Could the Neanderthal Painted Pebble be too good to be true? The European Painted Neanderthal Pebble Compared with the Maine Stone Anvil.

Could the Neanderthal Painted Pebble be too good to be true? The European Painted Neanderthal Pebble Compared with the Maine Stone Anvil.

 There is snow on the ground, the politics are consuming, but I have not been procrastinating, for I have spent the summer painting. I have been transcribing what I am deciphering on the surface of the stone on to canvas. The initial sketches already hum with activity. The sketches correspond with the the stones above. In the stone on the left is from the state of Maine. On the right, is the European stone.  

         

I have centered both stones as I transcribe the design on to canvas. The design quickly pulls us in as the pareidolia triggers start working our brains. Each line is significant as they work together to fill the gaps. 

 With a background in art and printmaking,  I see the marks here on the stones are similar to marks working on a zinc plate when creating an intaglio etching. Although the marks in themselves are captivating, what is even more so, is the way the marks work together to store data for earlier human beings.  I have immersed myself in the exploration of this design as if on an archeological dig. I am documenting my finding as I go layer by layer. At times it reminds me of my first reading book when I try to explain how layers work. The book that I used to teach myself English was the Dr. Suess, The Big Brag, along with others stories, and they all have their feet in the design. The design is big on noses as was Seuss. I wonder if Seuss got the prominent proboscis from the design? 

 At the risk of being accused of bragging, 😇😉 I am leaking that I was honored, when I found a self-portrait from my printmaking portfolio from college, exhibited in a show at the university art department. It is a live drawing, as I am looking in a mirror as an exhausted student in the early 80's . That was ca. 45 years ago and is still used every year as a teaching tool in printmaking as a demonstration for mono-printing. I had a lovely time looking at all the human marks in the show. I avoid pride and bragging, but here, I feel the need to share my capacity as a young artist, and do what I can to draw😏 attention to my work.

  

 I want to add the Egyptian glass

 The minimalist approach with a practiced hand can lead to a stylized cartoon that can easily be repeated and transcribed.  

 In the story, The Big Brag, the different characters challenge each other as they try to look further, only to be out done by a worm. The story comes with a little moral lesson about bragging as well as setting the stage for many of his stories. You can zoom out and encounter the rest of Dr. Suess world, the exciting part is that you can find some of your favorite characters in some carefully chosen stones. I know it sounds insane but that is how it goes for now 😉😁. 

  So how can we possibly be finding modern cartoons, comics and more current events on stones? My first thought was, "History repeats in the human response.". I am speculating that this technique, that incorporated the design, was employed by stone masons up until recently. Here in the US we have history of the Indigenous stone workers working along side masons from Europe in the 1700's and both were immersed in the design possibly making relationships easier with the overlap. Here in the state of Maine, many early towns were populated by the Irish stone workers, as they harvested granite to build structures such as the Washington monument. The Irish were great masons. We can even delve into the secrete world of the Freemasons, originating from medieval stonemasons guilds. These guilds provided a safe place for stonemasons to continue their work when political and religious power comingled to disrupt and bend the population to be controlled. The stonemasons were well aware of the design, as were Leonardo DaVinci and friends during the Italian Renaissance. I really enjoy documenting through reels on FB where there is a wide selection of music to set a tone to enhance the experience. Below I have added one of my favorite pieces from the genre. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AQposKV8F/

The reel above explores and documents a layer exploration of the painted pebble. 

This exploration begins and includes patterns found around the world that are derived through the understanding of the design as a resource and reference. I try to always include material that has been associated with human beings by academics. If you like exercises, see how many different references to the human experience you can find  below. I can start you off with Stonehenge as a hint, along with the title for the series; "Show me your teeth". Please enjoy. 

 

 The next subject I honed in on was a possible timeline that would have included the Neanderthal. I have been following the female story in the stones and according to academics, the oldest depiction

happens to date back to when Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon comingled in Europe. I decided to see how the Venus of Hohle Fels fits onto the  painted pebble.

