Mystery of the Stone Thumbs - Figure Stones

Thumb and finger shaped stones are found all over the world, a few of them have even been labeled as fossils by their finders, which in the case of flint finds would shed doubt on mainstream geology theory and evolutionary theory timelines, if they were indeed fossils. Even one of my own finds appears to be an only lightly modified flint nodule resembling a thumb shape, but I don't actually believe it to be a fossilized thumb, just a case of very fine cortex carving, as seen often in my flint finds. I made this video to demonstrate the quintessential figure stone thumb motif, showing some of my best thumb shapes, some very subtle ones, an unquestionable flint tool bearing the same symbology at its tip, and even one or two that appear almost photo realistic. By in large these thumb shapes do not appear to be modeled on the thumbs of homo sapiens, but perhaps close cousins?

The video quality is not the best, however it still demonstrates the very distinctive thumb shape, how it was incorporated into flint blade tools, and finds that show no piecing or cutting properties. Most were found on my site here in the UK, many incorporate blades.

Figure Stones - Our Forum

About the Forum.

Firstly I would like to thank all who have joined in with our forum Portable Rock Art and Figure Stones  it has been a positive experience that is helpful and informative to all who are interested in studying this most ancient art form, thank you to all for your posts and comments, but more importantly your additions to the scientific study. Science is what we can observe and test and demonstrate, and this is exactly what many of your finds reflect. Special thanks go to Rocky, Baggy and Greglafla for welcoming members, positive commentary and general helpfulness.

A selection of Figure Stones posted on the Forum.
I have selected a few of my favorite stone find submissions and the names of the respective researchers with some additional commentary to post here. (For those who have not joined our forum). 

Rocklith76 found this in Georgia USA, this bird effigy is probably best described as a piece of portable rock art describing a thunder bird. This could easily be ascribed to known Native American Indian cultures, however other symbology appears present making this poly iconic (ape like head profiles), so i would suggest the term 'figure stone', that being the case.

Thunder Bird Effigy Stone.

Another find from Rocklith76 in Georgia, this one i find to be highly poly iconic showing common glyph content and common convention. I find this one amazing for skill in fore-fort of design, combining many figures in a neat package, the artist a true genius. Pigment created eye shapes also appear present. Suggested figuration for this figure stone includes, duck, mammoth half, cloaked figure, ape face, fish half,  pointing finger, those and more can be seen in the other pictures on the forum.

Bird effigy Figure Stone

Another great find from Georgia, this time by Robert Firesheets. I suggest the main subject here as the front half of a horse grazing, head turned backwards, an incised line to detail the hoof. Other symbology is likely present as well, face profiles can be seen along the left edge.

Anil from England has also been responsible for some very impressive finds, this next one is also proof of the validity of our study, as common convention and figuration are present.  Very detailed bear half figuration can be seen facing right, and along the right, facing left, a detailed mammoth half depiction is also present, aligned upright with the bear. More subtle imagery can also be seen, and some potentiality unknown creature depictions.

This find also from Anil shows some well known faces and convention, which crop up often in poly iconic figure stones. This stone also features heavy pigment use, detailed eye shapes and staggering complexity. Can you find what looks like the head description of a dinosaur? Picture comparison and highlighting thanks to Rocky over at  The Rock Art Museum

This one is a Tim Banninger find from Kansas. This find has been heavily flaked and shows numerous face descriptions.

This one from Judy Eagerton in the United States also shows some common figuration and convention. This one may take a little time to appreciate the Gorilla image, although the 'Gorilla strut' is a well documented glyph in European finds, this one is more like a sculpture than the more common flat glyph profile style. A subtle elephant half and bear half can also be seen, and a face, upper central left. Can you find what looks to be a top half of a T-rex depiction in this find?

Flint axe shows Hadrosaurus - Figure Stones

An almost photo-realistic image of a Hadrosaurus face can be seen in this flint axe find, although we don't have any actual photos of a real Hadrosaurus to compare it with. This is as good as it gets, in fact one could argue it has a better 'feel' than any modern reconstruction as it was apparently made by people who witnessed the beast first hand, although recognition would also be testament to the quality work of artists who reconstruct dinosaur images from fossils.

So what of the naysayers? can they find a photo realistic image of a VW Beetle or a tin opener in other prehistoric flint tools? No they cannot because chaos is not responsible for the image, human workmanship is.  Just like we recognize pictures in items such as books, this is clearly a flint tool and was in the hands and worked by prehistoric humans,  the flake removal also goes beyond simple utilitarian shape creation.

Above: To those who know and understand paleolithic symbology, this flint axe also triggers the recognition of the bird motif.

So is this a prehistoric artistic impression of what a Hadrosaurus face actually looked like? well it actually matches quite a few known dinosaur likenesses, but Hadrosaurus seems to be the closest match, and I have other finds that would corroborate this interpretation.

This figure stone also holds other prehistoric symbology previously recognized in my finds, although one motif I have seen repeatedly, I'm not sure what creature it represents far past the loose interpretation of marine mammal.

