Sahara desert, Morocco
300,000 to 1.5 million years old artifact
(click photos to expand and toggle)
(click photos to expand and toggle)
'Animated handaxe' is hundreds of thousands of years old and has faint traces of a human face on its lower right edge as seen at Archaeology of Portable Rock Art blog in many other examples.
Please note the work traces to create a 'beetling brow' or prominent brow ridge above the eyes. This is a characteristic of the Homo erectus skull and face.
As suggested by the Makapansgat, S.A., 'pebble of many faces' which was likely collected by Australopithecus africanus 3 million years ago, these cognitive capabilities have probably been present since the emergence of the genus Homo around 2 million years ago.
'Makapansgat pebble of many faces'
