Mask of la Roche-Cotard

Mask of la Roche-Cotard

The so-called Mask of la Roche-Cotard, also known as the "Mousterian Protofigurine", is a purported artifact dated to the Mousterian period, 33,000 years ago or earlier, found in 1975[1]} in the entrance of a cave named La Roche-Cotard, territory of the commune of Langeais (Indre-et-Loire), on the banks of the Loire River.[2][3]

The artifact, possibly created by Neanderthal man,[4] is a piece of flat flint that has been shaped in a way that seems to resemble the upper part of a face. A piece of bone pushed through a hole in the stone has been interpreted as a representation of eyes. Paul Bahn has suggested this "mask" is "highly inconvenient", as "It makes a nonsense of the view that clueless Neanderthals could only copy their cultural superiors the Cro-Magnons".[5] Though this may represent an example of artistic expression in Neanderthal humans,[6] some archaeologists question whether the artifact represents a face,[7] and some suggest that it may be practical rather than artistic.[8]

References

  1. ^ Marquet, J C; M Lorblanchet (2003). "A Neanderthal face? The proto-figurine from La Roche-Cotard, Langeais (Indre-et-Loire, France)". Antiquity 77. 
  2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (2 December 2003). "Neanderthal 'face' found in Loire". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3256228.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
  3. ^ Palmer, Douglas (6 December 2003). "Neanderthal art alters the face of archaeology". New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18024241.300-neanderthal-art-alters-the-face-of-archaeology.html. Retrieved 2009-05-15. 
  4. ^ Marquet, Jean-Claude; Lorblanchet, Michel (1 December 2003). "A Neanderthal face? The proto-figurine from La Roche-Cotard, Langeais (Indre-et-Loire, France)". Antiquity 77 (298): 661–670. ISSN 598X 0003 598X. http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/077/Ant0770661.htm. 
  5. ^ Bahn, Paul (23 August 2003). "A bone to pick". New Scientist (2409). http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17924095.600-a-bone-to-pick.html. 
  6. ^ Pettitt, Paul B (2003/4). "Is this the infancy of art? Or the art of an infant? A possible Neanderthal face from La Roche-Cotard, France". Before Farming (Western Academic & Specialist Press) 11 (3). ISSN 1476-4261. http://www.waspress.co.uk/journals/beforefarming/journal_20034/news/BF3-4_11_NewsPettitt.pdf. 
  7. ^ Chase, Philip G (2006). The emergence of culture: the evolution of a uniquely human way of life. Birkhäuser. pp. 217. ISBN 0387305122, 9780387305127. 
  8. ^ "But is it art?". Science (AAAS) 302 (5652): 1890. 12 December 2003. doi:10.1126/science.302.5652.1890a. http://www.scienceonline.org/cgi/content/summary/302/5652/1890a. 

Further reading

  • M. Lorblanchet, La naissance de l'Art. Genèse de l'art préhistorique, Errances, 1999
  • Marquet J.-C., Lorblanchet M: Le "Masque" moustérien de La Roche-Cotard, Langeais (Indre-et-Loire). Paléo 2000, 12:325-338
  • Laurence Nicoud: L'art néandertalien: réalité et énigme. Archéologia (Paris): 407:6, January 2004
  • The Mousterian Protofigurine from La Roche-Cotard (France)

See also

  • Art of the Upper Paleolithic
  • Art of the Middle Paleolithic

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