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Until its recent discovery in 2002, there was an assumption that Neanderthal humans were incapable of sophisticated artistic expression. There were indications that something more might be there. Neanderthals had an obvious sense of the afterlife since they buried their dead at sites such as Shanidar, Iraq and Mount Carmal, Israel. There were some very worn artifacts that may have been figurines, and a flute made from bone certainly suggested that there was a flourishing culture. But the Mask of la Roche-Cotard has proven that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than originally thought. The artifact, found in the entrance way of la Roche-Cotard,on the banks of the Loire, is a flat flint that has been shaped into the upper part of a face. A piece of bone was pushed through a hole in the stone so that both ends are clearly seen from either side of the "nose bridge" of the stone proper. These are the eyes. The creation of this "mask" required a greater degree of technical skill. Considering that it was found at a Mousterian site, and dates from 35,000 to 32,000 BCE, the only people capable of its creation has to be Neanderthal. But is it a portrait? Is this an animal? Did it have symbolic importance? There is still much of a mystery about this little stone mask.
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