MP Gallery - Markings, Signs, Graphemes; l) qafzeh100core23

Middle Paleolithic symbolists continued use of the Early Paleolithic 'interative stroke marks' motif, found at EP sites such as Bilzingsleben. I have categorized this type as Type A iterative stroke marks. Examples include:

• Oldisleben 1, Germany, Micoquian, c. 120,000 BP; 20 stroke marks in two sets, each set with parallel strokes (Bednarik 2004 in press). [Type A]
• Qafzeh, Layer XVII, ESR and TL100,000 BP, Levantine Mousterian Tabun B tools; Qafzeh 8 burial (Homo sapiens sapiens) next to triangular Levallois core incised with iterated stroke marks/lines, non-utilitarian, in association with two lumps of red ochre, slightly used (Hovers, Vandermeersch and Bar-Yosef 1997). [Type A]
• Blombos Cave, Stillbay, Layer CC, TL 77,000 BP, OSL 70,000; 1 mammal mandible fragment incised with 11 parallel lines (iterative stroke marks); partially broken, so may have numbered more [Type A]
• Cueva Morin, Spain; Mousterian, three sets of paired lines on rib fragment; also utilized bone fragment with series of five barb-like incised marks (Freeman and Gonzales Echegaray 1983; Bednarik 1995) [Type A]

The example from Qafzeh is shown below. Next three images pertain to same object.

Photo © Erella Hovers, Bernard Vandermeersch and Ofer Bar-Yosef. Hovers, E., Vandermeersch, B., and O. Bar-Yosef, 1997, A Middle Palaeolithic engraved artefact from Qafzeh Cave, Israel. Rock Art Research 14,2:79-87. Figures 2 and 3.