“Ambum Stone”

“Ambum Stone” 

• Ambum Valley, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea

• Artist: prehistoric people (ancient Oceania)

• 1500 B.C.E. (prehistory/Neolithic)

• Material: Greywacke

Form: made out of greywacke, probably to get a rick brown color to represent the importance of animals.

Content: spiny anteater known as an echidna in a fetal-form. It has a higher level of figurative qualities than other pestles and may be in a unique class of its own.

Function: a pestle when we consider its size—at about 8 inches high, the "neck" of the creature it depicts can be held in the hand, and its fat base could have been used to pound food and other materials.