Twitching in Miniature: 13,500 Year Old Bird Figurine Discovered in China

Taking a little break from animal conservation and behaviour today to look at human cultural evolution: A miniature carving of a standing bird estimated to be 13,500 years old has been found in the Henan province of China, the oldest example of East Asian sculpture yet found.

Photographs and 3D renderings of the Lingjing bird. Copyright: © 2020 Li et al.

Although 3D portable art has been found in Europe dating as far back as 40,000 years ago, until now none had been found in East Asia from before the Neolithic (the final period of the Stone Age). The figurine was discovered in a spoil heap left by well-diggers in 1958 that was sieved by researchers from the Institute of Cultural Heritage at Shandong University in 2008 and 2013. It is just 12.5mm long and 19.2mm tall, and has a short head and neck, rounded bill and long tail, reminiscent of passerines, or perching birds.

Microscopic analysis of the figurine and other bone fragments discovered alongside it reveal that it is made from mammal bone that was deliberately blackened through heating. The authors also carried out CT scans of the sculpture to create a 3D rendering, which showed that the artist had used at least 4 different techniques to shape it - gouging with a flint chisel, grindstone abrasion, scraping and incisions - with 13 instances of different techniques being layered one over the other.

The late Paleolithic origin of the carving predates previously known similar examples from the region by 8,500 years, and the distinctive techniques used suggest independent evolution of carving in Asia and Europe. The authors point out that the sophistication of this carving resembles an artistic tradition several stages ahead of the origin of carving, meaning there could be further discoveries to be made in the region extending 3D art further back into the Paleolithic.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233370

Li Z., Doyon L., Fang H. et al. A Paleolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, Henan, China. PLoS ONE 15(6): e0233370. (2020)