24. Profil of a man on tool

A strange tool...

... with a strange profil carved on it (click to magnify)

Size: ~5.5cm
Material: Unknown stone
Restored: No
Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA
Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

23. Profils on Paleo Spearhead

A Paleo Spearhead

Here is another Paleolithic tool with artworks on it.

Profil of a man - Face 1

Profil of a man - Face 2

Size: ~2.5cm
Material: Unknown stone
Restored: No
Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA
Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

22. Art on tool

Beautiful paleolithic tool

Like Artifacts #8, #10 or #14, the man and his pet appear on this piece:

The man and the pet (click to magnify)

Size: ~3cm
Material: Unknown stone
Restored: Yes
Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA
Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

21. Face on tool

Another Paleolithic tool..

...that has a nice face on it.

This tool was certainly used for knapping arrowheads.

Size: ~5 cm

Material: Unknown

Restored: No

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

20. Micro-carving on small arrowhead

A small obsidian arrowhead.

This small arrowhead is made of a translucent Obsidian, it has very small profil of a man carved on it:

The profil of a man appears. Click to magnify.

Size: ~2 cm

Material: Obsidian

Restored: No

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

19. Ancient effigies on petrified clam

A small petrified clam

This small petrified clam was found in the Mojave desert, on the same paleo site than the other pieces. The first interesting thing about this small petrified clam is the fact that it contains a petrified pearl in it:

A petrified pearl inside.

If this is not enough, the second interesting thing is the effigies that appear on it:

The effigies. Click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~2.5 cm

Material: Mineralized clam (agatized)

Restored: No (found "As Is")

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic (carving)

18. The Chalcedony shaman

This small piece is carved and polished

This small piece was found, "As Is", on the same site, as the other pieces presented on this website. It is a representation of a man wearing a mask/hat, each side has its own representation:

The effigies of a shaman.

Size: ~3.5 cm

Material: An unknown Chalcedony variety

Restored: No (found "As Is")

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

17. The old Crystal-Agate man

The Crystal-Agate profil

What we have here is a "fragment" of a Crystal-Agate geode. Due to its form, we can imagine how the original rock looked:

This is only a fragment of a bigger rock.

This fragment was found "As Is" on the same paleo site where the other pieces have been found. So, this little fragment was certainly "extracted" by a man... AND retouched, as the picture below is showing you:

Traces of work, click on picture to magnify.

Finally, here is what the man wanted to represent:

The profil of an old man on each side. Click to magnify.

Size: ~4.5 cm

Material: Crystal-Agate

Restored: No (found "As Is")

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

16. Another multi-carvings piece

Many images appear on this piece.

Some of the images carved in it. Click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~5 cm

Material: Unknown (maybe a mineralized tooth)

Restored: No

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

15. Paleo-Indian profil on Quartz cutting tool

A Quartz cutting tool.

This is a small cutting tool made of Quartz Crystal. Found on the same site than the other pieces. This is also an amazing little work of art because a human profil is carved into it:

An Indian profil carved on it. Click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~2 cm

Material: Quartz Crystal

Restored: No

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

Traces of man-made retouching work can be seen here:

2015 update : new screenshot and drawing

Zoom on traces, click on picture to magnify.

 

Another Paleo-Indian profil can be seen here (Artifact #3).

14. The petrified snake

This is a small petrified snake

Paleolithic men hated snakes, probably for the simple reason that many of them were bitten by them, and surely some even died. As strange as this may sound, they would actually do strange things to the snakes, like tie them into knots and shape them into small totems, like this one...

Close up on the head, click on picture to magnify.

The man and the pet, already visible on this piece and this piece seem to appear again on this one:

The man and the pet, click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~3.5 cm

Material: Mineralized organism (snake)

Restored: No

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

13. The 100-face totem

The 100-face totem

Size: ~9 cm

Material: Mineralized organism (maybe a part of a Coyote jaw bone)

Restored: Yes (was completely covered in mineral buildup which has to be removed, this piece was then sprayed with a protectant)

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic (certainly older)

Here is some of the faces that appear on this incredible artifact:

Click on picture to magnify (1600x1200)

Some close-up (click to magnify)

As you can see, this piece is a true work of art, made by a skilled artist. There many other faces on this artifact, it's why I called it The 100-face totem. See more effigies on the picture below:

Click on picture to magnify

12. Unique three-in-one artifact

When this rock was found, it looked like this:

When found, the parts were "attached" together (but originally detached)

Some interesting carvings can be seen of the two bigger parts, like this one:

A man and a monster, this part is not restored.

