This might not actually be the oldest mask. There are 16 known Neolithic masks in the world and only two have secure archaeological context (the stuff found in the same strata as the mask that we can actually radiocarbon date, like bones or wood). Most of them were found long ago and sold to collections without archaeologists excavating them, losing a lot of the scientific value. AFAIK more than ten of them are still in private collections.
This mask is not one of the two, as it was discovered by a Palestinian farmer and without a controlled excavation all that context was lost (although they’ve done surveys of the discovery site and found evidence of similarly aged artifacts). It was dated with patina analysis, which is a bit controversial to say the least. Which is to say, the scientific consensus about its age is fragile.
Evidlo 8 hours ago [-]
8800-6500 BC if you were wondering
dyauspitr 7 hours ago [-]
That’s insanely old. I didn’t even know we knew of communities that old outside of Gobleki Tepe
itsnowandnever 4 hours ago [-]
the oldest discovered buildings for continuous occupancy are actually Tel al-Qaramel near Aleppo (not far from Gobekli Tepe) and they're 1000 years older than Gobekli Tepe
the oldest continuously inhabited city is Jericho (Ariha in Arabic) and that's essentially where this mask was found (100KM to the south, anyway). Jericho has been inhabited since 9600 BC.
3 hours ago [-]
hopelite 7 hours ago [-]
It depends on your definition of communities. The oldest preserved cave paintings and artifacts from what is now Germany indicate that there were communities 35,000-40,000 years ago.
Just take a moment and contemplate that the best estimate we have has a range of 5,000 years.
contingencies 6 hours ago [-]
Aborigines arrived in Australia ~50K-65KYA
gerdesj 4 hours ago [-]
Do you mean something like: There is evidence that approximately 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, homo sapiens reached the land that we now call Australia.
You can't possibly describe those people as Aborigines before arrival. Its almost as daft as describing any modern nation as being ready formed when it sticks up a flag and starts slagging off the neighbours.
The colonization that originally puts hom. sap. on Terra Horribilis, sorry, Australis is remarkable. Can you imagine just how many efforts failed? Its a long way to Aus from the last island hop. A quick scan, it look like what we now call Papua New Guninea would be a possible launch pad.
nemomarx 8 hours ago [-]
So how do we think it was made if it's pre pottery? Pure stone carving for this kind of detail seems very impressive
YeGoblynQueenne 7 hours ago [-]
>> This carved stone mask depicting a human face (...)
It's carved stone. Must weigh a ton to carry on one's face.
That does seem relatively presumptuous of the "scientists". Maybe "humanoid" would be more appropriate, especially considering that it does not seem to demonstrate any effort to accurately represent the human face. It could very well represent some sort of spirit or "demon".
It also could very well not have been a mask humans would have worn, but instead it could have been part of some other thing like a statue or maybe an effigy that was burned, i.e., the "mask" could have been added to a straw or wood statue/figure that was then burned; saving the "mask" for next season/time.
It could have also very well just have been a kind of thing you would use to deter intruders by having or placing it somewhere.
A mask presumes that a human would wear it or it emulates such a purpose. It does not even need to be that. Think of old porcelain dolls whose face was porcelain but the rest of the head was stuffed fabric. That would also explain the holes on its perimeter. That kind of thing is also still done in certain places during various pagan celebrations that have survive and are so old no one knows how old they are, probably handed down and evolved from even before the time of this "mask's" creation.
nemomarx 7 hours ago [-]
The teeth marks look kinda like a skeleton to me. I could see it being part of an effigy but also maybe sewn into a headdress or something?
Avicebron 6 hours ago [-]
Could be, I'm getting "death mask" vibes. So maybe something someone would be buried with, If we can assume there were fasteners of some sort in the holes around the circumference I can see this being sewn on to burial wrappings.
stavarotti 6 hours ago [-]
Every time I see artifacts like these I can’t help but think whether we are producing artifacts that will be discovered 10000 years into the future, and still be in a robust state.
Our geostationary satellites should probably be able to last for a billion years without major decay.
throwup238 6 hours ago [-]
Oh a LOT will still be around in ten thousand years, especially if climate change causes a lot of desertification. The oldest Egyptian papyrus is almost 4,600 years old and that’s just papyrus, an organic material that doesn’t survives very long in more humid climates.
Ten thousand years isn’t very much in geological timescales, not enough to bury everything and crush it to dust so anything that gets left in a landfill (and not harvested in the future) has a chance of surviving. Anything made of noble metals like gold and platinum especially, so it’ll mostly be a question of how much is thrown away versus recycled.
Our modern middens will be full of artifacts.
CognitiveLens 6 hours ago [-]
There are definitely projects designed with the specific intent of doing that, e.g. https://longnow.org/clock/
At once familiar and also utterly alien. Perhaps part of a ritual to honor the dead, or perhaps worn to scare children into eating their vegetables. We'll never know.
contingencies 6 hours ago [-]
I'm going to print this for my kid's orthodontist's office. Funny bloke, always wears crazy socks and refers to himself as a "fencing contractor".
This mask is not one of the two, as it was discovered by a Palestinian farmer and without a controlled excavation all that context was lost (although they’ve done surveys of the discovery site and found evidence of similarly aged artifacts). It was dated with patina analysis, which is a bit controversial to say the least. Which is to say, the scientific consensus about its age is fragile.
the oldest continuously inhabited city is Jericho (Ariha in Arabic) and that's essentially where this mask was found (100KM to the south, anyway). Jericho has been inhabited since 9600 BC.
Just take a moment and contemplate that the best estimate we have has a range of 5,000 years.
You can't possibly describe those people as Aborigines before arrival. Its almost as daft as describing any modern nation as being ready formed when it sticks up a flag and starts slagging off the neighbours.
The colonization that originally puts hom. sap. on Terra Horribilis, sorry, Australis is remarkable. Can you imagine just how many efforts failed? Its a long way to Aus from the last island hop. A quick scan, it look like what we now call Papua New Guninea would be a possible launch pad.
It's carved stone. Must weigh a ton to carry on one's face.
It also could very well not have been a mask humans would have worn, but instead it could have been part of some other thing like a statue or maybe an effigy that was burned, i.e., the "mask" could have been added to a straw or wood statue/figure that was then burned; saving the "mask" for next season/time.
It could have also very well just have been a kind of thing you would use to deter intruders by having or placing it somewhere.
A mask presumes that a human would wear it or it emulates such a purpose. It does not even need to be that. Think of old porcelain dolls whose face was porcelain but the rest of the head was stuffed fabric. That would also explain the holes on its perimeter. That kind of thing is also still done in certain places during various pagan celebrations that have survive and are so old no one knows how old they are, probably handed down and evolved from even before the time of this "mask's" creation.
Ten thousand years isn’t very much in geological timescales, not enough to bury everything and crush it to dust so anything that gets left in a landfill (and not harvested in the future) has a chance of surviving. Anything made of noble metals like gold and platinum especially, so it’ll mostly be a question of how much is thrown away versus recycled.
Our modern middens will be full of artifacts.
But there are other things, including awesome-and-dangerous nuclear waste sites, with warning messages/symbols designed to last beyond the collapse of modern civilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_nuclear_waste_warnin...