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Archaeologists Have Discovered One of the World’s Oldest Pieces of Narrative Art, and It’s NSFW
Artnet ^ | December 8, 2022 | unattributed

Posted on 12/09/2022 8:06:06 AM PST by SunkenCiv

The 11,000-year-old carving was found among the remains of a Neolithic structure in southeastern Turkey.

Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered one of the world’s oldest known works of narrative art—and at the center of it is a man clutching his penis.

The 12-foot-long carved panel, which forms a bench, was found last year during the excavation of the remains of a Neolithic communal structure at the archaeological site of Sayburç in southeastern Turkey. Details of the discovery were shared this week in a paper published in the latest edition of the peer-reviewed journal Antiquity.

The piece, which is believed to be 11,000 years old, may reveal unprecedented insights into the ancient communities who once called the region home, according to the paper’s author, archaeologist Eylem Özdoğan.

Etched in deep relief on the panel’s right register is an upright man holding his member. He’s surrounded on either side by a pair of leopards, while on the left side of the carving is another human figure (also featuring an exaggerated phallus) with a bull.

Whereas narrative is implied in older pieces of art—such as the 45,000-year-old painting of pigs found in an Indonesian cave in 2020—the newly-unearthed Sayburç panel seems to tell a progressive story; its scenes relate to each other, like cells on a film strip...

What’s more, it’s possible that the three-foot-tall relief served an educational, rather than purely aesthetic, purpose...

“In oral traditions, stories, rituals, and strong symbolic elements form the foundation of the ideologies that shape society beyond spirituality,” Özdoğan explained in the study.

“The Sayburç reliefs, then, can be seen in a similar light: the reflection of a collective memory that kept the values of its community alive.”

(Excerpt) Read more at news.artnet.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; karahantepe; mesolithic; neolithic; sayburc
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To: SunkenCiv

“Wait until Biggus Dickus hears about this!”


21 posted on 12/09/2022 9:43:03 AM PST by ExGeeEye (For dark is the suede that mows like a harvest.)
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To: SunkenCiv

A young Joe Biden staring through the window of a neolithic day care center.


22 posted on 12/09/2022 9:50:19 AM PST by GaryCrow
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To: Tell It Right
Maybe he's guarding his boys from the carnivore leopards. Not everything has to be interpreted through a hedonistic lens.

Are leopards afraid of stiffies? That would be good information to have handy!

23 posted on 12/09/2022 9:55:10 AM PST by BlackbirdSST (Trump WON!!! He will win 2024!)
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To: Red Badger; SunkenCiv; SaveFerris; PROCON

24 posted on 12/09/2022 10:01:36 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: SunkenCiv

All I can think of when I see that picture is Megan holding her stomach while pregnant.

I really hate it when modern academics come up with stuff that aligns so well with whatever they are peddling.


25 posted on 12/09/2022 10:18:17 AM PST by Chicory (Pi 6)
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To: SunkenCiv

We know that the court jester is a way old concept. Mebbe this was some guy telling everyone that the present king ain’t got one.

At least, not one like THIS!


26 posted on 12/09/2022 10:44:45 AM PST by bobbo666 (Baizuo)
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To: SunkenCiv

Uygur Wank and the Old Turks.


27 posted on 12/09/2022 10:59:15 AM PST by rfp1234 (Comitia asinorum et rhinocerorum delenda sunt.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Neolithic hunter demonstrating how to use a penis to stop a leopard attack.


28 posted on 12/09/2022 11:48:20 AM PST by sergeantdave (AI is the next iteration of a copy and paste machine.)
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To: SunkenCiv

All cultures are equal.


29 posted on 12/09/2022 12:43:21 PM PST by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: SunkenCiv
Something familiar ...
Something peculiar ...
Something for everyone,
A comedy tonight!
30 posted on 12/09/2022 2:39:18 PM PST by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
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To: Larry Lucido

Boutros Boutros Gali.


31 posted on 12/09/2022 5:27:54 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

32 posted on 12/09/2022 5:33:24 PM PST by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
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To: Tupelo

“... and the carving was pretty racy, too.”


33 posted on 12/09/2022 5:47:34 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Jeff Chandler

Gives a whole new meaning to “pullin’ train”.


34 posted on 12/09/2022 6:11:06 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Delta 21

“Neolithic communal structure”

Is that what they are calling it now?

Not quite, it is “... a collective memory that kept the values of its community alive.”


35 posted on 12/09/2022 6:18:42 PM PST by Domestic Church (AMDG ... )
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To: rxh4n1

He’s protecting his wedding tackle from the animals.


36 posted on 12/10/2022 12:51:36 AM PST by rxh4n1
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