We started to restore the smallest part, and here is how it turned out:

As you can see, it's a masterpiece (click on the picture to magnify)

The age of this artifact can easily be authenticated by the image of the mammoth head carved on it (see the first yellow picture).

Close-up (click on the picture to magnify)

Size:

Biggest part: ~6 cm

Second part: ~5 cm

Smallest part: ~2 cm

Material: Unknown

Restored: Yes (only the smallest part)

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic (at least)

11. Art on stone knife

Interesting artwork on this side (click on picture to magnify)

Size: ~3.5cm

Material: Unknown

Restored: No.

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

Another profil on the other side, you can see how the mouth was added.

10. The Opal Skull

The Opal Skull

Size: ~2cm high x ~4cm long

Material: Opal-Agate

Restored: Yes (was covered by gangue).

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

Information: This piece is a representation of a skull. What is extraordinary about this artifact is the fact that the original artist apparently opened the stone, hollowed out inside and re-glued the two sides (we known that they known how to attach two materials together). By illuminating the piece, we can see through the holes that the piece is empty inside.

If this is not enough, the underside of the skull is carved in a manner where every direction you turn it (even slightly), a new likeness can be seen. The same story previously seen appears again:

The storyboard (click on picture to magnify)

1. There is a man who has a pet that went everywhere the man went by riding on his head.

2. One day, a hungry monster came up behind them
3. ...and eats the man's pet.

4. The man forces the monster to open his mouth, and see the pet inside.

5. He cuts the monster's face off

6. The man try to put his pet on his head again, but his pet is dead...

7. The man trought about his pet and was very sad because his pet was now a spirit.

8. The Great Spirit came, got his pet, and flew away to heaven.

9. The man is sad and thinks about his pet till he gets old.

10. Then, one day, the man dies just like his pet.

11. Later in Heaven, the man, the pet and the monster, all sit together and remember how the man went through all that sadness for nothing...

9. Interesting effigy

Click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~6.5cm

Material: Unknown (the nose seems to be a different material, "attached" on the main material)

Restored: Yes (restored and sprayed with a protectant).

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

Information: This artifact is really interesting: perfect eyes, nose, mouth and neck. If you look at it closely, it is many different carvings that come together and make one larger one. For example, if you look at his nose, you will also notice that is it also the elbow of a smaller image placing his hand on his face. This is a true work of art. The carving style is similar to another artifact found on the same land.

8. The most beautiful artifact in the world

One of the many faces. Click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~14cm

Material: Petrified organism

Restored: Yes (was completely covered by gangue - 2 years of work were needed).

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic (certainly older)

Information: This artifact is a real masterpiece, and it's what's I call "Art". All sides of the piece are carved, and all the carvings make a full story, coming directly from the Paleolithic (certainly older)! Here is the short version (there is many others images on the piece, not described here) :

The storyboard. Click on picture to magnify.

1. There is a man who has a pet.

2. The pet rides on top of the man's head everywhere he goes.
3. A hungry monster sneaks up on them...
4. ...and eats the man's pet.

5. The man grabs the monster by the head.

6. He forces the monster to open his mouth.
7. He forces the monster's head down on a sharp rock.

8. He cuts the monster's face off...

9. ... and pulls his pet out of the monster.

10. The man try to put his pet on his head again, but his pet is dead...

11. The Great Spirit came, got his pet, and flew away to heaven.

12. When the man dies, he sees his pet again in heaven..

7. Unbelievable: 3-D face

Hard to photography, click on picture to magnify.

Size: ~2.5cm

Material: Agate

Restored: Yes

Provenance: Mojave Desert (California part), USA

Estimated period: Upper Paleolithic

Information: This piece of Agate was carved in a cubic form with some twists on the back, for having a play of shadows and lights "inside" the rock. It proves how smart these people were (as it shows that they knew and understood the properties of working with optics).