Sunday 28 October 2018

Interactive 3D Figure Stone

This is something I have been playing around with today, not the best quality 3D image of a figure stone, but cool to play around with and explore. look out for the ochre etchings!

    Simply search the differing orientations for face descriptions of many differing species.

 Actual photo of this  anamorphic figure stone.


Sunday 2 September 2018

A Friendly Face from the Past - Figure Stones

figure stones - eoliths
figure stones - eoliths
This figure stone was found in Dorset (world famous Jurassic coast) It adds more details to a familiar face. A really shocking glimpse at a creature that lived millions of years ago. Suggested figurative subject:  Australopithecus Aetheopicus
Portable rock art, figure stones.
Eoliths - Figure Stones

A picture of the skull of Australopithecus Aetheopicus From anthropology.net
Note the squared brow ridge and crest on top of the cranium.


Friday 24 August 2018

Figure Stones at Göbeklitepe?

This figure stone appears to be a hand tool (although probably not) and is from the world famous Göbeklitepe site. The interesting thing visible here is the gorilla strut motif shown in many of my finds from here in the United Kingdom. So am I linking my site to the Göbeklitepe site? No, I am just stating how this motif and its style is present in figure stones from my site. The Göbeklitepe site is a homo-sapiens site, all figure stones should be treated as though made by homo-sapiens, until conclusively proved otherwise.

from the Erdinç Bakla archive

Monday 20 August 2018

Figure Stones - Exploitation of Natural Forms

 Not all figure stones are highly detailed works of art, in fact the high quality examples shown on this blog are not the norm. The creation of such high art objects requires immense skill and fore-fort, which probably only few possessed. So what of the lesser skilled artists and flint knappers in antiquity?, how did they get their point across?

 Flint nodules come in many diverse shapes and sizes, a less skilled or otherwise occupied flint artist could find a naturally shaped flint nodule and exploit its form to produce an adequate figure stone, with minimal time, effort and modification.

 A large part of figure stone visual figurative conveyance is likely in motion, so they were animated to clarify the desired description. I have quite a few examples here on my blog, where the stones almost 'come alive' with some simple hand movements, producing very convincing animations.

 So... a simple shape with some movement in the hand, could easily convey the common figurative subjects of the more complex figure stones.

Below is an example of a flint nodule from my find site, which has minimal modification and could be used to convey many animal descriptions.

Suggested motifs: bear head, swan in flight, elephant head, bovine front, small finch like bird, ray/angel shark, gorilla strut, crocodile head, pointing hand, sauropod half leaning against a tree.

Although most of these suggested motifs are pure conjecture, (showing few details), all of these have been found repeatedly in materials from my site, some  in the same combinations, and all have highly detailed comparative examples, and this is clearly a prehistoric artifact.


 Above: ear, eye, and mouth features etched in cortex produce the bear head description facing right.



'Another problem is raised by the so-called 'figure stones', which are nodules with very little trimming or adaptation, but with fanciful resemblance to various animals, birds, reptiles, and even human beings. The flake which generally forms the 'eye' is often minute and in the right place, but the identification of the figure is largely a matter of conjecture, though some examples are almost convincing. Weather figure stones are due to man or to nature, it may be urged that the earliest sculptures known are in the round (as opposed to engraving or low relief), and it is not unreasonable to suppose that man's first attempts at art consisted in giving the finishing touches to a nodule in order to create or improve a likeness to some real or imaginary animal. One of the earliest instincts of children is to mould figures in clay, and this in itself might be used as an argument for the great antiquity of sculptures in the round'  Reginald  Smith, 1932.

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Eoliths, Figure Stones and Flint Tools on Public Display

Some of my collection of eoliths, figure stones and flint tools is now on display at Havant Library. - Exhibit now closed.



Monday 12 March 2018

North American Parallel in English Flint Tool Finds?

These flint tools I suggest contain other examples of the paleo language glyph shown in the previous post. Spotting simple shape elements in your finds such as these can help you and others to believe/understand what you have.  This glyph, as others like Terry Brown can confirm can be found in very ancient beach pebble finds, not just in obvious tools. 

