Archaeologists studying a cache of more than 100 prehistoric flint objects found in Jordan have concluded they are figurines of humans rather than tools as originally thought.

The Spanish researchers said that the 10,000 year-old flints found at Kharaysin, near Amman, have no sign of the wear and tear that would be expected if they were used as scrapers or cutting tools.

Instead, they suggested that their notched violin shapes resemble the humanoid forms of later Neolithic sculptures and, as they were found near burial sites, they may have been used to represent ancestors or the dead.

The Zarqa valley in Jordan has been the site of many Neolithic discoveries

NAHAL EFE PROJECT AND KHARAYSIN PROJECT

The results lead us to suggest that these flint artefacts are figurines that depict the human body in a form not previously documented, the study, published in the

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Neolithic flint tools found in Jordan are 'earliest human figures' - The Times