Possible Virginia Pleistocene megalithic sculpture
Mammoth head and trunk
My own interpretation of this sculpted outcrop detects a faint feline face profile looking left on the posterior of the mammoth with remnants of an oval shaped eye and a two-nostril nose. The shape of the cat's head and a possible triangle-shaped fang tooth suggests it may represent a scimitar cat. This could be a recognition of the predator-prey relationship of these two animals.
Interpreted combination of feline and mammoth heads
At its peak the rock is about 20 feet (6m) off the ground. The Shenandoah and Appalachian Mountain ranges present endless opportunities for early American peoples to seek shelter and to reflect their lives in the permanence of the stone outcrop material around them.
With a strong bias in favor of petroglyphs over sculpture, archaeology seems to have completely missed rock art in the American southeast which was made by exploiting natural stone features like is done in portable rock art. This sculptural landscape rock art is also covered by this blog in order to support the context of the portable materials.
Suspected 'mammoth' boulder in Germany, photo courtesy of Nelly Sloan.
This rock outcrop on Sicily, Italy, is among others there which have iconic properties. A human form has been recognized in the right side of this rock. Maybe it should also be considered as a candidate for a rock art depiction of an elephant or similar creature.
