'Oldest sculpture' found in MoroccoA 400,000-year-old stone object unearthed in Morocco could be the world's oldest attempt at sculpture... 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... 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.
by Paul RinconThe Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
So this is from a different Sphinx and not the one in Cairo?
The German interest in the Egyptians border on fanatical.
There speaks an honest man. Rare...
My question is what is the official definition of Sphinx?
The one in Egypt has the body of a lion and the head of a man. This is the reverse—head of a lion and body of a man.
Does any combination merit the title of Sphinx by defiition or is this just a lazy man’s headline.
Probably it was a good thing it was only found in ‘39 and thereby neglected for 30 years.
Can you imagine what they would say about it on Antique Road Show if somebody found it in their WWII vet grandaddys attic in Rapid City?
I’ve always thought of such depictions as totems, not religious objects...except insofar as the religion was ancestor worship.