After the last Ice Age, as the climate became warmer and rainfall more abundant, the formerly nomadic population of the eastern Mediterranean began to establish the first permanent settlements. Natufian art, while it follows some of the same representational conventions of the European Paleolithic in its naturalistic and sensitive portrayal of animals, reflects a new awareness of individual identity and social life. Natufian burials, often placed in close proximity to the homes of the living, have been found where individuals or groups are interred with elaborate jewelry made of bone, shell, and stone. These are materials found readily in the Mediterranean landscape, but were fashioned by skilled artists to mark the importance and social standing of their buried ancestors.
Human representations are both schematic and naturalistic.
Traces of the artist's tool marks are still visible. The eyes, formed by three concentric curving lines, dominate the lower portion of the face, which has been bisected by a broad horizontal band across the center of the stone. The upper portion of the head, slightly damaged, is incised with diagonal lines, which may represent hair or ornamentation. The base is flat, indicating that it was probably intended to sit upright. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.