HK148b Aterian Hut Site, Har Karkom, Israel, Gallery 3 -- N and NE Sector c. greater than 100.000 to 24,000 BP; o) hk148b figurine from outside the hutfloor

Aterian hutfloor HK 148b, NE Sector, artifact #18; flint. This piece was found about a half meter outside the perimeter of the hutfloor. Because this figure was found outside the hutfloor, I have not considered it in the overall analysis of potential flint sculptures found in HK148b hutfloor.

Tentative interpretation (James Harrod): Geometric, possibly female figurine or 'goddess'. What appears as its 'head' has a vaguely bird-like, even owl-like, appearance. It is reminiscent of one of the HK86b standing stones that has an owl-like 'face'. It may be an occurrence of the long European and Near Eastern Neolithic and Bronze Age tradition of female figurines with bird or owl features, the 'bird goddess' and the 'owl goddess', as catalogued and described in Gimbutas, M. 1989. The language of the goddess. New York: Harper and Row. (See e.g,., Figures 89, 91, 149, 289, 292; or Crawford, O. G. S., 1957. The eye goddess. London: Phoenix House.

Photo © James Harrod. James Harrod site photos taken on Emmanuel Anati Har Karkom Expedition, April 1996.
4/4/1996