Calico Early Man Site, Mannix Basin, Yermo, California / m)horseheadhobv51
"Notched Scraper. Length: 10 cm. Worked side of a unifacial chalcedony flake. Unifacially-prepared multi-purpose scraper from a depth of 4.34 m (171 inches) below the eroded surface of the Yermo Fan, Master Pit I. The unworked face (bottom) is the ventral portion of a flake. There is overall flaking of the dorsal side (top). The concave working edge is retouched and shows signs of use-wear. Tip possibly used as a graver. Duplicates Clactonian 'bill-hook' type of Francois Bordes. Partially coated with powdered aluminum" [Fred E. Budinger Jr., Calico Project Director, Calico Early Man Site, www.calicodig.org]
Palaeoart interpretation (James Harrod, 1.3.2008): Based on the photos of this object, I suggest it is a scraper decorated with a zoomorphic shape, some sort of bovid, with the right tip the head and muzzle, possibly a 'horsehead'. There appears to be a natural or intentional flake removal for the 'eye'. On the obverse, there are two chip scars on the 'head', which may be natural, use-wear or intentional flaking to indicate eye and nose/mouth area.
(Ursel Benekendorff 1.4.2008): "But the head has a clear horn plate...The horn plate lies flat on the head on top and one can see one horn "swinging" out (chipping flake) and even the "tip" of the horn has an extra chipping. Thus, the head might belong to a another species and is not a horse head?"
(James Harrod, 1.5.2008): Yes, I now see this horn; also the muzzle is less like a horse or hippidion and, taking into account the horn on top, I could now identify this as either (a) an 'elk or wapiti, male, C. canadensis' (the female does not bear horns) or (b) 'mountain or bighorn sheep), female ewe, Ovis canadensis (since the flaked horn shape is not circular like the male, but short and slightly curved like the female). The slightly curved flake removal (you call 'swinging out') could be either represent the neck of a bighorn sheep female (images, top row center and right) or the antler of a male elk (image, bottom, right). Note: the mountain sheep is an important food source for Shoshone and other Basin peoples and depicted in many petroglyphs in the Great Basin as well as Asia, which is believed to be its ancestral homeland.
I dug deeper and found an even more remarkable identification (c), the larger ('extinct') Pleistocene ancestor, O. canadensis catclawensis, and found one excellent fossil, which has a horn curved like a cat's claw (and not circular like the modern bighorn) (see image of fossil, bottom row, center). A review of online articles doesn't indicate if this horn shape is typical of the female, a young adult male, or an adult male. In any case, the problem we have confronted in identifying what animal is represented is resolved by the discovery of this close match between the 'horn' of the sculpture and that of the Pleistocene mountain sheep. If so, this is excellent support for the dating of Calico to Pleistocene times.
Photo Calico flake, double image © D. Griffin [Calico Early Man Site, www.calicodig.org]; top row, center © http://picasaweb.google.com/moabmarc/RacksSacks/photo#5134277189832719666 (cropped); top row, right © Daniel P. Duran; bottom row, center, Copyright © Oklahoma University; bottom, right © Enchantedlearning.com (cropped and modified). |
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