"Assyrian kings ruled the world's largest empire prior to the rise of Persia in the 6th century bc, consolidating lands from Iran to Egypt [...] Masterfully executed with incised details and exaggerated musculature, this giant, fierce, protective spirit raises his right hand in a ritual salute. His left hand grasps a branch bearing rosettes, perhaps a stylized date palm. Across the center of the relief are inscribed lines of Akkadian cuneiform recounting military victories, conquests, plundered loot, and the reconstruction of the city. Destroyed in 612 bc, the palace lay buried for 24 centuries until rediscovered in 1845."

Neo-Assyrian, Iraq, Nimrud, Northwest Palace, reign of Ashurnasirpal II, 9th Century BC

Gypsum, Overall: 229.9 x 137 cm (90 1/2 x 53 7/8 in). Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1943.246

Location: 102A Ancient Near East

Online musuem record:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.246

Photogrammetry by Thomas Flynn

1943.246 Saluting Protective Spirit, 883-859 BC

Model of a large (68cm or 27 inches wide) bronze shengding food vessel from southern China, now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

From the object's description on artsmia.org:

*Around the cauldron body are six kui (single horn) dragons in high relief climbing upward toward the lid. Supporting the vessel are three stout legs with stylized dragon masks cast into their shoulders. The surface is ornamented with interlaced dragons, incised scale patterns, and overlapping feather-like motifs. While most of the ornament was made by traditional piece-mold bronze-casting technology, the six dragons, with their complex, perforated shapes, were made separately with the lost-wax method.*

More information about the model here:

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/98381/shengding-food-vessel-china

Shengding Food Vessel, around 575 BCE

This bowl with an X-shaped handle can be dated to c. 50 BC-200 AD, i.e., [Late Pre-Roman Iron Age or Early Roman Iron Age](https://bit.ly/3vucSEX). It was found in [Gårdby parish](https://bit.ly/3hrP1gS) on the island of Öland. It belongs to a type of fine ware with carefully polished surface and a delicately incised décor. The black surface is a result of firing in a reducing atmosphere, in other words, the oxygen supply has been restricted during the firing. It is made in a style typical for Southern Scandinavia, Northern Germany and Poland. The bowl has probably been used as a drinking vessel at feasts, dinners and during rituals.

Online Collections: [580574_HST](https://bit.ly/3stKKjB)

Late Pre-Roman Bowl

Zoomorphic effigy vase with lid, featuring a slightly oval body representing a bird with incised wings and legs positioned at the front. The lid is modeled as a bird’s head with large eyes and a large, curved beak. It features  round earspools and a necklace of small applied pellets made using the pastillage technique.

 IDAEH Cultural Property No.  16.2.5.0994
 
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made using Artec Space Spider

Effigy vessel

Alabaster or Marble bowl with lid. The bowl has a globular shape, while the lid  is round and flat, featuring a zoomorphic handle. The lid, with incised decoration, depicts the head of a bird holding a fish in its beak.
 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.144.1213
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made in RealityScan; Total # of images: 335

Bowl with lid in the form of Bird Holding a Fish

19th-century slate headstone of Patrick Madden (born c. 1829) who died aged 36 in 1865 & was buried in Nenagh graveyard, Kenyon Street, Co. Tipperary.  The inscription is framed within a border of semi-circles and double incised line running up along either side of the headstone.  The top of the headstone has a double-line inscised Latin Cross with expanded terminals, flanked on either site by an incised heart.  Above the hearts either side of the cross are lozenges framed within a decorative panel.  Two curvilinear lozenges are visible either side of the cross base.  Four leaf-cross withere side of the incised hearts.  Symbols on top of the headstone framed by border of semi-circles which may represent the folds of a a curtain pulled back to reveal the symbols.  Possible curvilinear sunburst quadrants in the corners of the border of the symbols and inscription panel. The horizontal lines visible on the inscription are ruling lines used by the stonecutter to set height, alignment, & spacing of the letters.

Pat Madden Headstone Kenyon Street Nenagh

Miniature zoomorphic effigy vessel representing a bird, with convex walls and base, covered with a brown slip. The head, wings, legs, and tail are modeled and applied to the vessel body. The plumage on the wings is depicted through incised lines and channeling, adding texture and detail to the surface. The piece dates to the Postclassic period and originates from the Guatemalan Highlands.

