It's pretty well known (at least among people interested in Goddess
religion) that the oldest anthropomorphic sculptures -- those dating
from the Paleolithic ("Old Stone Age") Era -- all depict female
deities. Perhaps the best known of these sculptures is the so-called
Willendorf Venus (http://www.hominids.com/donsmaps/willendorf.html),
c. 30,000 BCE (estimates range from 25,000 to 40,000 BCE).

But could it possibly be that scientists have identified a sculpture
ten times older than that? Dating to millennia before humans were
previously thought to have developed a capacity for creating art? And
is that figure a Mother Goddess figurine? I leave it to you to
decide. Here's what the BBC has to say:

'Oldest Sculpture' Found in Morocco
By Paul Rincon
BBC Science

A 400,000-year-old stone object unearthed in Morocco could be the
world's oldest attempt at sculpture.

That is the claim of a prehistoric art specialist who says the
ancient rock bears clear signs of modification by humans.
The object, which is around six centimetres in length, is shaped like
a human figure, with grooves that suggest a neck, arms and legs. On
its surface are flakes of a red substance that could be remnants of
paint.

The object was found 15 metres below the eroded surface of a terrace
on the north bank of the River Draa near the town of Tan-Tan. It was
reportedly lying just a few centimetres away from stone handaxes in
ground layers dating to the Middle Acheulian period, which lasted
from 500,000 to 300,000 years ago.

Cultural controversy

The find is likely to further fuel a vociferous debate over the
timing of humanity's discovery of symbolism. Hominids such as Homo
heidelbergensis and Homo erectus , that were alive during the
Acheulian period, are not thought to have been capable of the
symbolic thought needed to create art.

Writing in the journal Current Anthropology, Robert Bednarik,
president of the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations
(IFRAO), suggests that the overall shape of the Tan-Tan object was
fashioned by natural processes.

But he argues that conspicuous grooves on the surface of the stone,
which appear to emphasise its humanlike appearance, are partially man-
made. Mr Bednarik claims that some of these grooves were made by
repeated battering with a stone tool to connect up natural
depressions in the rock.


"What we've got is a piece of stone that is largely naturally shaped.
"It has some modifications, but they are more than modifications," Mr
Bednarik told BBC News Online.

Mr Bednarik tried to replicate the markings on a similar piece of
rock by hitting a stone flake with a "hammerstone" in the manner of a
punch. He then compared the microscopic structure of the fractures
with those of the Tan-Tan object.

Sceptic's view

However, Professor Stanley Ambrose of the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign, US, said he saw no evidence for tool marks and
that, although the figure was evocative, it was most likely the
result of "fortuitous natural weathering".

"[Mr Bednarik] has effectively presented all the information
necessary to show this is a naturally weathered rock," Professor
Ambrose told BBC News Online.

Professor Ambrose points to Mr Bednarik's observation that some rocks
in the vicinity of the figure were weathered and even rounded from
transport by water. Professor Ambrose believes that rocks and
artefacts found at the site could have been disturbed by flowing
water in the past.

Mr Bednarik also observes that flecks of a greasy substance
containing iron and manganese on the surface of the stone could be
red ochre, a substance used as paint by later humans.

"They [the specks] do not resemble corroded natural iron deposits,
nor has any trace of this pigment been detected on any of the other
objects I have examined from Tan-Tan," writes Mr Bednarik in his
paper.

A 200,000-300,000-year-old stone object found at Berekhat Ram in
Israel in 1986 has also been the subject of claims that it is a
figurine. However, several other researchers later presented evidence
to show that it was probably shaped by geological processes.

The Tan-Tan object was discovered in 1999, during a dig directed by
Lutz Fiedler, the state archaeologist of Hesse in Germany.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...ch/3047383.stm

Published: 2003/05/23 12:32:13 GMT

© BBC MMIII

WOW, DB!

That's just excellent. I went to the original article and looked at
the picture. There's no doubt in my mind about that image. Wow!

Thank you so much for sharing this!