I was full of promise when the Venus fit the pattern on the on the painted pebble like a glove.

please, take a moment and explore the tigress stripes as she appears to share a den with the woman on the far right partaking with the cubs. 

The tiger tigers stripes then lend themselves to the carefully processed wool and other fibers into what we would see as yarn balls. The tiger cubs must have been in heaven with all the fun! In any case, the vision of females processing yarn and twine for sewing and other projects to ensure survival is in an important layer on this stone.   

The scene above, of a human sharing a den space with a tigress and family had me captivated, but in all honesty, I am super allergic to cats and so much enjoy the canine interaction, that I chose to go with the wolves. Using the neanderthal pebble as a template and the Cro-Magnon artifact from ca. same date from Germany,  I was taken by the wolf and the maiden enveloped in its furs. It looks so luxurious and without fears of that dreadful cat dander! 

  I have added a the oldest known mammoth ivory portrait from ca. 27000 years, at the Dolni Vestonice archaeological site in the Czech Republic to top it off. I tried to use all the first that I could to explore this ancient human mindset.

 In my mind, I was using mammoth ivory and a neanderthal painted pebble to see how they comingled. Initially it appeared almost seamless. I was even contemplating the title Stone and Ivory. You can differentiate the mediums by their color and texture in the series below. The woman running with the pack resonates.  You can spot that she is carrying a pup.

 You can see for yourself how amazing this is as the design flips through subjects like a Japanese kabuki theater. It all seemed so ancient. It reassured me that I was following a thread leading back to the neanderthal. I felt my artistic juices start bubbling and began setting up my next painting. As you can imagine, my painting is another attempt to document. My paintings bend and flex as I try to transfer the design on to the canvas. Subjects will try to hail me down as I plot out the composition. In the first  simple line drawing, I centered the stone in the composition with dimensions to fit my chosen canvas to avoid distortions. It was then that I began to sense foul play. Although I could see the ancient layers, and I felt comfortable accrediting ancient humans, there was still something more. Looking back to a previous exploration, the stone anvil from Maine, this European pebble was also presenting modern history and knowledge. Relax your mind as you scan this sketch, see if you spot trucks, car, bridges, airplanes etc. Look around to the different faces and fashions that help you identify a possible timeline. We can see the augmentations made to the design using modern items and fashions that can provide more clues to how this stone may not be as authentic as the archeologist project. How did we get here? Let us go back to the trial 👣left on the stone🧐, where I am drawn back to the freemasons.

I believe stonemasons  relied on the design like a physics student relies on a cheat sheet on the final exam. The design may have provided too much knowledge for the masses, and challenged the religious doctrine, forcing the church to extinguish the design as a tool of the devil, forcing the commoners to flock to the church for a proper brainwashing. Thus began the big reset. Of course, as we have pointed out, the design made its way to safe spaces. I am here to remind you that we all have the design etched in to our hearts and minds and with a reopening of mind and heart we can set it up like a traveling circus tent. I promise, with a little exposure, you too can start to better understand the world around you. Knowledge is powerful and the knowledge provided by the design has empowered me to say I an can identify a mislaid artifact. Maybe😌

  I am always looking for wording that may trigger better understanding. The design was initiated by humanity to ensure the continuance of our kind. Although some mock me when I suggest that the design relies on math and a coordinate system allowing for complex structures, that is exactly what it does! The "rock" in front of you is layered with information relying on this structure. Think of it as a dormant math virus, whose delicate structure requires engagement with the host to function, the design sits on the garden path powerless awaiting your gaze. It is a pareidolia trigger board that engages the brain. It does take a little patience to absorb. As I have emphasized it takes a few exposures and an effort in the viewer to flip the switch. I hope, with this article, I can flip a few more. I would like to add here, that the brain responds well to this material as it lifts the mood with a splash of endorphins with every new personal discovery. 

