Archaeology of Portable Rock Art

Subjectivity in Stone Age art works such as figure stones, engravings, sculptures, effigies and curated manuports. See how images and icons have been realized in portable rock media since the dawn of humanity. Here, archaeologists and art historians are becoming aware of these forsaken artifacts. “And this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing." -in W. Shakespeare, As You Like It, 1599.

04 November 2014

Pebble face mask including mammoth left profile form in context of other iconic stones from Texas

David Boies find, near Austin, Texas, 6cm

This pebble was selected by the artist because of the suitable "mammoth left profile shape" at the top, reminiscent of the mammoths' prominent head bump. It has a worked face mask in the lower half with a pecked circle serving as a wide open mouth. The mammoth head bump at top left of the stone has been given a carved eye in correct anatomical position. The top of the human's head may be seen as being topped or crested by the mammoth profile.

An expanded right eye and mouth with quartz crystal features makes this pebble mask

Chert pebble with worked eyes and nose to compliment a natural mouth feature in the cortex of the stone

01 November 2014

Shout and rabbit

Rabbit neck and head looking left with ears folded back and combined with the "Shout" motif

Sherry Hill find, Doe River valley, far east Tennessee, 7cm

This figure stone was identified by Sherry as a quasi-anthropomorphic piece due the mouth-like notch on its end which results in a simple PAC-MAN like human head form. It stands upright in this position. Another similar find by Sherry was featured earlier on this blog and has been compared to finds from other sites. A recent posting also covered finds similar to Sherry's from Denver, Colorado.

I discovered a rabbit head and neck profile looking left while rotating the stone inspecting for areas of human modification. I think this stone is a combination of the "Shout" motif and a hare or rabbit. This may be interpreted as a combination of predator and prey symbolism. A "Shout" flint stone from the Pleistocene (proto-) Thames River valley, U.K., was also interpreted as combining a possible prey animal and may be seen as comparable to Sherry's find.

Side 2

"Shout and rabbit"

Interpretations of the eye, nose and mouth of the rabbit image and the area of the stone which has been sculpted.

PAC-MAN and another "Shout" motif worked stone identified by Sherry Hill in the same context, 12cm, seen in a 2011 posting

Side 2 of the Tennessee figure stone illustrating an eye feature composed of a circular shape in a similar position to the PAC-MAN eye.

31 October 2014

A pebble mask with a manufactured mouth

Pebble mask with manufactured mouth, Arkfeld site, #44FK732, Clear Brook, Virginia, 2.5cm

29 October 2014

Bird figures on large flakes and a plaque with a human head profile crested by a mammoth head form, Doe River valley, Tennessee

Sherry Hill find, Doe River valley Tennessee

Found in a context of other bird figures and sculptures seen on this blog

Side 2, 8cm

A cardinal-like bird figure made in retouch to the flake edges, 9cm

Sherry Hill interpreted this as a human head profile looking left in a 2011 posting on this blog. Ken Johnston interprets this as an example of a human with a mammoth form, in the shape of a mammoth's "head bump," cresting the human's forehead which has been identified here as a North American portable rock art motif. The tip of the mammoth's trunk is also the tip of the human's nose.

Here is a link to info on the Tennessee Coats-Hines Paleoindian mammoth site.

27 October 2014

A bear figure with nose raised to the air from The Old Route 66 Zoo site, #23JP1222

Stacy Dodd and Rod Weber find, outside Joplin, Missouri, along Old Route 66. Interpreted as a stone bear figure with nose raised to the air. One of many dozens of iconic objects from this site which are featured on this blog.

Illustration of the interpreted features of the bear figure including a hind leg expression

26 October 2014

Human images, a likely feline head and a micro biface from Boukoul, Netherlands

Jan van Es find, Acheulean human head profile, Boukoul, Netherlands

A Middle Acheulean micro biface from the Boukoul site

Stone including a human image detected by Jan van Es. Subtle alterations are made to Boukoul stones to enhance or "tease out" visually significant forms.

Close view including human image detected by Jan van Es. Please note the shape of the hair style or head dress in this image resembles the "mammoth cresting person's forehead" form seen in the posting just prior to this one.

Jan van Es markup of the interpreted image

The sitting human image framed.

Interpreted as an animal head facing right by Jan van Es. Ken Johnston interprets this stone image as a likely feline representation.

22 October 2014

Lee County, Alabama, farm finds include a subtle human profile, a lion head with red ocher and some odd metal objects

Subtle relief plaque of human head profile looking left, 5cm, Lee County, Alabama

Lisa Deason find, north east Alabama, in a context of other iconic finds which have been featured on this blog. Here a human head looking left with possible mammoth icon cresting the person's forehead with "trunk" continuing as the person's nose. This incorporation of the mammoth form and the human face has been documented on this blog.

Lisa Deason has identifed concentrations of iconic stone objects at the family farm in north east Alabama. 6cm. This is one is interpreted by Ken Johnston as a feline head figure with bas relief eyes, a mouth including a tongue and remnants of red ocher pigment decoration still visible on the feline's muzzle.

Some odd metal pieces interpreted as tools by Lisa Deason. They did not appear to Lisa to be obviously historically created pieces like iron nails which have been found where former historic period wood structures may have existed. Persons with expertise in historical metal objects are welcome to comment on these finds.

