Pinhole Cave Man


The Pinhole Cave Man or Pin Hole Cave Man is the common name for an engraving of a human figure on a woolly rhinoceros rib bone dating to the Upper Paleolithic that is now in the British Museum. In the 1920s, a woolly rhinoceros rib that was broken at both ends was found in Pin Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, England.

Description

The bone is dated to the Late Upper Paleolithic, about 12,000 years old. Near one of the broken ends is engraved a male human figure. The drawing, tall, faces to the right; the whole bone is long. It is clearly a man as he has a penis – this may have been an earlier feature of the bone that was enhanced. His thin arm stretches out from his body. His head may be wearing a mask – or he is just drawn with a protruding nose and jaw. He has legs that appear incomplete, a crooked back, and a long engraved line across his upper body. The surface of the bone is scratched all over; on the reverse side of the bone there are two parallel engraved lines.

Significance

This is one of only two pieces of British Upper Paleolithic portable art which shows a figure. The other is the Robin Hood Cave Horse, another image engraved on bone, found in the nearby Robin Hood Cave. It is similar to other pictures of male humans known from France at this period. The lack of clothes and the "cartoon" or "masked" heads are common features which suggest an artistic fashion. Like many human depictions in Palaeolithic art, the figure is crudely drawn; animals are typically better executed. This was not through a lack of ability, as animals are often represented with degrees of realism – see for example the Robin Hood Cave Horse.

Discovery

Pinhole Cave Man was discovered in 1928 by the archaeologist A. L. Armstrong, who described the engraving as "a masked human figure in the act of dancing a ceremonial dance". The drawing was discovered after a stalagmitic film was removed from the bone's surface.

Exhibitions

Pinhole Cave Man has been shown in various places: