Phalanx idol, Escoural Cave, Portugal

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Provenance and description: A sleek equine fossilized bone stands alone without any embellishments. This specific type of magical-religious artifact frequently turns up in late Neolithic funeral sites. The reason for choosing this form of support lies in the natural shape of the bone, which bears a faint resemblance to human features. Typically, these artifacts were smoothed and adorned with linear patterns and radial eye representations. In contrast, this particular piece has only undergone polishing. It was unearthed during M. Farinha dos Santos' excavations at the Escoural Cave. Currently, it is housed in the Museum of the Convent of S. Domingos in Montemor-o-Novo as part of the National Museum of Archeology's collection.