 IDAEH Cultural Property No.1.2.144.0226
 
www.fundacionrutamaya.org


Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made using Artec Space Spider

Miniature Zoomorphic Bird Effigy Vessel

A huge, compass-drawn, incised circle, which is adjacent to the area shown & described in detail in model - Luine -Rock 6 (5).

Valcamonica, Luine - Rock 6 (6)

Female statuette-vessel, modeled without a head. The silhouette is notable for the massiveness of the upper half of the body. The thin arms preserve the proportion of the vessel's handles. The palms, with the five fingers in a non-anatomical position, have been exaggerated in size to have a larger surface area for the base of the handles to grip the vessel's body. The incised decoration, consisting of concentric circles, triangles and other figurative elements arranged in the anatomical-functional parts of the human body, symbolizes fecundity, fertility and the practice of solar worship.
The statuette is unique among similar Neolithic pieces in Europe. For conservation reasons, the statuette is not exhibited in the museum's main exhibition, being in danger of destruction due to its fragility and age.

The statuette dates back to the Neolithic, Gumelnița culture, around 5000 BC.
Place of discovery: Ilfov county, Vidra commune, Vidra, Vidra Tell.

Neolithic Venus from Vidra, Romania

One of four medieval cross slabs surviving in Ballycallan (St Brigid's) Graveyard. It dates to the 13th or 14th century. It is the lower portion of an incised cross, now sticking out of the ground upside down. It does not seem to be tapering and I'd say, it might have been wider once, because it seems unusual to just have one bevelled edge.

Not sure exactly which of the four it is, so I will have to assign the SMR numbers by their location on the HEV map.

SMR no. (possibly) KK018-072006-

Made in KiriEngine from 96 images.

Ballycallan: Cross slab fragment

Ceramic drum of the “Pax” type from the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, dating to the Late Classic period (650–900 AD). It features an oval resonating chamber and a pedestal that functions as the instrument’s handle. The main chamber is decorated with a relief face showing round ear ornaments and a short beard. The opposite side bears an incised panel that appears to represent the open jaws of a serpent viewed from the front. 
 IDAEH Cultural Property No.1.2.1.0307
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made using Artec Leo

Drum with anthropomorphic face

One of four cross slabs described by Carrigan (III, 442) and subsequently the HEV. It is the bottom end of a tapering slab with an incised cross with fleur-de-lys terminals. This is the Westernmost I could see.
I did see the other two as well, but the one which apparently even has an inscription (KK018-072004-) was leaning too far to even scan it, and I could see no incision on the forth (KK018-072007-), so I left it unscanned.

SMR no. (possibly): KK018-072005-

Made in KiriEngine from 96 images.

Ballycallan: Cross slab 2

An incised, worked, and openwork conch shell, decorated with the image of a man or deity with an elongated head, possibly the Maize God, emerging from the mouth of an aquatic monster through the conch's distal cannula. Each of the conch's nodules, on its upper protuberances, is carved with the image of a skull.
 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.159.0187
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made in RealityScan; Total # of images: 546

Openwork conch w/ image of Maize God

**Collection:** Prehistory and Historical Archeology Dept.

**Inv.-No.:** [UF-23092.415.1](https://www.online.landessammlungen-noe.at/objects/1518075)

**Material:** Ceramic

**Dimensions:** 24x8,8 cm

**Dating:** 3500 - 2700 BCE

The bowl is composed of stone-tempered reddish-brown clay. It is equipped with a saddle-shaped, narrow handle. The vessel's exterior is characterised by the presence of partial decorations, manifesting as incised lines and notches. The most intriguing aspect of this vessel is its structural design, which comprises two distinct compartments intended for the accommodation of disparate materials. The artefact was subjected to significant restoration due to its poor physical condition.

This object was digitized through the ‘Kulturerbe digital’ program of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport.

Bowl with a divider inside

**Collection:** Prehistory and Historical Archeology Dept.

**Inv.-No.:** [UF-15190](https://www.online.landessammlungen-noe.at/objects/1285347)

**Material:** Ceramic

**Dimensions:** 26 x 30,5 cm

**Dating:** 800 - 451 BCE

Fragment of a medium-fired firedog (moon idol) made of medium-coarse to coarse, brown to dark brown clay with a high proportion of small pebbles. The entire surface features sculpted decorations and incised ridges. 
The function of these ceramic artefacts is a matter of debate. Research shows that they are frequently found in Hallstatt-period settlements and burial grounds. Since the mid-19th century, two main theories have existed within the field of research. It may be a typologically and functionally defined object, such as a fire dog for roasting. However, it could also be an object from a ritual context.

