Portable rock art has been documented by other researchers, is prevalently distributed throughout North America and Europe, and is also referred to as microlithic sculptures as well as anthropomorphic paleolithic sculptures. Artfacts can be defined as a classification of ancient rocks and stone creations consisting of lithic assemblages or technological characteristics including worked representations of faces and animals onto rocks and stone tools. I have proposed using the term “artfacts,” in addition to “portable rock art,” to distinguish paleo rock art from conventionally understood artifacts, eoliths, mimeotoliths and geofacts, and to both recognize and differentiate artfacts from simulacrum, apophenia and pareidollia.
The term simulacrum or “simulacra” (plural) is also often used in referring to natural landscapes, geological features and objects such as rocks that appear to have organized attributes that are unreal, usually resembling faces. Pareidollia is also associated with mimeotoliths, rocks that mimic recognizable forms through random processes of formation, weathering and erosion. The word is associated with faulty perception of seeing patterns in random details of rocks and natural features, often referred to as apophenia. The phenomenon of “seeing faces in rocks” is common and is generally referred to as pareidollia, the perception of apparently significant patterns or recognizable images, especially faces, in random or accidental arrangements of shapes and lines. Today, the term “eolith” is often used to dismiss, as “natural,” the unknown or unrecognized features that exist in artifacts or rocks. In the 19th century these items were considered to be the original tools created by early humans, but later they came to be seen as natural, or geofacts. The earliest of these artifacts are often referred to as eoliths. What if the ancient lithic (stone tool) industry created tools embellished with art that modern humans fail to perceive? Is it possible that what we think of as simply “stone tools” -and, in some cases, just “rocks”-are multi-purpose artifacts recording an ancient art style, apparently not limited to just one culture or time? Can paleo (ancient) rock art be distinguished from simulacrum and pareidollia to become recognized as an age-old art form that often complements the functionality of some stone tools? This article explores these possibilities.Īrchaeological artifacts include early stone tools classified by their utilitarian application, era of use, locale and/or type of workmanship. Published in Ancient American Magazine, June 2019 Portable Rock Art – Changing Archaeology Forever?
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