Stone!

douglas dawson stone !

1,000,000 BC – AD 1940

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In 2015 an astonishing discovery was made in West Turkana, Kenya. A 3.3 million-year-old site yielded deliberately fashioned stool tools. This discovery pushed the threshold of tool- making back by 700,000 years. Just who made these tools remains unclear. The implications are that either the genus homo is much older than previously thought or something not fully human was also capable of making tools..

Indeed the most primal, basic gesture that humans can make in response to their environment is to pick up a stone and strike another stone with it. With that simple action the entire technological trajectory of the species is set in motion. With that simple act our ability to modify and ultimately determine the fate of the planet is set.

For many cultures stone tools seem to have been much more than a utilitarian artifact. In example after example it is obvious that the tool makers were making aesthetic as well as practical decisions about their work. The grain of stone, the texture, the color and natural imperfections were observed and incorporated into the tool imparting beauty in addition to utility. The fact that many tools have been discovered in ritually conceived settings also implies that another level of meaning was collectively understood. Whether the primordial connection between stone and human-ness was intuited or consciously understood does not matter. What matters is that humans – for more than three million years – have maintained a relationship with stone that has only been abandoned in the recent past.

However interesting the ethnology of a stone tool is it is ultimately the beauty – the impossibility – of the tool that intrigues. The laborious process that results in a tool that looks more ‘born’ than ‘made’ is far from most modern human’s experiential base. These stones are mysterious, tactile things that melt into one’s hand and connect one with the very beginnings of humanity.

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L TO R: 14550, 19209, 15119, 19210, 19134, 19133, 19211, 14815

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PG. 2 L TO R: 19159, 19221, 3262 PG. 3 L TO R: 19219, 19152, 18245, 16704, 19220

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PG. 4 L TO R: 19207, 18248, 13390, 14599, 19127, 14393 PG. 5 L TO R: 19224, 19222, 19218

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PG. 6 L TO R: 19129, 19130, 19206, 12830, 12827 PG. 7 L TO R: 12834, 19131, 19135, 15218, 19128

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PG. 8 L TO R: 18843, 19164, 19162, 19158, 19157, 19152, 19155 PG. 9 L TO R: 19138, 19151, 19137, 19139

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PG. 10 L TO R: 17354, 19007, 19011, 19003, 19002, 19001, 19208, 16702, 19009, 9331 PG. 11 L TO R: 14686, 14689

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For additional information and pricing 224 South Michigan Ave Suite 266 Chicago IL 60604 P 312.226.7975 F 312.226.7974 E info@douglasdawson.com

EDITOR DOUGLAS DAWSON DESIGN THIRST 3ST.COM PHOTOGRAPHY ROSS FLOYD ROSSFLOYD.COM Copyright © 2016 by Douglas Dawson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission in writing from Douglas Dawson.

COVER CHOPPER MOROCCO CA. 1,700,000 BC 5.0" 14689 PAGE 1 ADZE VIETNAM CA. 1000–500 BC 10.0" 14550 CELT COLOMBIA CA. AD 800–1200 8.5" 19209

MACE HEAD PERU CA. 900–200 BC 4.0" 12830 MACE HEAD PERU CA. 900–200 BC 5.0" 12827 PAGE 7 MACE HEAD PERU CA. 900–200BC 4.0" 12834

ADZE VIETNAM CA. 1000–500 BC 12.50" 15119

MACE HEAD PERU CA. 1200BC 4.5" 19131

CELT COLOMBIA CA. AD 1000–1500 5.0" 19210

MACE HEAD PERU CA. AD 1500 5,5" 19135

CELT WEST MEXICO CA. 300 BC–AD 300 15.0" 19134

MACE HEAD PERU CA. 900–200 BC 4.0" 15218

CELT COLOMBIA CA. AD 800–1200 8.5" 19133

MACE HEAD PERU CA. 1200 BC 5.0" 19128

AX VIETNAM CA. 1000–500 BC 6.50" 19211 ADZE INDONESIA CA. 2000 BC 12.0" 14815 PAGE 2 ADZE HAWAII 19TH CENTURY OR EARLIER 10.5" 19159

PAGE 8 ADZE HANDLE CALIFORNIA PRE 1492 7.5" 18843 POI POUNDER HAWAII 19TH C. OR EARLIER 8.5" 19164 POI POUNDER HAWAII 19TH C. OR EARLIER 8.5" 19162

ADZE VIETNAM CA. 2000–500 BC 12.5" 19221

MEDICINE POUNDER TAHITI 19TH C. OR EARLIER 5.5" 19158

AX COLOMBIA CA. AD 1000–1500 12.0" 3262

POI POUNDER MARQUESAS ISLANDS 19TH C. OR EARLIER 7.0" 19157

PAGE 3 AX DENMARK CA. 2500–1900 BC 8.5" 19219 POI POUNDER MAUPITI-TAHITI 18TH C. 7.0" 19152

POI POUNDER MAUPITI-TAHITI ISLANDS 18TH–19TH CENTURY 7.0" 19152 POI POUNDER HAWAII 18TH–19TH CENTURY 8.0" 19155

CELT WESTERN SAHARA CA. 7500–3000 BC 8.0" 18245

PAGE 9 FETISH URUGUAY CA. AD 1000 3.0" 19138

CELT WESTERN SAHARA CA. 7500–3000 BC 8.0" 16704

FETISH URUGUAY CA. AD 1000 2.5" 19151

MACE HEAD WESTERN MEXICO CA. 300 BC–AD 300 3.0" 19220

FETISH URUGUAY CA. AD 1000 3.0" 19137

PAGE 4 OBSIDIAN BLADE WESTERN MEXICO CA. 300 BC–300 AD 8.5" 19207 SCRAPER (?) WESTERN SAHARA CA. 7500–3000 BC 5.0" 18248

FETISH URUGUAY CA. AD 1000 3.0" 19139 PAGE 10 HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 12,000–6,000 BC 4.5" 17354

BLADE MAYA LOWLANDS CA. 300 BC–AD 250 12.0" 13390

HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 7.5" 19007

BLADE MAYA LOWLANDS CA. 300 BC–AD 250 9.0" 14599

HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 5.0" 19011

BLADE WESTERN MEXICO CA. 300 BC–AD 200 7.5" 19127

HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 6.75" 19003

BLADE MAYA LOWLANDS CA. 300 BC–AD 250 10.0" 14393

HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 7.5" 19002

PAGE 5 MACE HEAD NEW GUINEA PRE-1945 5.0" 19224 MACE HEAD NEW GUINEA PRE-1945 5.0" 19222 MACE HEAD NEW GUINEA PRE-1945 6.5" 19218 PAGE 6 MACE HEAD PERU CA. 1200 BC 3.5" 19129 MACE HEAD PERU CA. 1200 BC 4.25" 19130 MACE HEAD PERU CA. AD 1500 3.5" 19206

HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 8.5" 19001 HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 7.5" 19208 HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 12,000–6,000 BC 5.0" 16702 HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 120,000–700,000 YEARS OLD 6.0" 19009 HAND AX WESTERN SAHARA CA. 12,000–6,000 BC 5.0" 9331 PAGE 11 CHOPPER MOROCCO CA. 1,700,000 BC 6.0" 14686 CHOPPER MOROCCO CA. 1,700,000 BC 5.0" 14689

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