Medicine Man

I picked up this piece of limestone in the spring because it had an interesting shape and I thought it might be some kind of tool. A quick glance suggested that there might be a face or two in it. However, when I began photographing it, I was astonished to find two distinct sculptures.

On one side, there appears to be a faint image of a standing figure who is holding a second figure in a supine position; that is, lying with its face up. The standing figure appears to be cradling its head. My impression is that the lying figure is sick, wounded or dead.

On the other side is a clear image of what appears to be some kind of medicine man. He has some sort of animal or creature on his head; his hand appears to be holding some kind of stick and in front of him, there looks to be a drum although it could also be an animal.

It reminds me of the sculpture that I featured in another posting.  It wouldn't surprise me if this stone was carved by the same artist or at least in the same era and carving tradition.

I found both stones in the same part of the field where there tends to be a lot of limestone. Many years ago, there was a manure pit dug near this area. I'm told that it was at least ten feet down and that the gravel from this was given to a neighbour. I'm thinking that some of the limestone may have spilled into the field while this was being done, but that's just a guess on my part.

The first four photos feature the two figures; the next eleven are the medicine man; the last five feature the general images that I first noticed in the stone. I went a little snap happy with the medicine man because I was so delighted to find him.