A Lower Paleolithic human head sculpture, by Homo heidelbergensis
Henri Valentie find from the French Pyrenees region
It is important to note that the neck connection to the head and the truncation of the necks into the lower right visual corner in both art images above are strikingly similar despite their being separated by at least 200,000 years of the human aesthetic.
A reconstructed model of a Homo heidelbergensis head
Human face looking forward interpreted by Henri Valentie, Île d'Oléron, France
Valentie writes (Trans. K. Johnston): "This stone was found on the foreshore island of Oleron. The mouth too is not natural. This is one of my best pieces. I felt a great emotion when I found it given the patina of the flint is very old on the worked areas of the stone." 12cm / 11cm / 8cm
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Ken Johnston illustration of interpreted facial features and their worked areas. Original photo courtesy of Henri Valenti.