Close up of a mini sickle-like tool. Is this a known historic period tool form to be found on an Alabama farm? Comments are welcome.

Close up of object at top, middle of group tool photo above

Outline of geometric shape in the metal also seen in some stone tool forms in eastern North America. This object is deteriorating or it has fused with another object which has obscured the shape.

A simple backed metal blade, 2.5, .75in. Are objects like this known from historic times?

Back edge

Blade edge

An intended shape or a byproduct of historic metal working?

A zoomorphic shape, 2.5, 1.5in

Metal awl with possible accommodation for a handle, 4.25, 1.5in

Illustration of possible narrowing of the metal to secure a handle

These metal objects may be historic, the dating is unknown. 2.5, 2.25in. They are interesting observations in light of the metal objects reported from the Arkfeld site in association with portable rock art.

A metal wedge-like tool

17 October 2014

Three incised portable art rocks from the Arkfeld Paleolithic site in Virginia

Rock with incised lines, Arkfeld site, #44FK732, Clear Brook, Virginia. 15cm. Interpreted by Ken Johnston as a human head representation, chin at far left, eyes looking to upper left corner of the frame. A cap or a hairstyle may be depicted.

Close up of the incised lines near the "neck" of the human head figure

Side two also interpreted as a human head representation, chin at far right, as if the human is looking to the upper right corner of the frame.

Possible human or animal head figure with incised lines, 10cm

Illustration highlighting the incised lines

Interpreted by Adam Arkfeld as a leaping human figure, 6cm

Illustration highlighting the incised lines. Close-up of cutout image of faint traces of a human face.

Arkfeld site blade tools found in the art context

Arkfeld site awls

Arkfeld site burins

Ohio's top archaeologist is "not at all persuaded" as art in his back yard languishes in obscurity

Warren K. Moorehead on the imperitive to collect "rough and rude" art

“… The museums are full of axes, celts, pipes, banner stones, discoidals, hematites, tubes, slate ornaments and ceremonials, pestles, hammers, etc. What the museums need (as of great value to Archaeological Science) are collections from a single locality including everything found in that locality. They want the finds of the village site, the studies in unfinished specimens, the poor and the good, the imperfect as well as the perfect. In this regard, the collectors make a great error. Most of them do not save everything but cling to the ‘pretty relics’ and discard the rough and the rude. Personally, I would give more for a collection, provided it contained all the types, all the finds of a certain valley than for just the fine, perfect objects of that valley. From a collection of the latter, I would be misled, for if I accepted it as indicative of the people of that valley, I would say they made the most beautiful works of aboriginal art, nothing rude or unfinished being turned out by their artisans. In such a statement, I would be unpardonably wrong.”

Warren K. Moorehead, 1884

Sculptor Henry Moore

"The most striking quality common to all primitive art is its intense vitality. It is something made by people with a direct and immediate response to life. Sculpture and painting for them was not an activity of calculation or academism, but a channel for expressing powerful beliefs, hopes and fears.

Primitive art is a mine of information for the historian and anthropologist, but to understand and appreciate it, it is more important to look at it than to learn the history of primitive peoples, their religions and social customs…But all that is really needed is response to the carvings themselves, which have a constant life of their own, independent of whenever and however they were made, and remain as full of sculptural meaning today to those open and sensitive enough to receive it as on the day they were finished." --Henry Moore, 1941

Ursel Benekendorff is recognized in the vanguard of Stone Age art inquiry and study

(This image is Copyright (c), Ursel Benekendorff, All Rights Reserved. May not be copied or distributed in any way. Used here with permission of Ursel Benekendorff for purpose of linking to her web site Schafftwissen) Stone age art pioneer Ursel Benekendorff has 2000 photographs and demonstrates standardization in the production of the world's oldest art. “My work was a pioneer work, without help of curators or technical experts. Self developed methods helped me, to stay on top of thousands of pieces of extraordinary shapes, excavated by digging machines. I was fast but not that fast and not all artifacts could have been rescued, still Menhir sizes, microlithic material, handsize stones and Un- PORTABLE sized stones were documented. That was more than most collectors assembled or documented, as I learned later on. I had invited large numbers of people to my site, so I know how they go about it all, they operate on a personal preferences, thus a wide open field, possessing is the goal, not so much the unsolved research questions. You see it was not my goal to find the best but the goal was, to clear misleading pictures and find those, who got repeated. This needed a large variety of stone types to detect the repetition by former artists. (Not looking pictures into the stones). But I wanted and still want to know, how the logo face stone on my website created his surrounding.” -Ursel Benekendorff

A book on Siberian portable rock art could provide clues to North American possibilities

Early art of the northern Far East : the Stone Age, by M. A. Kiriyak. This book is about the portable rock art of the Russian north east area. It was written in Russian but has been translated to English by the United States National Park Service's Shared Beringia Heritage Program. The hundreds of iconographic artifacts described and pictured here should inform North American archaeologists regarding the possibilities for art modalities having arrived via Beringia during peopling of the Americas migrations. The book is available for preview at the link here.

Denisovan Ancestry in East Eurasian and Native American Populations