Above: Another find from my site, could this be a rather simple description of another dinosaur head? crude 'teeth' can be seen.

Above: This is a fossil tooth, also from my site. Current geology theory would date this tooth to at least 70 Million years old.

Above: For those who are still stuck thinking that Dinosaurs and Humans would never have met, here is a video that demonstrates there is  a huge amount of evidence to the contrary.

Please note the original video has been deleted, so a replacement video has been found.

Portable Rock Art and Figure Stones vs Native American Indians

Are Native American Indians responsible for portable rock art? Well that is actually a loaded question, obviously the indigenous peoples of America are surely responsible. However various researchers often try to ascribe their finds to a particular culture, Woodland or Archaic for example. Yes those cultures obviously did produce artistic objects, but if you compare the majority of portable rock art and figure stone finds to artistic objects found by professionals and ascribed to any particular culture, a big difference in style and technique is clear.

Here is a quick test which should give you a clue as to who made any particular art object:

Is it polished? These began to appear in the Archaic period.
Is it pressure flaked? Officially that would appear from the Clovis period and after.
Is it Ceramic?  They appear in the Middle Archaic period.
Does the rock show multiple combined images? These are from an unknown pre-clovis culture.

The following pictures are all of modern fine flint artworks from Don Wilcox found on https://flintknappers.com/ These were made with the exact same technique used by the Clovis culture. So Clovis peoples were capable of making such items, and yes a few ancient portable rock art finds have been found that do look very similar to these. I think that pretty much debunks the idea that woodland culture etc. peoples were responsible for many items labeled as portable rock art, and would suggest that a much older culture would be responsible for many of the genuine items labeled as portable rock art or figure stones.

Portable Rock Art - Gone Ape.

Three animations from a recent portable rock art hunt on my secret UK find site. Are these prehistoric art from a time when Gorillas or Apes lived in England? If these are just random rocks then surely any likeness and topology of which could just as easily be found? This would put the burden of proof on any who don't believe what they see to find three similar images, say of Scooby Doo, a Womble or Sponge Bob Square Pants, to prove that chaos is responsible. 

The three flint finds with ape or gorilla like impressions were found fairly easily, I did not meticulously search for these images.

Prehistoric art of an ape?

A side on gorilla or ape image can be seen in this figure stone, even a nipple description is present. Other motifs already documented on this blog can also be seen, for example the elephant head and front leg.

An ape of gorilla like face description can be seen.

Portable Rock Art Flint Tool Mastodon Mammoth Combo

This portable rock art flint tool has a clever combination technique for a mastodon and mammoth. Notice the tar like pigment on the lower half of the find and a spot making the eye feature, other pigmentation areas can be seen on the reverse. This flint tool was found on my usual site and has three cutting edges.

Figure Stones - Pitch Black?

The dark matter found on my figure stones, so what is it? an easy assumption to draw is birch bark tar or pitch, a glue recipe from ancient times. This is the conclusion I drew previously.

However, I collected samples of  the tar-like substance from three of my flint stone finds, this to me was a deliberate deposition of an ancient pigment or glue. Using IR Spectroscopy, I sent them to be individually tested in a laboratory by professionals along with an expected spectra of birch bark pitch for comparison with my samples.

Above picture: These are the finds I took the samples from, all finds are from my site here in the UK, none of which I considered as a blade tool or 'standard' flint find, but I did recognize them as artistic objects, artifacts, modified, figure stones etc..

Stone A,  a worked flint with a large seemingly formless deposition of the tar like material.

Stone B, a worked figure stone showing painting, masking, etching in or on of a tar like material.  

Stone C, a figure stone showing out stretched clothed arm and hand and enigmatic eye imagery. The tar like materials deposition, etching or scratching can be seen in the post here: Figure Stones - Prehistoric Clothing.

I knew the samples would have trace contaminates of flint and corresponding cortex, although to a minimum due to my collection method, and was expecting to find organic  compounds such as charcoal, betulin, and iron pyrite.

So as for the results? I was firmly told my samples did not match that of the birch bark pitch IR spectra supplied, so am I now in the dark for what the samples may be? not quite, with further analysis the test results prove very interesting.

Above picture: Two samples of each A, B,C were tested and the IR spectra are aligned for comparison in the six graphs, the obvious conclusion that can be drawn is that the three samples have a very similar composition of organic compounds and elements, that would also suggest they are deliberate depositions, drawing out chance,  a proof of agency in this test case scenario? I do think so.

So what else can be gleamed from the IR spectra results? Well they can be run through a database to find matches for the compounds in the samples.

Above picture: Notice number 9. on the list :- Urses Spelaeus (cave bear) 47. % so which half of the cave bear is that? front or back? It doesn't quite work like that, it's showing a 47% match with the spectra of a known cave bear sample, and of coarse that would only be one potential ingredient of the samples, and other compounds and contaminants would most likely mask areas of the spectra.

I was very surprised at how specific the results are, however I do not know the scope of the database used. The item on the list I find most interesting is number 10, Palaeontherium Curtum an ancient type of Rhino believed to have gone extinct some 33 million years ago.