Sometimes it is difficult to understand the motivation of ancient sculptors - why, for example, was it necessary to make statues with two heads? What did they want to show - that they are cooler than some Salvador Dali (who did not exist then) or did they really witness a strange and real mutation?
Similar statues were discovered at the end of the last century on the territory of modern Jordan - not far from the city of Amman. Archaeologists, having studied the finds, gave them more than eight thousand years.
These artifacts were found during archaeological work on the territory of the ancient settlement "Ain-Gazal", which dates back to the Neolithic times.
Who is depicted on these sculptures - a mysterious deity or real creatures living in Jordan? This is another mystery for the scientific world.
As for the settlement of Ain-Ghazal, archaeologists have established that at that time tribes of farmers and hunters lived here. The ancient site was abandoned by humans about 7000 years ago.
If we look at the found finds, we can see that they lack any weapons. It is also unclear who is depicted here - a male or female creature?
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On the territory of the ancient site, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of several multi-room houses. Interestingly, the houses themselves were made of stone, but their roofs were clearly wooden.
Another interesting feature is that the walls were plastered in these houses. Did the people of antiquity really know what plaster is? Researchers believe that by about 6200 BC, the settlement had grown greatly, and its area could reach several tens of hectares - in fact, it was a small ancient city.
For example, the size of modern Jericho is about four times smaller. These statues were found in 1984 in one of the pits dug by builders who were building the highway.
The statues themselves are made of plaster. In total, more than three dozen similar works of ancient art were found here. Moreover, one part of the statues had no limbs, the other had no heads.
These ancient artifacts are some of the most interesting things ever found in the area. Their sizes are very different - there are figures about half a meter high, there are also meters, and there are those that are almost as tall as a modern person.
Interestingly, these "mutants" have a very strange shape of eyes (elliptical) and ears. The researchers suggested that if the creatures depicted were not a figment of the imagination of ancient sculptors, then these statues could depict one of the ancient races that lived in Jordan.
The only question is, did they really have two heads, or did the ancient masters invent something? A good portion of the statues found were badly damaged and took a long time to restore.
Archaeologists had to collect all the pieces like a puzzle, after which the whole thing was glued together. Who, when and why created these statues is a mystery to modern researchers.