Archaeology

Paul sieveking reports on an enigmatic statuette from a museum vault, a neolithic ‘nativity scene’ that predates the birth of christ by 3,000 years and a claim that abraham vandalised turkey’s most ancient site.

- Paul Sieveking

WHAT IS IT?

Until 26 March, an enigmatic statuette was exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, part of a temporary exhibition of some 200,000 antiquities held in the museum vaults and not on permanent show. The 14in (36cm) figure was carved from granite, without the benefit of metal tools, as it dates from the late Neolithic, about 5,000 BC. It has a pointed nose and long neck leading to a markedly round belly, flat back and cylindrical stumpy legs. “It could depict a human-like figure with a bird-like face, or a bird-like entity which has nothing to do with man but with the ideology and symbolism of the Neolithic society,” said Katya Manteli, an archeologist with the museum. Experts also cannot be sure of its provenance, as it belongs to a personal collection. They assume only that it is from the northern Greek regions of Thessaly or Macedonia. How they are so certain of its age is not explained. It could depict a human, but is asexual, with no sign of breasts or genitals. [R] BBC News, 14 Feb 2017.

ABRAHAM, IDOL-SMASHER