Saturday, July 9, 2011

Tiny Clay Mask Uncovered in PA

The clay effigy mask measures just 1.5 by 1.1 inches (37 by 27 mm), with eyes made out of shell. Archaeologists placed modern feathers into the holes found around the mask to reveal what they may have been used for.
CREDIT: Photo courtesy Ronald Powell/Chapter 27 Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology.

A tiny clay mask was recently discovered near Ebbert Spring in Franklin County, Penn. that has shells for eyes and an area at the base that seems to have been used to mount it on a stick or wand.

Fox News reports,"Finding a precise date for the head is difficult, but based on pottery found nearby, Powell estimates it was created around A.D. 900. Ebbert Spring has been occupied by humans for about 11,000 years, Powell said. The availability of water at the site attracted deer and they, in turn, attracted human hunters, suggesting the site was used during winter."It would be sort of a wintering type campsite, at least through the months of August and March probably," said Powell, who detailed his finding in the latest issue of the journal Pennsylvanian Archaeologist."


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