Wolf and Horse Portable Rock Art and Flint Tool

Another flint tool from my find site that shows the horse head glyph and possibly a double sided depiction of the Egyptian Jackal or African Wolf, I also notice the elephant and front leg motif is incorporated into the horse head, another convention noted in previous finds of mine. The blade or cutting surface of this flint tool is along the bottom of the figurative neck area.

Rule of Thumb - Portable Rock Art Motif

Something I have been aware of for a few years is the Thumb motif found on my site and in other hand axes and blade tools. I have already shown a number of hand shapes in my poly iconic materials and perhaps there is a similar meaning to these icons. I have long suggested that these motifs are actually visual language devices rather than art per se. I have found many suspected thumb shapes from my find site and have seen others, both recognized and unrecognized both in flint tool form or just as worked stones. So what is the meaning of this motif? Many portable rock art finds contain images of hominids and apes, usually in head profile form, and there is a great variety of both, all of these motifs can be replaced by the thumb motif. So instead of carving various ape and hominid head profiles, prehistoric men could of carved a thumb shape to indicate all, allow me to explain a little further. One of the unique features of hominids is opposable thumbs, so this motif would cover all hominids. On a double sided piece direction of travel could be easily indicated, furthermore when the piece is turned upside down this could indicate all apes and monkeys, as the thumb would be in the position it is on monkeys hands rather than the natural position it is in on the hands of humans and hominids.

This is a Flint hand Axe found in Kent Uk, a thumb shape and nail can be seen. Source: www.stoneagetools.co.uk 

Below: A selection of 3 thumb shapes found from my find site, The top one is also a blade tool.

Below another one of my UK thumb finds.

 

The Two Flint tool finds below were both found in North America and Both show the Thumb Motif.

Picture Lost somehow? empty space deleted 13/10/2021

From Ebay, another combination elephant half and thumb motif.

Below: From my find site here in the UK, another combination thumb and elephant front leg motif.

Below: The images to the left are drawings of an eolith, recovered from layers dated to at least 2 million years old. Again elephant half and combined thumb motifs can be seen.

Is this neolithic? polished hand axe carrying comparatively modern traces of figurative art?

Image source: The British Museum, link has further details about the find.

USA stone below: The bottom picture also shows the Elephant and front leg motif, thumb shape and claw.

Prehistoric Stone Toy or Decision making Device?

Another stone from my site that shows various face profiles, hominid, ape and feline and other prehistoric language elements. But is there a little more to this piece of portable rock art than first meets the eye? The stone has a kind of trigger/lever which can be used to spin the device and a gouged chevron, which presumably was used to indicate direction. The Item could of been used rather like spin the bottle, as a toy or gaming device, or to make decisions about direction of travel or who should go and collect the dinosaur stakes for supper.

Russian Mammoth Flint Sculpture

Yesterdays post of one of my finds got me searching for other examples of clearly worked flint portable rock art. I came across this example in Early Art of the Northern Far East a book by Russian author M. A. Kiriyak (Dikova) (English Translation by Richard L. Bland). The find was found in Ushki which is far to the east of Russia. Check page 66, Dikova talks of other mammoth finds being covered in paint and having traces of red ocher, and even seated, just like mine.

This mammoth sculpture is also in the form of a flint tool, a very subtle feline face can be seen on the posterior of the mammoth motif. The white lines making a triangle for the ear shape, the white spot to the right of that becoming the 'eye' the vertical line on the rump making a triangle muzzle of the suspect feline motif. You can also see a feline like head profile on the posterior of the mammoth motif shown on my example in the previous post.

I would like you to think about what this could possibly mean, as far as prehistoric people from very distant parts of the world sharing common symbolgy and common conventions within that symbology.

Flint tool shows Mammoth Iconography?

This piece of portable rock art from my find site shows the possible outline of a mammoth and also has a a subtle face profile on its posterior (probably sub-human), as well as other iconography. Unlike any other suspected mammoth interpretation I am aware of, this flint also doubles as a cutting tool, so its an artifact in its own right.

Other amateur portable rock art collectors have also recognized the mammoth with face on posterior convention, mainly in North America, the clearest example of this convention can be seen here (last image), although I suggest that the motifs in this example show Elephant and Human.

Canadian Swan Motif

This Piece found in Grand Falls NB by Carol Cyr shows the same swan motif as shown in my previous post of a find from my site here in the UK. Both could also show the elephant head and front leg motif, if rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise whilst covering  the 'head' of the 'swan'.

Carol an artist has been collecting Portable Rock Art for 10 years, and has amassed a large collection. The fact that matching motifs can be found in places all over the world points to a common unknown culture way back in Earths history. More of Carols collection can be seen at the Rock Art Museum.

