| Notes on items |
2014-03-30 |
rAH |
The pattern of breakage on this artifact is most interesting; it provides clues to the identification. Note particularly the dorsal section (V22d3738). In order to view the illustration properly it is necessary to rotate it 90 degrees to the left. The upper part of the dorsal section appears to be shattered, broken away.
I do not follow the excavator when s/he says that "the tail is incised with a line." S/He has accurately identified the male member in the ventral section; it is carried rather far forward in the belly. There may be some indication of the penile strap.
The excavator says that the figurine has been "hollowed out." Actually, the figurine is built on a core; inadequate firing or differential firing caused the figurine to separate, the core detaching from the surrounding body that enfolded it something like a sausage. This core is visible in photograph V22d3738.
Final identification will have to wait upon physical examination of the object.
One provocative detail to note is the almond-shaped form in the shallow declivity that may indicate the hind legs -- this may (with great caution, and provisionally) be an indication of the animal's vulva; that is, the animal is actually a female of the species Equus in oestrus. The top of the dorsal section would have been broken away, because it was weakened by the insertion of a deep hole to hold the tail. A comparative example is found in Figure 21, Equus A7.320. [Input: Y401JW1.j] |