Archaeologists have found two oddly shaped rocks that are the work of Stone Age artisans who sculpted them into beady-eyed snake heads.
     "These sculptures could have ritual purpose," said study lead researcher Nadiia Kotova, an archaeologist in the Department of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age at the Institute of Archaeology National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine. "They were probably used during ceremonies."
     Kotova and her team found the snakey stones in 2016, during an excavation at Kamyana Mohyla I, an archaeological site near the city of Terpinnya (Ukraine). Both stones, although different ages, were found near ancient bones and flints from the same period: the Mesolithic. There were many sandstones at the site, but "these two had quite a strange shape, so we decided to look closer," Kotova said.
     The 'older' figurine was found near an open fireplace, near piles of shells and flint tools. Using organic matter from the fireplace, the researchers were able to radiocarbon date the yellow sandstone snakehead to between 8300 and 7500 BCE.
     This snakehead is small, measuring only 13 by 6.8 cm and weighing almost 1,215 g. It has a triangular shape with a flat bottom. "Two rhombic eyes were carved on the upper surface alongside two knobs" on the stone, the researchers wrote in the study. "A wide, long line represents a mouth." Regrettably, the snake was "damaged on the 'nose' during excavation," the researchers wrote in the study.
     The "younger" stone snake was also found by a fireplace and was dated to about 7400 BCE. It measures about 8.5 by 5.8 cm and weighs 428 g, meaning it can comfortably fit in a person's hand, Kotova said. "The smaller stone has a flattened, round shape and so-called 'neck,'" Kotova said. "There are two deep traces, probably the eyes of the creature. There is also kind of a nose."
     The two findings represent the only snakehead stones known at Kamyana Mohyla I. However, scientists did discover a fish-like stone sculpture at the nearby Kamyana Mohyla, a giant stone pile just a stone's throw from the snakeheads' spot.
     Archaeologists don't know much about the people who made these sculptures, except that these prehistoric inhabitants lived on the steppe of the northwestern region of the Sea of Azov.

Edited from Antiquity (December 2018), LiveScience (12 December 2018)