Lumpy flint figurines may be some of the earliest depictions of real people

[tomclark]

Lumpy flint figurines may be some of the earliest depictions of real people

Live Science - Tom Metcalfe
Archaeologists at an ancient burial site in Jordan thought one of their team might have sunstroke when he suggested some rough flints he'd found …

https://www.livescience.com/grave-fi...portrayal.html

[Ron Kelley]

They were being economical with the lithic material. The "figurines" were made on a blade using blade/core technology. If I was going to knap an effigy I would probably start with a simple percussion flake.

The "figurines" could easily be cleaned up using micro flaking and an abrading stone: I wonder why they didn't do that.

[Lindenmeier-Man]

I pick up every piece of flint, and bring home ...Now, I’m kind of freaked out...

[gregszybala]

Interesting finds but I'm still skeptical. If they were able to create what they could create and these may have been in supposed honor of their dead, why so crude? A skilled knapper could make one looking much more like a figure with not much more work.

[Ron Kelley]

Agreed Greg; I am also a skeptic.

[Cecilia]

I dunno....Maybe all the women wore ballgowns back then...

[gregszybala]

[Kentucky point]

No joke, I was in Portsmouth Ohio last Saturday night, and some cult was out doing their thing, and they were all dressed up like Bubonic plague doctors waving signs that said "Bring Out Your Dead". It was very weird.

[SDhunter]

For real Ethan?

[Hal Gorges]

Wow. I couldn’t figure that one out..some crazy stuff goin on

[Hal Gorges]

I thought that during this Cannoli virus at least archeologists wouldn’t go nuts, but obviously I was wrong.lol...Nice postTom,

[Hal Gorges]

Seriously, they look like blade &core stuff, similar to making gun flints, a break em flake em thing...Course they should be finding the finished tools, maybe they’re throwing em away, it wouldn’t be the first time...

[Kentucky point]

My belief is that this will add fuel to the fire for those who find a rock and proclaim it to be an effigy. However, so many that look the same shouldn't be ignored.

[clovisoid]

I'll have to make a note and see if I can find more detail, the article touches on a couple of things but doesn't really give much detail.

They are obviously made artifacts, so that's a start. The article says they have no cutting edge, when a bladelet like that is basically all cutting edge. So were they smoothed or worked some way? (Most of them still look sharp to me.)

The other thing the article touches on but doesn't explain is context. If they represent individual people vs just a generic human shape, I'd assume they were buried/treated with some degree of respect. The article just mentions they were found in the area of the cemetery but you can find a lot of lithic scatter that has nothing to do with a cemetery. (One per burial might indicate they are something special. Always placed near the same part of the body or combined with other relics as an offering might be other things that indicate they are something more than just tools...)

[tomclark]

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journ...16F1113844C61B

[Hal Gorges]

I’m not gonna give up, they look like tent pegs..lol.

[Hal Gorges]

P.s. my main argument is, I don’t believe they were monkeys doin it, , so it then becomes an issue of evolution, which I believe to a certain extent but in a reverse fashion, I.e. a blind fish had eyes, but because of environment it loses the ability to see, another example..Adam was created without sin and because of sin etc. , Now...What I see here is a much deeper issue going on, it has to with Satin attacking Gods creation story. Feel free ta correct me if you think I’m wrong anybody, please, ya ain’t hurtin my feelings...Interesting post Tom...p.s.im thinking hard about posting this, but in the end it’s my opinion...

[Tam]

Are you rolling your eyes yet Tom

[Ron Kelley]

I think they are effigies of Stradivarius Violins.

Not sure though: A few of them look like clothes pins.