Namaste,
prainbow



--- In Shakti_Sadhana (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "Devi Bhakta"
<devi_bhakta@y...> wrote:
> It's pretty well known (at least among people interested in
Goddess
> religion) that the oldest anthropomorphic sculptures -- those
dating
> from the Paleolithic ("Old Stone Age") Era -- all depict female
> deities. Perhaps the best known of these sculptures is the so-
called
> Willendorf Venus
(http://www.hominids.com/donsmaps/willendorf.html),
> c. 30,000 BCE (estimates range from 25,000 to 40,000 BCE).
>
> But could it possibly be that scientists have identified a
sculpture
> ten times older than that? Dating to millennia before humans were
> previously thought to have developed a capacity for creating art?
And
> is that figure a Mother Goddess figurine? I leave it to you to
> decide. Here's what the BBC has to say:
>
> 'Oldest Sculpture' Found in Morocco
> By Paul Rincon
> BBC Science
>
> A 400,000-year-old stone object unearthed in Morocco could be the
> world's oldest attempt at sculpture.
>
> That is the claim of a prehistoric art specialist who says the
> ancient rock bears clear signs of modification by humans.
> The object, which is around six centimetres in length, is shaped
like
> a human figure, with grooves that suggest a neck, arms and legs.
On
> its surface are flakes of a red substance that could be remnants
of
> paint.
>
> The object was found 15 metres below the eroded surface of a
terrace
> on the north bank of the River Draa near the town of Tan-Tan. It
was
> reportedly lying just a few centimetres away from stone handaxes
in
> ground layers dating to the Middle Acheulian period, which lasted
> from 500,000 to 300,000 years ago.
>
> Cultural controversy
>
> The find is likely to further fuel a vociferous debate over the
> timing of humanity's discovery of symbolism. Hominids such as Homo
> heidelbergensis and Homo erectus , that were alive during the
> Acheulian period, are not thought to have been capable of the
> symbolic thought needed to create art.
>
> Writing in the journal Current Anthropology, Robert Bednarik,
> president of the International Federation of Rock Art
Organisations
> (IFRAO), suggests that the overall shape of the Tan-Tan object was
> fashioned by natural processes.
>
> But he argues that conspicuous grooves on the surface of the
stone,
> which appear to emphasise its humanlike appearance, are partially
man-
> made. Mr Bednarik claims that some of these grooves were made by
> repeated battering with a stone tool to connect up natural
> depressions in the rock.
>
>
> "What we've got is a piece of stone that is largely naturally
shaped.
> "It has some modifications, but they are more than modifications,"
Mr
> Bednarik told BBC News Online.
>
> Mr Bednarik tried to replicate the markings on a similar piece of
> rock by hitting a stone flake with a "hammerstone" in the manner
of a
> punch. He then compared the microscopic structure of the fractures
> with those of the Tan-Tan object.
>
> Sceptic's view
>
> However, Professor Stanley Ambrose of the University of Illinois,
> Urbana-Champaign, US, said he saw no evidence for tool marks and
> that, although the figure was evocative, it was most likely the
> result of "fortuitous natural weathering".
>
> "[Mr Bednarik] has effectively presented all the information
> necessary to show this is a naturally weathered rock," Professor
> Ambrose told BBC News Online.
>
> Professor Ambrose points to Mr Bednarik's observation that some
rocks
> in the vicinity of the figure were weathered and even rounded from
> transport by water. Professor Ambrose believes that rocks and
> artefacts found at the site could have been disturbed by flowing
> water in the past.
>
> Mr Bednarik also observes that flecks of a greasy substance
> containing iron and manganese on the surface of the stone could be
> red ochre, a substance used as paint by later humans.
>
> "They [the specks] do not resemble corroded natural iron deposits,
> nor has any trace of this pigment been detected on any of the
other
> objects I have examined from Tan-Tan," writes Mr Bednarik in his
> paper.
>
> A 200,000-300,000-year-old stone object found at Berekhat Ram in
> Israel in 1986 has also been the subject of claims that it is a
> figurine. However, several other researchers later presented
evidence
> to show that it was probably shaped by geological processes.
>
> The Tan-Tan object was discovered in 1999, during a dig directed
by
> Lutz Fiedler, the state archaeologist of Hesse in Germany.
>
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...ch/3047383.stm
>
> Published: 2003/05/23 12:32:13 GMT
>
> © BBC MMIII