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Archaeologists have recovered from the thieves a unique stone mask dating back 9,000 years, announced Wednesday the Israeli Antiquities Authority. It is one of 15 in the world.
Officials who investigated the robbery were able to trace the mask's origins to a specific location in the Pnei Hever area in southern Har Hebron in the southern West Bank. The site, along with the features of the mask, have helped scientists date it with considerable confidence.
The mask was discovered in early 2018 at the hands of antique thieves by the Department of Archeology of the Civil Administration of the Ministry of Defense in the West Bank, IAA announced. No other details were given about theft or subsequent recovery.
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The mask is made of pinkish yellow limestone and could have been worn by living people as part of rituals surrounding ancestor worship, according to Ronit Lupu of the IAA.
"To discover a stone mask, at such a level of finish, is very exciting. The stone has been completely smoothed and the characteristics are perfect and symmetrical, delimiting even the cheekbones. He has an impressive nose and a mouth with distinct teeth, "said Lupu.
Archaeologists believe that it was meant to be worn or attached to an artifact for exhibition purposes because it has four holes drilled in its edges to be able to be knotted.
Its smooth finish was achieved by careful work with stone tools from the Neolithic or "new stone".
Fifteen masks of this type have never been discovered in the world and only two have a usable origin. In other words, archaeologists know where they have been found and can therefore place them with relative confidence in the context of a time and place.
The other 13 "belong to private collections around the world, which complicates their study," lamented the announcement of the IAA.
9000-year-old ritual mask discovered in the southern Hebron Hills region of the West Bank in early 2018. (Anti-theft Prevention Unit, Israeli Antiquities Authority)
The mask will shed new light on a period of profound transformation, as humans moved from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a permanent settlement and systematic farming. This change led to the rise of the first cities and ultimately to the first complex states. l & # 39; writing.
"Stone masks are linked to the agricultural revolution," said Omry Barzilai, head of the IAA's archaeological research department. "The transition from an economy based on hunting and gathering to an old agriculture and to the domestication of plants and animals is accompanied by a change in social structure and development." A sharp increase in ritual and religious activities. The ritual discoveries of this period include figurines in human form, plaster skulls and stone masks. "
It was an era of ancestor worship, Lupu explained, and an artistic culture that seemed centered on the human face.
"It was part of the ritual and the preservation of the family patrimony that was accepted at the time. For example, we find skulls buried under the floors of domestic houses, as well as various methods for shaping and taking care of skulls from the dead, "said Lupu. "This led to plastering skulls, shaping facial features and even inserting eye shells. Stone masks, like Pnei Hever's, are similar in size to the human face, which is why scholars tend to badociate them with such worship. "
Side view of a 9,000-year-old stone mask discovered in the southern Hebron Hills region of the West Bank in early 2018. (Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority)
Lupu explained that not only the discovery of the mask, but also the knowledge of its provenance, made it a rare discovery.
"The mask is a unique discovery in the archaeological world. It is even more unusual to know which site it comes from. The fact that we have information about the precise location in which it was discovered makes this mask more important than most other masks of this period that we currently know, "Lupu said.
The southern region of the Hebron Hills was originally other masks dated from the same period, known to specialists under the name of Neolithic period B before the pottery manufacturing. His discovery thus reinforces the prevailing belief among archaeologists that this area serves as a key center for the production of such masks, "and most likely also for ritual activities" badociated with them, the statement said.
The first findings of the study of the mask made by scientists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority and the Israel Geological Survey are to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Society of Israeli Prehistory at the Museum of Israel. Israel in Jerusalem.
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