Mysterious alien statue is unearthed at a 7,000-year-old Stone Age settlement in Kuwait – and archaeologists say it’s a ‘total surprise’

Archaeologists have unearthed a 7,000-year-old figurine that resembles an alien creature.

Researchers discovered the unusual shape while digging at a site in Kuwait called Bahra 1.

They describe the clay figure as a ‘small, finely crafted head, with slanting eyes, a flat nose and an elongated skull’.

It somewhat resembles an alien, or even the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter franchise.

Although it may look strange, this style was actually common in ancient Meopotamia, although this is the first time one has been found in Kuwait or the Arabian Gulf.

The archaeologists who discovered it described the find as a ‘total surprise’.

“(The) discovery of the statue was a total surprise for the entire team,” said Agnieszka Szymczak, expedition leader. Living Science.

“It was the first find of this nature not only among the more than 1.5 thousand (1,500) small finds excavated at the Bahra 1 site, but also from the Arabian Gulf region.”

Researchers discovered the unusual shape while digging at a site in Kuwait called Bahra 1

They describe the clay figure as a ‘small, finely crafted head, with slanting eyes, a flat nose and an elongated skull’

The joint Kuwaiti-Polish team has unearthed one of the oldest settlements in the Arabian Peninsula, with an occupation dating from approximately 5500 to 4900 BC.

The researchers say that while the find is typical of figurines from the Neolithic Ubaid community, it is the first of its kind discovered in the Gulf region.

Professor Piotr Bieli*ski, from the Mediterranean Archeology Center of the University of Warsaw, said: ‘The presence of this statue at our site raises intriguing questions about its purpose and the symbolic, and perhaps ritual, significance it may have had for the community that inhabited this settlement. .’

Another important discovery concerns the confirmation of local pottery production.

Since the start of research at the Bahra 1 site, two types of vessels have been discovered.

This includes imported pottery associated with the Ubaid culture and completely different pottery, the so-called Coarse Red Ware (CRW), also known from other contemporary sites in the Arabian Peninsula.

CRW pottery has long been considered a local product, but so far there is no evidence for the specific places of production.

The most significant discovery was the discovery of an unfired clay vessel, which helped confirm Bahra 1 as the oldest known site of pottery production in the Gulf region.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE STONE AGE?

The Stone Age is a period in human prehistory distinguished by the original development of stone tools and comprising more than 95 percent of human technological prehistory.

It begins with the earliest known use of stone tools by hominids, ancient ancestors of humans, during the Old Stone Age – about 3.3 million years ago.

Between about 400,000 and 200,000 years ago, the rate of innovation in stone technology began to accelerate very slightly, a period known as the Middle Stone Age.

At the beginning of this time, hand axes were made with exquisite craftsmanship. This eventually gave way to smaller, more diverse toolkits, with an emphasis on individual tools rather than larger core tools.

The Stone Age is a period in human prehistory distinguished by the original development of stone tools and comprising more than 95 percent of human technological prehistory. This image shows Neolithic jadeite axes from the Museum of Toulouse

These toolkits only emerged after 285,000 years in some parts of Africa, and between 250,000 and 200,000 years ago in Europe and parts of western Asia. These toolkits last at least 50,000 to 28,000 years ago.

During the Later Stone Age, the pace of innovation increased and the level of craftsmanship increased.

Groups of Homo sapiens experimented with various raw materials, including bone, ivory and antler, but also stone.

The period, between 50,000 and 39,000 years ago, is also associated with the emergence of modern human behavior in Africa.

Different groups sought their own distinct cultural identities and adopted their own ways of making things.

Later Stone Age peoples and their technologies spread from Africa over the following thousands of years.