'Oldest Sculpture' Found In Morocco (400K Years Old)

BBC ^ | 5-23-2003 | Paul Rincon

[blam]

'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.

The figurine was found 15 metres below ground

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.

Stone handaxes like these were found close to the figurine

"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 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".

"He [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 artifacts 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 the 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 that it was 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.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Also what you might expect if writers were "invented" about 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. :-)

[general_re]

Unfortunately, the physical evidence - including carbon dating, of course - does not lend much support to that theory ;)

[Doctor Stochastic]

Oh no here they come.

Christian Perspective on Radiometric Dating

[RightWhale]

The stone axes are just as interesting and the date is more certain. If the figurine is that old, that would indicate the people of the day were already on the way to controlling natural forces through science.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Dr. - thanks for posting the link - looks like an interesting article, but I'll have to get back to it later.

[Lurking Libertarian]

I'm confused. I didn't think that Homo Sapiens were in existence 400,000 years ago (according to scientists). Maybe Neanderthal's were. But they are not part of our evolutionary tree (according to scientists). So, what sort of life-form was here 400,000 years ago? Something a bit more chimp like?

Homo sapiens were not here then, nor were neanderthals. The hominids around then were either homo erectus or homo heidelbergensis (h. heidelbergensis evolved from h. erectus; both h. sapiens and h. neanderthalensis evolved independently from h. heidelbergensis). H. erectus and h. heidelbergensis both made lots of stone tools, but have never before been found to have made anything symbolic. (Even among neanderthals, art was rare and many of the alleged examples that have been found are controversial; real art, at least in any appreciable quantity, begins with homo sapiens.)

[RadioAstronomer]

Thanks for bringing science into the picture. It is always welcome in my eyes.

You are most welcome! :-)

[Swordmaker]

The real question is not who carved this statue but how did they get Rosie O'Donnell to pose for it.

[SunkenCiv]

A Blast from the Past.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

[Dustbunny]

Wow, that is so neat.

[dread78645]

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

[ConfusedAndLovingIt]

When I first became a Christian I just thought God could have made the universe when and however He wanted. Then, after learning about the bible and it's divine inspiriation and trustworthness I realized, through some Christian discipleship, that the bible is very clear on the subject.

The Bible is not a record of the creation of the universe. The Bible is a record of God's creation of and dealings with this world only.

The universe is so mind-bogglingly huge (to borrow a phrase), it's bizarre to think that God would create all that just for sake of our one small world. I think in the next life we will be amazed (and humbled) to find out all the things that God has on his plate.

[new cruelty]

Wow, I posted that comment almost three years ago. I admire your tenacity.

[Bernard Marx]

Recipe for strata disturbance.

Put me in the *very skeptical* camp on this one, in re age-dating. Note: "The object was found 15 metres below the eroded surface of a terrace on the north bank of the river Draa..."

My introductory geology courses were quite a few years ago but I think what I learned about river flooding, course changes, etc. still applies. I'm keeping an open mind but won't believe the age until it's peer-reviewed.

[dread78645]

Wow, I posted that comment almost three years ago. I admire your tenacity.

Sorry. Didn't see the date.
I'm on the SunkenCiv's GGG ping list and whenever he gets bored he'll drag up oldy moldies.

[ZULU]

Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

[new cruelty]

No need to apologize. I always appreciate worthwhile comments and information, even to something I posted years ago.

[Conservative Texan Mom]

Many Creationist who believe in the 6,000 year old earth believe that dinosaurs existed with man, and were wiped out by the flood. This is one version I've heard.

Another interesting version by Creationist is that God created the heavens and earth separately from the creation in Genesis. If you read Genesis 1, it states that in the beginning he did this. Then it goes on to state that on the fist day he created light. The interpretation here is that God created the earth, and dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures that lived before man. These went extinct, and the earth was void. This could have taken place over millions of years. Then, 6,000 years ago he created light, dark, plants, animals, and man according to the Genesis account. I think some interpretations claim that the creation of light was actually lifting the cloud cover from the earth to reveal the stars and such. There is quite a variety of interpretation.

Personally, I think the same as you. Many scholars attribute the authorship of Genesis to Moses, some Noah. Either way, they weren't there. If the story of creation were inspired by a vision, or dream, or some other revelation, the author would have written it according to his interpretation. In Genesis, there are passages that are worded such as, "the earth sprang forth plants," and ,"the earth sprang forth life," and also, "man was formed from the dust of the earth." Cellular organisms would appear to be invisible. In a vision, or dream, creation might resemble life springing forth from the earth.

[Conservative Texan Mom]

This is interesting
Romans 1:20

20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.


This makes me consider that nature is evidence of God. It is the means by which he created and we won't find evidence of Him apart from nature. His invisible qualities are seen in the mechanisms of our natural world.

This is another good one.

Col 1:17

17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Makes me wonder about the laws of physics.