Hamburg-Wittenbergen c. 200,000 BP: Animals / g)hwbear2

Identified by Walther Matthes as as sculpture of bear's head.

Comment: James Harrod personally saw this object at the archaeology lab of the University of Hamburg in 1988. At that time the object--which appeared obviously a bear's head sculpture--was considered by archaeological staff to be a chunk of flint and certainly not a tool. It was being used for extinguishing and crushing cigarette butts. It is our understanding that after protesting this it is no longer used for such a purpose. During the same year the University sent many crates of Matthes' artifacts to a business that crushed them into gravel.

Photographer © Walther Matthes. Matthes, W. (1963). Die Entdeckung der Kunst des Alteren und Mittleren Palaeolithikums in Norddeutschland. Jahrbuch for Prahistorische und Ethnographische Kunst (IPEK) 21:1-18; Taf. 4.1.