human facial recognition capacities