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Bird Spirit, Simple Form
Scotland
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This
is one of two found by the author in 1992 near the top of Ben
Lawers, a 1220 m (4000')
mountain in the Scottish highlands, kept not because they were
recognized as
artifacts at the time, but because they were pretty souvenirs for his then six year old daughter who also made
the climb. It shares with the similar objects at Day's Knob
the intricately carved micro-art images on its surface, showing
the Bird Spirit
sending forth birds from its mouth. Some of these are shown
below. The similarity of the imagery at the two widely
separated locations is remarkable, but the varied colors in this Scottish rock give the figures a
particular vividness.
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This
figure, about 9 mm (0.35") in length, is inside the eye of
the primary image. Note that its mouth (left end) is
distinctly in the form of a bird's profile, a feature very
common at Day's Knob. Below: Four micro-art
images from the same rock, all in the same theme.
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Below: The other of the two rocks. |
| The other rock from Ben Lawers. Note the distinct bird profile in the mouth,
left, with its own clearly chipped mouth and eye. Also
note the bird head at the top of the rock, and the possible
depiction of a bird head emerging from a mouth on the right
side. |
| An edge of the rock. Note
the bird-human face at the right end, juxtaposed with a somewhat
more
literal bird head form behind it, much like the flint figure below
from Day's Knob. A face with a figure emerging from the
mouth is also evident at the opposite (left) end. |
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Below:
Three micro-art figures from the second Ben Lawers rock. The
first is a nice example of a two-face image, very common also at
Day's Knob. |
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