an international team of research project Kharaysin archaeological team, during excavations in Jordan have found dozens of strange Neolithic figurines, which were in the graves aged about 10 thousand years.
the Article about this discovery was published in the journal Antiquity. Found statues date from the mid ninth Millennium BC. This era is known as the early Neolithic. At that time in the middle East iconography only began to spread. A new study will help to understand how it evolved.
the above Mentioned graves are in the archaeological area Harisen in the valley of the river Zarqa. There, a team of archaeologists from Spain, France and the UK. It was headed by Dr. Juan josé ibáñez.
artifacts resemble the flint tools of ancient people. However, most of these objects were found in graves, which is not typical for flint tools. Scientists have suggested that the artifacts had a sacred significance. That is, they intentionally put in the graves together with the deceased when performing the funeral rituals.
the Artifacts are subjected to careful analysis. As a result, the researchers saw them as a “human form”. The top pair of notches is a contraction to indicate the neck and the lower one to indicate the waist. A similar “outline in the shape of a violin” was previously observed in two figures of the same period found in Harisena and made of baked clay. This indicates that the artifacts are the Neolithic figurines. Who, exactly, are they portrayed?
There is a version that it was a primitive image of the deities. In subsequent periods, the practice of making anthropomorphic figures of deities is widespread. For example, in Europe in the course of excavations often found figures of “Venus”, whose age is numbered in the thousands of years.
Perhaps, found in Jordan, the statues were the results of the first attempts to create divine sculpture. By the way, all of the Neolithic figurines, found this mission have different shapes and sizes.
In his article, the authors write that the artifacts could be cult objects, including “agents of magic”, which was used for rituals. But they also draw attention to the fact that the finds were made not in the graves, and in the normal pits.
it is possible that these figurines for some reason she was dumped. For example, they could be discarded after completion of the ceremony. Or they were simply rejected. There is another explanation – the figures could be used as children’s toys or as visual exhibits in the teaching of rituals.
the Discovery also proves that people in the transition to a settled way of life and agriculture there is a “psychological and social changes”. In chaparticularly, they have probably appeared ideas about the afterlife.