This object was digitized through the ‘Kulturerbe digital’ program of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport.

Firedog fragment

A small, unmarked rock just above 
Rock 29.  I noticed this deer carving, which is deeply incised and quite different in style to other depictions of deer in Valcamonica.  It is obviously relatively recent but a clear illustratration of the long persistence of the rock carving tradition in the valley, even up to modern times.

Valcamonica, Seradina 1 - Rock 29 (2)

A huge rock, with a very weathered surface.  Towards the top of this rock, there is a concentration of incised rock art.  Less than 20% of the rock art in Valcamonica is incised or engraved (graffiti-type rock art), the majority being produced by percussion, or pecking.  

Graffiti-type rock art is of two types, determined by its method of production. One type is produced by abrading the lines, know as the polissoir method; the other, represented here is by engraving, to produce filiform rock art.  Filiform because the resulting lines resemble thin wire, rather than the thicker grooves made by the polissoir method.

On this part of Rock 1, towards the right in the 3D model,  there is a group of incised axe heads.  To the left there is a further grouping of geometrical shapes, predominately rectangles, also triangles and house-like shapes - common themes in Western European filiform rock art. Many of these figures have internal decoration.

Valcamonica, Luine - Rock 1 (1) - Filiform

Bifacial zoomorphic hacha in the form of a crocodile head, distinguished by an almond-shaped eye and a long snout slightly open, with visible teeth and fangs. Both the teeth and the crest on the upper part of the head are carved through incised lines.
 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.144.1383
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made using Artec Leo

Crocodile Head-Shaped Hacha

Miniature anthropomorphic effigy vessel with convergent walls and a narrow mouth, decorated with a white slip and featuring the face of an elderly individual in relief. The figure displays closed eyes, a prominent nose, a closed mouth, and undulating incised wrinkles on the forehead. What appears to be a headband decorated with vertical incisions is visible, as well as ears with perforations.
 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.144.0522
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made in RealityScan; Total # of images: 260

Miniature Anthropomorphic Effigy Vessel

Mask composed of jade fragments assembled using mosaic technique, with shell and obsidian inlays in the eyes. The face represents a figure wearing round earspools, decorated with a scroll at the top and a trilobed element at the base. The open eyes, broad nose, and full lips stand out—features that evoke a solemn and possibly idealized presence. Incised details are filled with hematite, accentuating the facial contours. The mask is mounted on clear acrylic for preservation and display; however, although pieces of Pre-Columbian origin were used, not all fragments appear to correspond to the piece.

 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.144.0438
 
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made in RealityScan; Total # of images: 384

Funerary Mask Made of Jade Mosaic

Another part of Rock 6.  More compass-drawn, large circles & lots of pecking and cup marks.  The most interesting area is in the bottom right, where there is a vertical line of small cup marks and adjacent to that is a strange, incised geometric shape.

Valcamonica, Luine - Rock 6 (7)

Orange slipped vase with a rounded rim, exterior thickened lip, curving convergent walls, and flat base. The exterior is decorated with a circumferential band delimited by oblique incised lines within the band. Near the lower body, three additional circumferential incised lines encircle the vessel.

 IDAEH Cultural Property No.1.2.118.0044
 
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made in RealityScan; Total # of images:320

Vase

Polychrome anthropomorphic whistle in the form of a standing dwarf figure, with the right hand resting on the hip and the left hand holding a fan raised beside the face. The fan is circular, with concentric decoration and what appear to be feathered elements. The figure wears a padded or fringed costume of the type later known in Mesoamerica as tlahuiztli, generally associated with warriors during the Postclassic period; over this garment, a hip cloth is worn. The headdress consists of a plain band encircling the hair, which is tied upward and backward, with incised details and blue paint suggesting feathers. Additional ornaments include elongated earspools, a necklace tied at the front with an oval pendant, and blue-painted sandals.

 IDAEH Cultural Property No. 1.2.179.0177
 
www.fundacionrutamaya.org

Special thanks to the staff of La Ruta Maya Foundation for their hard work on this project.

3D model made using Artec Space Spider

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