Original report ("The #Sayburç reliefs: a narrative scene from the #Neolithic") by E. Özdoğan in @[email protected] 96(390), 2022:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/sayburc-reliefs-a-narrative-scene-from-the-neolithic/3A35B54B3265C7224CB225FE70EBDD02

Of course, the phallus-flashing guy gets all the headlines.

Well, it *is* quite a picturesque scene - one fitting #Neolithic iconographic conventions in the region & an apparently strong focus on male depictions (here's e.g. a comparable image from contemporary #GobekliTepe).

The #Sayburc image finds further parallels in the region's archaeological record:

The Urfa-Yeni Mahalle sculpture (a.k.a. #UrfaMan) for instance seems to wear similar clothing or a "collar" of sorts. And the cavity in his crotch area could well have fitted a separate phallus.

Interesting's also the combination of #Sayburc man & those #leopards by his sides.

With bared teeth they seem to evoke danger. Such juxtaposition of virility & threat however finds parallels e.g. in the headless phallus-guy on #GobekliTepe's Pillar 43:

https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/2016/10/14/of-animals-and-a-headless-man-gobekli-tepe-pillar-43

By the way: For these #leopards themselves we do also find clear analogies within the region's and period's #iconography. Namely, again, at #GobekliTepe.

(And the wonderful fur pattern here at #Sayburc also convince me to maybe finally give up our earlier #lion interpretation.)

Interesting sidenote: Of the #Sayburc #leopards one is also clearly denoted as male individual, the other (intentionally?) not.

The strong notion of danger and threat emanating from these feline predators - snarling, teeth bared, apparently leaping - however remains ...

Again, the #Sayburc #aurochs absolutely corresponds to what we'd expect considering the known #Neolithic iconographic programme:

The animal's depicted in sideview, but the head is turned, seen from the front, emphasising the horns as if attacking (again signalling danger).

This mode of depicting #aurochs heads even has become so specific that it’s been turned into what almost could be considered kind of a #Neolithic #meme:

The #bucranium substituting the whole animal and, emphasising the horns, arguably its most dangerous and impressive element. https://t.co/CPDZxn8kwW

But again it is this combination of powerful animal (here an #aurochs, able to put up a fight) and human which makes the whole scene so interesting - and extraordinarily fascinating.

Somehow reminding of that famous (but a bit later) mural from #Neolithic #CatalHöyük ...

With the difference that in #CatalHöyük a group of people is depicted w/ an apparently *slain* #aurochs.

Its characteristic features (note the head: not any longer presenting horns (and danger), legs bend, tongue out) also known from #GobekliTepe's P66:

https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/2017/03/02/the-death-of-an-aurochs-gobekli-tepe-pillar-66-enclosure-h

But at #Sayburc we see a still living animal, a still dangerous #aurochs (just imagine such an 1,600 pound heavy beast accelerating towards you 😱).

At #Sayburc we see a confrontation.

But what is this guy doing there? Messing around with an #aurochs?! 🤘🐮

Is this a hunting scene? What is it he's got in his hand there then? A #bow?

From, yet again, another quite special find at #GobekliTepe (a bone with the still embedded tip of a #projectile point), we know that bow and #arrow certainly played a role in #Neolithic #aurochs hunting.

https://www.dainst.blog/the-tepe-telegrams/2018/01/17/on-the-hunt-some-12-000-years-ago-an-aurochs-bone-with-hunting-lesion-from-gobekli-tepe

The oldest yet known physical examples of early hunting #bows actually date as far back as #Mesolithic Denmark, where at #Holmegaard the remains of five such bows, dating to c. 7000 BC, have been found:

https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-mesolithic-period/the-stone-age-hunters-bow-and-arrow/the-worlds-oldest-bows

Admittedly, it's a bit challenging to really recognise a bow here in this #Sayburc scene. So, could it be something else then?

This offers a great chance to think about other possible #hunting tools and weapons which have played a role in #Neoltihic hunting, #aurochs and beyond.

From SW #Libya there are more & in this context particularly interesting hunting depictions known:

Here's a scene showing an #aurochs bow-hunt complemented by use of so-called #Fangsteine: rocks, which, once a fleeing animal's been entangled, helped tiring & slowing it down.