The find above is from North America, I found it on Chad's Paleo Indian Pages on Pinterest.

Friday 9 March 2018

Straight to the point- Lithic assembledge proves figuration topology.

Categorizing the assemblage from my site is a very daunting task, here are some initial results.

The pictures show worked finds from my site, points were selected and placed upright, then points with similar visual characteristics were placed alongside, to some degree.

Everything is worked, all bar one are flint, the vast majority of the stones qualify as blade tools.

Statistics can be produced on qualifying features of any recognized topology.

This is not the whole assemblage of points from my site, as more are added better topographical data will only add credence to some quite obvious findings.





What topology? if he says 'points'...I'll BL^%&Y K%&L HIM!  
  
I cannot as yet give you any accurate statistics, much more work needs to be done, but here are some common qualities to look out for at the tips of the points:

Double chevrons,  chevrons, inverse Y shapes, marks, chips, spots, sculpted bobble shapes. 

Proof of a topology of shapes incorporated into the tips of the points.

Suggested interpretation:- hooded and cloaked figure. 







Thursday 8 March 2018

Rock's and Old Croc's - Prehistoric Artwork

 This prehistoric artwork find from my site here in Southern England can talk the talk. This flint has been modified to show deliberate depictions. Crocodiles were last believed to of lived wild in Britain millions of years ago.

 Above: Feline head profile right, crocodile and wolf  like creature profile left, another example here: Wolf and Horse Portable Rock Art and Flint Tool
  The reverse of the stone also shows another well documented glyph. Run or stand your ground?
 A classic glyph shown rightwards, my interpretation is ape or gorilla, although a slight CCW rotation to this glyph may indicate bear or another mammal head profile.
 

 A whale?


Tuesday 6 March 2018

Handy that Hand axe - Prehistoric Art

Another Hand axe, can you see the whole hand shape in this flint tool? I have demonstrated this glyph and its variants through various previous posts, a nice comparative example of this glyph can be seen towards the bottom of the second photo from Eolith Shows Dinosour Depiction?
 
 The hand axe was recovered from the Essex coast while trawling.

 Notice how both hand shapes have a pointy claw like nail feature.




Monday 5 March 2018

Prehistoric Artwork of Ancient Faces - Figure Stone

This was just a chance find but none the less an interesting figure stone and fine prehistoric artwork. Some very interesting face images can be seen with supporting details. Images appear to be of sub human, ape or hybrid forms. One face which only appears very briefly is actually of a well known and documented motif.


Friday 23 February 2018

Show us your Elephants - Portable Rock Art

Show us your elephants!, you could become famous!, although I doubt there would be any kind of connection between the two. 

This is a personal invitation to send in one photo of your best elephant figure stone find. All valid entries will be judged on aesthetics, visible modification, subject likeness etc. by those who participate.  The top voted images will be displayed in rank order with full attributions given, name, location, website etc. to any who wish to give details.

Email your photos to: BrettRoxMartin@Gmail.com


Friday 9 February 2018

Flint hand axe with stunning animal images.

This flint hand axe from my usual hunting grounds shows some very interesting animal depictions. Bear, elephant, feline, ape and hominid like images can be seen. The creature images appear to be of tropical/jungle/savanna species and according to climactic data that would make this one of the worlds oldest pieces of prehistoric art.

Bear and ape head profiles can be seen.

Bear or sloth animated rightwards, classic elephant head profile can also be seen.

This one is a little tricky, monkey and feline like images.

Classic imagery seen in many other figure stones can be seen in this hand axe.

Very complex, relies on the mind being tricked by differing sets of 'eye' pairs.

Thursday 8 February 2018

Prehistoric Micro Artwork Holds Superb Ape Images.

 Another prehistoric flint artwork find from my usual hunting grounds showing some stunning imagery, but this sculpture is only about one and a half inches across its longest dimensions, possibly suggesting that  very small people made and used it.  Study the three animations very carefully.