Grooved stones appeared in the Near East as early as 10,000 BC. The name derives from a wide, rounded trough in the middle of one of their faces, which might have been used to straighten arrows or polish the surface of cylindrical objects. Though their exact purpose remains uncertain, they nevertheless are found frequently and are quite familiar to archaeologists. The stone shown in the attached image is unique, since it's the only decorated one discovered thus far. On the face opposite the groove, it is engraved with geometrical designs (wavy lines ending with an arrowhead) and images of animals: a four-legged creature and a bird of prey with outspread wings. For the people who used it, an object decorated in this manner must have had special significance—a symbolic meaning that we can only guess at for the time being.
Michel Fortin, Syria, Land of Civilization. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Musée de la Civilisation de Québec 1999.
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