Jingszo !

The pebble from San Lázaro rock-shelter presents a series of characteristics that render it exceptional, based on which we have deemed it a visual symbol that could be considered a piece of portable art in some contexts. We use the term ‘portable art’ here in the broad archaeological sense, referring to deliberately modified or marked objects with possible symbolic significance, rather than implying figurative representation or aesthetic intention.

Finally, the fact that the pebble was selected because of its appearance and then marked with ocher shows that there was a human mind capable of symbolizing, imagining, idealizing and projecting his or her thoughts on an object. Furthermore, in this case, we can propose that three fundamental cognitive processes are involved in creating art: the mental conception of an image, deliberate communication, and the attribution of meaning. These are the basic elements characterizing symbolism and, also prehistoric -nonfigurative- art. Furthermore, this pebble could thus represent one of the oldest known abstractions of a human face in the prehistoric record, according to the hypothesis of Face Pareidolia.