    I approached the new Neanderthal finding in good spirit. If you have been following my work, you will know that I am on a giant hunt, and I am exploring the Neanderthal layers mostly to be able to differentiate the two. I am curious mostly because there are stories in the stones about giants and their relationship with the design. You can explore the giants found here on Maine monuments in this article:               

                https://karolabryant.blogspot.com/2025/02/giants-have-layer-in-stones.html 

  As I am looking down the Neanderthal rabbit hole, we may be able to identify their contributions and distinguish them from the other layers. I am attempting to look into the Neanderthal layers to see if the giants were part of their immediate experience. Can I isolate the Neanderthals' contributions? Can we make some sense of a timeline to when the giants showed up in the landscape? Could the giants have been an earlier expression of the innovative erectus as he made his way around the world a lot earlier than the present academics dare speculate? The large landscape of the Americas populated by megafauna with colder temps may have increased the potential for mega-humans. With the  ignition of  growth, these early humans could have worked their way up the food chain. There are plenty of artifacts around the world that are large in size. Toolmaking is standardized by the hand. The person making the tool would be using their own hand as a template creating landmarks and edges that work ergonomically to best serve their maker. If you are new here, the tool and its design is a lovely to start and I have an introductory article:

 https://karolabryant.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-maine-totem-stone.html.

 Thank you for looking😍!

   Now that we are all on the same page, let us take a look at the possibility that the Neanderthal's pebble was picked up by a stonemason, and maybe, he had connections to the freemasons, with their secrets scribed in stone. Is it possible that this technician altered the Neanderthals' painted pebble with their personal data? Was there a ritual of placing a mason's stone back into the cave? Could the stone have been buried into lower layers in the process? I can only wonder how this stone with 20th century layers ended up with the Neanderthals' layer. This is not the first time I have encountered 20th century material in stone. When I picked out a little stone anvil to look for the layer covering the story of the fishhook, I was first confronted by Washington crossing the Delaware. It only got more wild as many characters from Walt Disney and Dr Suess and even Spiderman joined the action. Along with that, it gave a specular review of American history. It was not long before polaroid pictures of backyard barbeques and other personal experiences began to bubble up. I have been wondering if it was more common to pick up where the last person that had contact with the stone or if the technician started fresh. I think that both are probable.   

     

  As an artist trained in the art of intaglio printing, I am aware of the multiple ways of making a mark on mineral and wood. Above I have included the use of bow drill, but there are so many tricks of the trade, from pecking, knapping, scraping, /grinding/polishing, to etching, to make a mark on stone. Over the millions of years the technician has been adding new techniques. In other words, we have mastered the surface of the stone, but then purged it from the recent human memory, but as I have noted, there are still safe spaces in the hearts and minds of those in the know. I have discovered this material all around me here in Maine. You can explore some of the Maine megaliths here:

 https://karolabryant.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-small-granite-mountain.html

Source: Wikipedia https://share.google/BXkmoGYpoCdsjQIqY

It has been a bit since I have sat in front of the key board and the amount of triggers flipped have been many, maybe it is time to refill the cup. I leave you with my latest transcription of the design on to canvas from what I thought would be a purely Neanderthal experience, but do not despair, it is way more😀.

🍵🫖🍵

  

I encourage everyone to turn image. There are subjects oriented at every 45 degrees. There are many other patterns to follow but the spinner is as old as the drill and fire starting. Beware of the alligator🐊!!

  Okay!🧋💖 I hope you had an opportunity to look around. Although I am not completely done with the painting, I am getting there with my rendition of a European pebble on canvas. 

 Thank you so much for your patience as I work your brain 😁. I am sharing the image of the neanderthal pebble multiple times to start uploading and orienting you to the design on the stone. We are only provided with one portion of the frieze that, I am sure,  continues around the pebble. This is a stone discovered in San Lázaro rock shelter in central Spain was found approximately 1.5 meters (5 feet) deep in sediment. A five foot hole is humanly possible, as is a partial ceiling collapse. It could  have misled surveyors, not to mention water can run like a serpent at times moving material downriver. 

