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One of the first
motifs recognized in numerous iconographic artifacts at 33GU218, this is an ancient, familiar, and quite recognizable Primal Image appearing in verifiably human-carved rock in many areas of the planet, but whose original meaning/symbolism is now almost certainly irretrievable.
Amid lengthy speculation, various interpretations have been proposed, including Life/Death, Sleeping/Waking, Looking Inward / Looking
Outward - essentially "shamanic" themes.
If you know of or can think of another plausible explanation, I would like to hear about it.
Please e-mail me at figurestones@gmail.com. |
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Hamburg-Wittenbergen,
Germany, apparently about 200,000 years BP
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(Photo by Prof.
Walther Matthes)
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| A
figure from deep in glacial till at Groß Pampau,
Northern Germany, also displaying the
"Atemgeburt" motif (Creature Emerging from
Mouth). Early to Middle Palaeolithic. Find
by Ursel
Benekendorff. |
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| A
sandstone figure from NSW also displaying the "Atemgeburt"
in both views. Horizontal length
6 cm (2.4").
Find by author in Australian
bushland (NSW). |
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From Beegden,
Holland, putatively Middle Paleolithic. Jan van Es
collection.
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The eye-open,
eye-closed motif in a face emerging
from a large self-standing "Venus"-like
limestone figure in southeastern Ohio at archaeological site
33GU218, where it appears repeatedly.
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Mammoth
ivory figurine, Mal'ta,
northern Siberia, ca. 20,000 years BP.
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A
recent but traditional Inuit mask.
Eye-open / eye-closed (or squinting) is a very common theme in
Inuit/Yupik imagery, likely having entered from eastern Asia (see
Siberian figurine above) before being carried southward where it
is a common American Indian theme.
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Another
recent but traditional Inuit mask.
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At 33GU218, small and
skillfully detailed, the theme appears on a small limestone
figure. The bird-form
mouth motif is also present here.
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In limestone,
eye-open / eye-closed on a quasi-anthropomorphic face at the
opposite end of a small canine figure.
At 33GU218.
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Also in limestone,
eye-open / eye-closed on a quasi-anthropomorphic face on the
opposite side of a rabbit figure at
33GU218. Height 45 mm
(1.8").
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Again
in limestone at 33GU218.
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Limestone
at 33GU218.
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Limestone
at 33GU218.
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From Licking
County, Ohio, a siltstone figure reportedly
found in about 1983 embedded in shale at about
18 m (60') below the terrain surface. Strange...
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