Archaeologists unearthed 8,500-year-old figurine of an unknown creature

Archaeologists unearthed 8,500-year-old figurine of an unknown creature
Archaeologists unearthed 8,500-year-old figurine of an unknown creature
Anonim

In Turkey, Polish archaeologists working on excavations in one of the oldest cities in the world, Chatal Huyuk, have discovered an anthropoid figurine carved from bone, the age of which is 8300-8500 years.

Nauka w Polsce talks about the discovery. It was made in the Chatal Huyuk pottery neolithic settlement located in the central part of Turkey on the Anatolian Uplands. It is believed that humans have continuously lived here for over a thousand years, between 7100 and 6000 BC.

A figurine resembling a person was discovered by a Polish researcher back in 2016. However, only now are the results of the analysis of this artifact published. The figurine is made of bone. She was in an earthen vessel found in one of the ancient houses.

It was established that food products were stored in the same room. According to scientists, the figurine, which is about six centimeters high, was made between 6500 and 6300 BC.

Earlier, during excavations in the same settlement, archaeologists found clay figurines depicting, as it was assumed, mother goddesses. This art is characterized by the image of an enlarged breast. Recently, the hypothesis has become more popular that these sculptures were a symbol of ancestor worship, and not images of goddesses.

As for the newly found sculpture, it is unlike any previously discovered artifact. It is difficult to determine exactly who she is portraying. A detailed study made it possible to establish that the figurine is anthropoid, that is, it has features characteristic of a person.

In particular, the eye-like incisions attracted the attention of scientists. A similar method of depicting human eyes was used by ancient masters from the Middle East.

However, such a technique, judging by archaeological discoveries, began to spread widely from about 4300 BC, that is, two millennia after a similar sculpture was made in Chatal Huyuk.

By the way, the finds in this settlement show that the craftsmen mainly used the bones of domestic animals for their products - sheep, goats and horses.

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