It is an 11,000 year old stone carving and probably the first narrative scene in human history. Discovery in Turkey, it represents a man holding his penis surrounded by leopards. According to archaeologistsit is an invaluable treasure for trying to understand what drove prehistoric communities to adopt a sedentary way of life.
The bas-relief was exhumed in 2021 at Sayburç, a site in southeastern Turkey known to have hosted the first traces of a population that gradually abandoned the nomadism of hunter-gatherers for the more homelike style of a a society based on the constitution of colonies.
The sculpture in question is made up of five figures spread over two reliefs – the Neolithic version of a two-panel comic strip. The first is made up of a human and his penis, flanked by two leopards (one with a phallus). On the second, there is also a human figure represented with his rod, next to a bull.
“The sculpture reflects the complex relationship between humans, the natural world and the animal life that surrounded them as they transitioned to a sedentary lifestyle”
The bas-relief constitutes “the oldest known representation of a narrative scene” according to a published study in the review Antiquity and led by archaeologist Eylem Özdoğan from Istanbul University. “It reflects the complex relationship between humans, the natural world and the animal life that surrounded them as they transitioned to a sedentary lifestyle. »
“The figures form a narrative, with the two individual scenes appearing to be linked to each other,” the research team adds. “The Sayburç reliefs correspond to the style and themes of the Neolithic. The phalluses are the only elements identifying the sex of the characters. The emphasis is on the violence of the animal world through the representation of features such as fangs and horns, a technique observed on other sites. »
The scene is indeed similar to artwork from nearby Neolithic sites, including the famous settlement of Göbekli Tepe, a few thousand years younger than Sayburç, which also includes its fair share of phallic representations.
“The figures were undoubtedly characters worthy of being engraved in rock”
These mysterious structures offer insight into one of the most significant changes in the history of our species. As cultures moved away from nomadism, larger and larger villages began to emerge, paving the way for the urban civilization that dominates our world today.
Özdoğan and his colleagues plan to continue studying the relief, which is in an old communal building that they say houses special gatherings. The team will also continue its excavations on the whole site of Sayburç which could contain other clues about the peoples who lived there and the stories they told.
“The figures were undoubtedly characters worthy of being engraved in rock,” add the researchers. “The fact that they are represented together in a narrative scene suggests the existence of a narrative around these protagonists. In oral traditions, stories, rituals and strong symbolic elements form the basis of ideologies that shape society beyond spirituality. »
Previous work has “interpreted Göbekli Tepe, with its powerful symbols, as a new connection point for memory in a changing world. The Sayburç reliefs can be seen from a similar angle: the reflection of a collective memory that kept the values of its community alive,” the study concludes.
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The oldest known account is a bas-relief of a guy holding his dick