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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Prehistoric carvings are oldest known story sequence

Two carved panels discovered in what is now Turkey illustrate a tale involving leopards and a bull.
The oldest narrative scene of a male figure holding its phallus whilst flanked by two leopards carved into a Neolithic bench

This scene of a man flanked by two leopards is one of two panels forming the oldest known depiction of a narrative scene. Credit: Sayburç Project Archive

An 11,000-year-old carving in Turkey is the earliest known portrayal of a narrative scene1.

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Nature 612, 378 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-04338-4

References

  1. Özdoğan, E. Antiquity https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.125 (2022).

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