 

  We can only speculate how the European painted pebble ended up on the radar. It maybe was picked up by a previous freemason drawn to the wonders etched on the walls of the cave.  They could have harvested the painted pebble to add to their collection to be studied and possibly augmented. Can we really say where it came from? It was obviously brought into the cave as a tool for crafting or other function to serve the folks of the time. We know how da Vinci was looking in caves for inspiration, maybe he was not the only one looking. Could the placement of the augmented stone deep into the sediment or even ceiling collapse possibly burying it further? Could it be understood as a ritual of returning the knowledge back to its origins, the cave? In the Maine anvil stone, we can look at Indigenous population that had trading posts into the 1980's. Below I have given the painting 90 degree turn to the right to reveal that the stone technician was able to document his love for Spiderman. Please, follow the Spiderman color and patterns. If you can spot him, you can see him extending his arm as he shoots his web towards his foes. I have helped raise two generations with the help of spiderman so I spotted him quickly giving me more dates for our timeline. For those not as familiar with spiderman, I have added a screenshot of a spiderman web search.

Now, as I scanned the European stone, I felt I was looking at the same genre in a layer that seemed like 20th century comics and caricatures. I really did not feel confident in making my way through the European 20th century comic strips and possibly political satire, then, I spotted Alfred Hitchcock's minimalist portrait. It reminded me of the same designs I had isolated when exploring the fishhook subject. 

 

         

These minimalist design makes it easier to follow and transcribe the subjects. 

I made the move to project Alfred Hitchcock's sketch on to my sketch with great satisfaction as I began to trigger more designs on to the European pebble. Seems like our European interloper may have been a Hitchcock fan. For all you art fans I bet you are thinking the scene below may look familiar. 

for the final act we see Hitchcock perform his kabuki act as he presents the blackbird nest eggs and all.

 

As I explained I get a big endorphin release with the publications. I am feeling elated in the progress in understanding the design and its maker. I was thinking of releasing this on Thanksgiving, but a big bird warned me that I may be ruining dinner by sharing this fantastic video below

  

https://youtu.be/YtYTup8IEas?si=CSzj6Izxq11XYqfr

It is excellent😍

As I peer into what maybe Neanderthal layers on the European pebble I see the freezing and suffering as the temperature drops. Everything falls into patterns, as the the cycles of the earth around the sun. I see the anguish as frostbite consumes the extremities of everything around you and there is no way out. I can not sit and talk about cannibalistic Neanderthal while we eat and drink the body of god and thank him sitting around the table. I am catholic. I was educated by cathedrals around the world as a child of jet-setters. I read how they have sanitized the act of cannibalism, but I am now at a different level in understanding . 

  This image is a conglomerate of stones and figures which share an individuals understanding into the 20th century. It is impossible for me, at this time, to contribute the knowledge expressed in my image to anyone. It is almost a game of "how much you know". The more you look the more you see, but I have not found the point of entrance for layers. I know it's there, as I dial up profiles and 👃 noses of our predecessors. Eventually it will jump up like a tigress and consume me with delight like decoding DNA. Maybe 😁 😅 

Thank you so much for looking

I am publishing this article knowing I may still have errors. Please, if you are the grammar police, I am on it. 

I leave you with some interesting compositions using the design as I explored the European painted pebble. I also included links to the videos that I find pertinent at this time. If anyone has a good image of a truly neanderthal pebble please bring it to my attention as I recenter my focus on a more suitable example of the Neanderthal layer.    


  

Thank you!!!!!😅

https://youtu.be/YtYTup8IEas?si=qLQYcXZjXQ

https://youtu.be/3rv6Fb4Ebsk?si=puttSoI4_HK9eIv5

The imagery in the drawing is from a certain point in time, from my perspective. In the stones, you can adjust your focus to a particular topic. The information varies from stone to stone, but the design remains consistent, like every human being.  We created grid and coordinate system handcrafted with our standards. We are the standard. Like the bird's instinct to survive, created the instinct to build a nest. The design is the blueprint for the human nest. 

 Since the design began with the dawn of man it is interwoven with our consciousness, and instincts. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN PART OF US. It is as in the big bang theory for humankind. Call it quantum etc. It is part of who we are. We are responsible for our own creation and survival. 

And by the way, when we were giant, we laid down our data on our stones. We will get to their layer soon. 

Thank you to

Antonino Mondino 

I'm moved by his words.