Well, we believe it’s the oldest mask in the world, anyhow. This stone mask dates from the 7th millennium BCE – the “pre-ceramic” neolithic period – making it around 9,000 years old. For perspective on just how long ago that was, here’s Wikipedia’s summary of the 7th millennium BCE:
World population was essentially stable at around 5 million people, living mostly scattered across the globe in small hunting-gathering tribes. In the agricultural communities of the Middle East, the cow was domesticated and use of pottery became common, spreading to Europe and South Asia, and the first metal (gold and copper) ornaments were made.
We’ve certainly made some leaps and bounds in the centuries since then. But there’s something striking about this mask: that it’s so timelessly recognizable, despite its antiquity; that the human beings of 9,000 years ago were driven to make something like this at all – it’s almost comforting, somehow.
Of course, it’s subtly creepy, too, in its way.