Swan and Ape Portable Rock Art

Here we have the carved and possibly painted image of a water bird. The Swan like bird impression is shown bending its head backwards and cleaning its feathers, this is a well known portable rock art motif, others found in Canada and America. To the left of this flint artwork a face profile of an ape can be seen.

I thought I would share this with you also, this is the piece shown in an earlier post Standing Cloaked Figure. A complete face profile can be seen facing right, could this be an artistic impression of the head and neck of a relative to the Spinosaurus? An ape face profile can also be seen, facing left, just to the left of center.

Cretaceous Portable Rock Art Find Recovery.

The Cretaceous period runs from 66 to 145 Million years ago, or there about, it gets its name from the German word for chalk. A friend filmed me finding and recovering an artifact embedded in a cretaceous layer, so I thought I would share it. You may notice a strong resemblance to a motif found in an earlier find, the same heavy set brow ridge and bump on the back of the 'head' as in this piece, showing a suspected Australopithecus.

Prehistoric Animated Robed Figurines

A selection of seven recent flint finds from my site collected from my last two visits.  All can be manipulated in the hand to show an animated cloaked figure likeness, as though walking both right and left. They all share some common characteristics, the four shown in the top row (pictures at end of the post) have a protrusion to one side, this can be used as a lever to rotate each piece in the hand to create the animations.  I've long theorized that many of these artefacts are held between thumb and forefinger and rotated with the middle finger in order to reveal the hidden animations, the side protrusions can be used in exactly this way to rotate the pieces clockwise and anticlockwise in order to create the walking figure effect. Other common features seen here are a double chevron in order to describe the hood of the robe and a downward slant from the top of the hood to the front, the point of the hood becoming an axle on which to rotate. This topology can most likely be found in hand axes and other flint tools.

Although these finds are not the the finest of modified flints from my site the visual impression they can produce is more than adequate to describe a cloaked figure walking both left and right. These are not my only finds that show walking animations. The stone featured in this recent post Standing Cloaked Figure  could also be manipulated in the hand to make the stone describe a figure walking both left and right.

Above a prehistoric robed figure likeness is shown walking rightwards.

The same flint artefact as shown in the previous animation, this time as though walking left.

These next two animations from the same flint find also show a similar cloaked figure likeness, again as though walking both left and right.

Above, this stone also seems to have a subtle walking hominid impression, as though walking right, as well as the cloaked figure animations. Its not as fine as an artwork as this gorilla animation from omniglyths, which I also suspect could be manipulated in order to produce a walking like effect. Another more skilfully animated gorilla impression can be seen in the old post Prehistoric Optical Illusions.

 Above and below, two more walking robed figure animations from the same worked flint find.

Above and below, stills of the seven recent finds, look for the double chevrons on the hood features, this is one of the keys in creating the impression.

Fossilized Painted Ape Face profile on Flint Tool.

Another piece from my site, this worked white flint has a very good ape face profile likeness. Although no chemical analysis has been done on this piece of portable rock art, the only logical conclusion would be that the face has been painted on. The 'eye' feature has been enhanced by tiny micro fractures visible in the photo. Apart from that there are no visible signs of flake removal in order to enhance what would otherwise be considered natural inclusions in the flint. The surface is mostly smooth, indicating the 'paint' has been petrified into the patina.

Above: An ape face profile on the right facing left. Also a possible egg motif on the left of the stone.

Above: The right of the flint has many flake removal scars in order to shape and sharpen this flint tool, the cortex to the left may also describe some face profiles.

Human fossilized jawbone puts man in America not thousands but possibly millions of years earlier than thought.

More finds from The Fisher Site in Virginia, I have identified this as a piece of human mandible (jaw bone) a full set of lower front teeth are visible and the molars on the left side, it was found alongside carved stone pieces and other possible human remains beneath a layer of volcanic ash, the last volcano known to of erupted in Virginia has been dated to 35 million years ago. In Keith Fisher's own words, a brief description of his find site: 

'I have only been in a very small fraction of the permitted area. Two small areas, within 20 feet from each other. Everything that I have found is within the 20 ft. mark. Tephra has coated everything below the iron ore and sediment. Roughly 60 ' above sea level. All artifacts and ancient remains are found together. It is very difficult to know what you have found because it is hidden below the tephra surface. The jaw and teeth that is in question, has been in my possession for over a year. It took me countless inspections of this object before I could recognize what it may have been.  It takes time. 6 to 12 inches below the steam level there is a bright blue vein of fine material that contains all. I believe that the volcanic eruption ties everything together.'

Above: Note the mental foraman, the small pit in roughly the center of the photo.

Above: From left to right, the left side canine tooth, four incisors, the right canine tooth and two premolars.

