The Makapansgat Cobble gets its name from the archaeological site Makapansgat in South Africa. It is the oldest known object of its kind in the world. Its age is estimated to be between two to three million years. This is beyond the widely accepted chronological range of Homo. The pebble was most likely carried to its find-spot by an Australopithecus Africanus, an ape-like species with some early human characteristics. The Makapansgat Cobble is the oldest known manuport.
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The Key Questions
A manuport is an unmodified object which is moved from its original environment and relocated to its find-spot by humans and related species. This is determined by its material being clearly foreign to the archaeological site from where it was found.
Archaeologists believe that manuports were chosen because of their aesthetic appearance. Thus, although they are not modified with tools, they show the ability to perceive and appreciate the object. Due to this, some rock scientists consider manuports as art. Those familiar with modern art must be knowing about the readymades of Marcel Duchamp, which are also considered art.
If one considers manuports as art then Makapansgat Cobble is indeed the oldest known artwork. Other manuports, such as Erfoud cuttlefish and Barrow Island chert, have been found but none is as old as the Makapansgat Pebble.
S1 – Discovery
Makapansgat is an archaeological site in Makapan Valley, north of Mokopane, South Africa. During an excavation in 1925, the Makapansgat Pebble was discovered by school teacher Wilfred Eitzman. The teacher showed the pebble to South African anthropologist and paleontologist Raymond Dart. Dart took little notice of the find at the time but reexamined it in early 1970s. He saw that a number of faces could be seen on the pebble depending on the way it was held.
In the 1980s, the Makapansgat Pebble was presented as the earliest known ‘art find’ as it was believed that the markings on it were artificial. In 1997, 72 years after its discovery, the pebble was analyzed in detail for the first time. Through microscopic analysis, it was realized that all the markings on the pebble were natural making it a manuport. It is also now known that the age of the Makapansgat Pebble is at least two million years and maybe even three. This makes it the earliest known manuport.
S2 – Description
The dimensions of Makapansgat Pebble are 83.3mm length, 69.5mm width and a thickness of 38.4mm. The weight of the cobble is 260 grams. It is made of reddish-brown jasperite with quartz veins. It is well rounded and somewhat symmetrical. There are a number of depressions and grooves on the cobble. The most prominent of these are three depressions which give it an appearance of a face with two eyes and a mouth.
The eyes are separated by two vertical quartz veins. The mouth is bordered above below and to the left by a bulge of slightly darker and more resistant stone. The left eye is 3.5mm deep while the right eye is 4.4mm deep. The maximum depth of the mouth is 3.4mm. There is a scar to the right of the eyes, 24mm long and 18mm wide.
An interesting feature of the Makapansgat Pebble is that it may be held in different ways and still a face can be construed from it. Like, if it is rotated 180 degrees, the eyes remain the same while the mouth becomes broad. Similarly, if we see the rear of the cobble, we may see it as an old person with a sunken toothless jaw. Due to this fascinating feature, the Makapansgat Pebble is also known as the ‘Pebble of Many Faces’.
S3 – The Pebble of Many Faces
Main Sources
S1:-
Bednarik, Robert G. (Jun 1998). “The ‘Australopithecine’ Cobble from Makapansgat, South Africa”. The South African Archaeological Bulletin. p.4
S2:-
Bednarik, Robert G. (Jun 1998). “The ‘Australopithecine’ Cobble from Makapansgat, South Africa”. The South African Archaeological Bulletin. p.5
“The Makapansgat Pebble”. Don’s Maps.