Lion head figure, Jeff Smith find, San Saba County, Texas
Illustration of the manufactured eye on this lion head in left profile and expansion of the natural vein feature to make the mouth
Jeff noticed the translucent aspect of the stone and what appeared to be a worked area of selective stone removal to leave a back lighted image of a human crawling on all fours.
The human image is interpreted as being depicted as "inside" the lion's head.
Another lighting perspective on the crawling human
Close up of the crawling human inside the lion's head
Interpreted as a grazing bison in right profile by Jeff Smith
Notes by Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith's find here depicts a lion head with a human depicted inside, as if having been swallowed by the lion. This same depiction was noted at Flint Ridge, Ohio, in an earlier posting on this blog and helps validate Jeff's interpretation of the "crawling human" imagery in this piece.