UKRAINIAN CARVED STONE EFFIGY HEADS:

Kamyana Mohyla site,

excavation at arrow center

left, mound on right.

Excavations at an open-air site in Ukraine called Kamyana Mohyla have revealed a sequence 4.2m deep dating from the European Mesolithic to recent. The site, by a sandstone mound (Kamyana Mohyla), has been studied since 2011 by  a joint Swiss-Ukranian team who found several Mesolithic habitations at the lower level. The two zoomorphic sandstone objects come from that level, both intentionally shaped to resemble snake heads. (Kostova et al., 2018)

Older stone snake head,

8300 B.C. to 7500 B.C.

Public Domain.

The two stones are considerably weathered and eroded, however, careful microscopic study of tool marks on them led to the identification and reconstruction of their original appearance. Because of the erosion, the snakeheads can be seen much more clearly in the drawings than in the actual photos. Assuming that the Mesolithic artist would have been recreating a more impressive species than the common grass or garter snakes, the heads must be meant to portray either the Common European Viper or the Steppe Viper, both of which would have been found in that area.

"The open-air stratified site of Kamyana Mohyla I was discovered by V. M. Danilenko in the 1930s. It is situated in front of a natural sandstone mound (Kamyana Mohyla) where numerous engravings and figurines have been recovered, mostly dating to the Metal Ages." (Kostova 2018)

"The "older" figurine was found near an open fireplace, near piles of shells and flint tools. Using organic matter from the fireplace, the researchers were able to radiocarbon date the yellow sandstone snakehead to between 8300 B.C. and 7500 B.C." (Geggel 2018)

Younger stone snake head,

7424 ± 46 cal. B.C.,

Public Domain.

"The "younger" figurine came from another Mesolithic stratigraphic unit that contained a firplace, which was radiocarbon-dated to 7424 ± 46 cal. B.C." (Kostova 2018)

European common viper,

Public Domain.

"The two findings represent the only snakehead stones known at Kamyana Mohyla I, however, scientists did discover a fish-like stone sculpture at the nearby Kamyana Mohyla, a giant stone pile just a stone's throw from the snakeheads spot." (Geggel 2018) Although the author's have called the third carved head fish-like, I find it convincingly snake-like, as much or more so than the first two images. It has a zig-zag scale pattern along the upper lip and the foot shape outlined right above would represent the eye and the pit behind the eye where the poison gland is located.

"Fish-like stone, Kamyana

Mohyla. Public Domain.

But, two snakeheads or three, why would Ukrainians of 8,300 years ago be carving snakeheads at all? "Archaeologists don't know much about the people who made these sculptures, except that these prehistoric inhabitants lived on the steppe of the northwestern region of the Sea of Azov. "They made tools from stones, flints, and bones and hunted with bows and flint arrows" - "It was a society of hunters and gatherers. Unfortunately, we don't know much about their cultural traditions yet." (Geggel 2018)

The particular culture they are attributed to, the Kukrek (Kotova 2018), is relatively unknown so the archaeologists are falling back on the usual practice of describing the objects with the term "ritual objects." (But since I cannot give a more accurate explanation I will have to let it stand.)

NOTE: Images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these objects you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Geggel, Laura

2018   8,300-Year-Old Stone Snake Heads Revial Stone Age Ritual Ceremonies, LiveScience, December 12, 2018, https://www.livescience.com/64284-stone-age-snake-sculptures.html

Kotova, Nadia, Dmytro Kiosak, Simon Radchenko, Larisa Spitsyna,

2018   Microscopic Examination of Mesolithic Serpent-Like Sculptured Stones from Southern Ukraine, Antiquity, December 2018, Vol. 92, No. 366