The newly discovered mask shares many characteristics of the others found to date. These include a human-size face of soft, carved limestone with large openings for eyes, a defined mouth, and holes drilled around its circumference. The holes lead some researchers to suggest that the masks were designed to be tied to a face or an object.
“The transition from an economy based on hunting and gathering to ancient agriculture and domestication of plants and animals was accompanied by a change in social structure and a sharp increase in ritual-religious activities,” Barzilai noted in the press release.
“Were they for a funerary ritual or some other sort of ritual, or just elaborate party gear? Who knows?" says Simmons.
But is it even real ?
Proponents for the masks’ authenticity point to a 2014 analysis of the surface patina of a dozen of the stone masks—including ten from private collections with no known provenance—which indicated all had been discovered within a small geographical radius around the Judean hills and desert. The latest mask was also found in the same area. Nonetheless, Kersel urges caution, noting that “authentic” patina can be replicated on counterfeit artifacts. “We’ll never know if a mask is fake or where it really comes from unless it’s scientifically excavated,” she says.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2018/11/neolithic-stone-mask-discovery-archaeology-forgery/
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