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Bird-Human
Figures in England
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Simon Parkes
Collection
Clacton
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Flint, putatively
125,000 - 200,000 years BP
Characteristic
features: At left edge, face with round-faced bird over forehead, and
apparent head (with mouth and eye) emerging from mouth.
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| "Venus" figure
in flint from deposits dated to ca. 425,000 years
BP. Character-
istic
features: Apparent figure emerging from belly, and
possibly one emerging egg-like downward from the posterior, both common
at the Day's Knob site.
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A flint
blade in the "Venus" form. |
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Not
much guesswork required with this image... |
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Basalt,
estimated age 125,000 years BP. |
| A classic example of
the polymorphism in Paleolithic imagery, this hand axe
or chopper has the appearance of a bird-like face. But rotated clockwise, the
figure presents a rather anthropomorphic profile, a
grinning mouth being deeply flaked in juxtaposition with
the naturally formed eye. A flaked mouth like this
one appears frequently on such pieces - a fair amount of
work serving no utilitarian purpose, but nonetheless
deemed necessary. |
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Bird-form Clactonian
flint tools from about 425,000 years BP, the longest
being about 6.3 cm (2.5") in length. |
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Zoo-anthropomorphic
Image about 30 cm (12") in length, age estimated at
200,000 years.
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Richard Wilson Collection
Watford
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Richard has
started his own excellent website, well worth a look:
http://www.palaeoart.co.uk
He and
Simon Parkes have carefully researched the geological
stratigraphy of their sites, relating the provenience of
their finds to glacial deposits overlying them.
Richard's material seems to date from roughly 450,000
years BP. |
| Above left, a "Sky
Gazer", an image that appears fairly often in the
"portable rock art", an open-mouthed
quasi-human face staring upward at about a forty-five
degree angle. Compare this with the figure on the
right from Ursel Benekendorff's
remarkable collection from northern Germany, apparently
of comparable age. |
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The two
stones above: Typical bird figures. |
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David King Collection
Near London
| A "Sun Disk",
left, shown for comparison with one from the Day's Knob
site. Note the small figure (bird?) emerging from
the mouth on Mr. King's disk. This old Sun Disk
motif covered a lot of territory... |
|
'Venus"
figures. |
| The one on the left is
more or less the "classic". The other
strongly incorporates the bird form, and here the new
creature or spirit emerges from the posterior like an
egg. |
| The classic motif of a
simple head (in profile) emerging from the beak of a
bird. Note the typical distinctly carved eye of
the bird, upper right. |
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A
possible aurochs pelvic bone.
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| Carved rock with one of
different lithology possibly inserted into cavity, and
possible rock painting. |
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Steve Robinson Collection
Wellingborough
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Flint
tool, length 4 cm (1.6"). |
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Classic
quasi-anthropomorphic bird form. |
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Two
flint tools and a slate one in the same form. |
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Apparently
burnt flint tools - 7 cm (2.75") and 5 cm
(2"). |
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Flint
tool - 5 cm (2") - with close-up of flaking. |
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A flint
knife or scraper, length 4 cm (1.6"). |
| A flint scraper in the
classic bird form with a head emerging
egg-like from its posterior (lower left). |
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Two
more flint tools - left, height 2.5 cm (1") -
right, length 7 cm (2.75"). |
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Small
artifacts of flint and bronze. Lengths 4.5
cm(1.8") and 5 cm (2"). |
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Engraved
ceramic fragment, 5.5 cm (2.2"). |
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Incised
slate artifact (tool?), height 4.5 cm (1.8"). |
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Slate artifact (tool?), 5 cm
(2').
Between two similar flint pieces. |
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Another
worked slate piece. |
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Strange
object, light in weight, composition not yet determined. |
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