It takes at minimum roughly 10,000 years for bone to become petrified but that requires special circumstances and I am unaware of any such fossilized human remains found in America , The mandible has completely turned to stone, such petrified Human remains are extremely rare anywhere on any continent.  The most striking feature of the specimen is the protruding chin, Humans and elephants are the only species to carry such a feature,  The teeth placement and alignment match the configuration of humans. The mental foramen (small hole in the front lower jaw matches human placement and parameters.

The above photo is used under Creative Commons from this scientific paper in the following link: Morpholoical and Morpometric Study of the Mental Foramen on the M-CP-18 Jiachenjiang Point

 The mandible was found alongside figurative artworks, carved stones using the same paleo language as human made artifacts from my own Site here in the UK. Many of the carved stones found in association with the human jawbone appear to show long extinct creatures such as dinosaurs, and interestingly elephants, not mammoths or mastodons as large ear shapes are present in the carved rock images, I have displayed many such elephant like carvings on this blog before to demonstrate a repeat topology in my worked flint tool finds. More finds of Keith Fisher's are detailed in these two earlier posts of mine, 35 Million Year Old Unique Lithic's and Indian Tools, Elephant, Bear And Dinosaur Likenesses 

I have long been a proponent of an ancient date for portable rock art finds, others in the field often describe ape like images as being attempts at carvings of humans, Ignoring what they see in an attempt to link such images to ice age cultures, the same goes for there mammoth interpretations often ignoring the color of the find and and large ear shapes present. North America until very recently had no fossil record of apes or monkeys, but recent finds suggest otherwise, check the following link here .  

Keith has many more finds that he suspect's to be human bone fragments, mostly teeth, all from his find site and also many figure stone pieces. More post's to come from the Fisher Site in the near future. 

Indian tools, Elephant, Bear and Dinosaur Likeness's form Keith Fisher, Virginia.

Amateur archaeologist Keith Fisher has in my opinion the best portable rock art to come out of America, his finds are  numerous, more detailed, show clear working marks and far less ambiguous. It could be that the tephra (volcanic ash) coating on many of his finds has helped preserve them from ice age melt water and such like, making his finds very unique in many ways. As discussed previously tephra can be scientifically attributed and dated and with far more scope and accuracy than radio carbon dating techniques. This gives a unique opportunity for dating, stay tuned as we have already put this into action.

Above, a right facing bear head profile likeness can be seen, complete with hair, eye, ear, nostrils, mouth and teeth. If the nostril is perceived as an eye, an unknown and bizarre creature likeness can also be seen. 

Above, the ever popular elephant and front leg motif can be seen, complete with eye, trunk, head, wrinkles, and front leg. The impression faces left on the right side of the stone, slightly inclined. With some squinting of eyes and a little imagination another elephant likeness can also be seen this time in full profile facing right, as if it is pushing down the trunk of a tree. (something I have seen before).

Above, when the elephant motif is turned upside down a dinosaur like impression can be seen, this convention has already been noted by myself in my own finds. Note the suspected crude vulva motif, bottom left, also not at all uncommon in my own finds. 

Above, an unknown face profile impression looking left, eye, nostril, mouth and teeth can be seen. Not unlike the face profile of a dinosaur.

Above, many incised lines cover this piece, the cross-hatching to the left looks as though it occurred at a much later date than the other incisions rightward, due to a lighter shade of patina.

Above, A small selection of Keith Fishers flint tool finds, mostly projectile points, likely spear tips and atlatl tips. These are usually attributed to native American Indian cultures.

Above, more of Keith Fishers amazing artifact collection. This should give confidence to readers of my blog that Keith knows how to recognize worked stone artifacts.

Cutting Edge Paleolithic Tool Set

These eight white flint tools are all from my find site. The site produces every kind of flint tool, adze, awls, scrapers, axes, knifes, burin's and bill hooks, with the exception of arrow heads. I usually post the most figurative examples, but these show less iconography than my usual prehistoric lithic implement posts.

The two photos below are from the same flint scraper.

Above, an ape like face profile can be seen looking right, and also a horse head profile also faces right.

Above the reverse side has a subtle human like face profile facing left.

The next four pictures show an adze, but it also makes a good awl and blade tool

Above, a familiar looking face profile can be seen on the right, looking left, probably that of a hominid. 

Above, notice the re-touch along the bottom edge, making some nice serrations.

Above, three more prehistoric blade tools each one also carries likely figurative content.

The next three pictures are of a serrated knife, it shows signs of hafting.

The next two pictures also show a prehistoric serrated blade tool, this could also be used as an awl.

These two pictures show an axe like tool, although its a little small for chopping trees. flake removal scars suggest an attempt at creating iconography but as for the figurative depictions, I am unsure.