Anthropology And Archaeology

Belgium 1968 History Series
Belgium 2009 World Heritage Sites
Spiennes was the center of intensive underground mining of flint between ca. 4300 and 2200 BC. This 250-acres Neolithic site on a chalk plateau is dotted with millions of scraps of worked flint and numerous mining pits and vertical mine shafts.

Denmark 1992 National Museum - Exhibits from Prehistoric Denmark Collection
Skarpsalling Pot (ca. 3200 BC): the vessel is richly decorated in the Troldebjerg style.
Grevensvænge Figurine (ca. 800 to 500 BC): this leaping acrobat is one of the seven bronze figurines discovered in 1779.
Gundestrup Cauldren (ca. 200 to 0 BC): this is the base plate of a large silver vessel decorated with repoussé work.
Hindsgavl Dagger (ca. 1800 BC): this is a fishtail flint dagger from the end of the Nordic Stone Age.

Denmark 2007 National Museum Bicentenary
These large bronze axes are from Bronze Age (ca. 1400 BC) and were found near Egebak in Vendsyssel, northern Jutland. They weigh over 7 kg and could therefore only have been used for cult activities.

Great Britain 2017 Ancient Britain
Battersea Shield (Iron Age): This shield recovered from the River Thames was crafted from bronze and decorated with Celtic style engravings.
Skara Brae Village (Neolithic): This early settlement on the Orkney Islands consists of eight stone houses with stone interior.
Star Carr Headdress (Mesolithic): This headwear made from trimmed deer antlers may have been used as a disguise in hunting or a costume during ritual performances.
Maiden Castle Hill Fort (Iron Age}: This fort was built on a hilltop near Dorchester, Dorset. Its fence and watch tower were used to protect the enclosed land and its inhabitants.
Avebury Stone Circles (Neolithic): This iconic monument in Wiltshire, England comprises a total of three circles and avenues of standing stones plus associated earthworks. It was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremony.
Drumbest Horns (Bronze Age): These instruments were discovered in Northern Ireland. A pair of side-blown and end-blown horns could have been played together to produce melody and rhythm.
Grime's Graves Flint Mines (Neolithic): This mining complex near Thetford, Norfolk has been producing flint and making flint tools for over a millennium.
Mold Cape (Bronze Age): This cape discovered in Mold, Flintshire, Wales was made by hammering out a large ingot of gold. It was possibly used for ceremonial purposes and would have been worn by a high-status woman.

Isle of Man 1986 The Manx Museum Centenary
Isle of Man 2006 Society of Natural History and Archaeology
Meayll Hill is a small plateau at the southern end of the Isle of Man. It is the site of Meayll Stone Circle, a Neolithic (ca 3500 BC) burial complex with six pairs of chambered cairns placed in a circular pattern. The stone chambers are sunk below the surface and are surrounded by upright stones of the local slaty schist.

Jersey 1994 EUROPA Discoveries
Jersey 2021 Jersey from Above
La Hougue Bie is a Neolithic site on the island of Jersey. It consists of a 12 meter high earth mound covering a passage and several chambers supported by stone pillars. The site was in use between ca. 4000 and 3500 BC for burials and other rituals and ceremonies.

France, designed and engraved by Claude Durrens and issued on April 13, 1968:




Commemorative postmark, France, 1994:

Many countries issued stamps show Lascaux cave paintings. I will show a selection of them other time.

Prehistoric rock paintings from Tibesti mountains, engraved by either Pierre Munier or Pierre Béquet or both as indicated on the stamps and issued by Chad on April 20, 1962. The set has 12 stamps, here are the first six of them:

....and the rest last six stamps:

Early settlement of Sri Lanka by Homo sapiens, issued by Sri Lanka on December 21, 2005:

Early stone age: Minihagalkanda, possibly 300,000 years old, stone tools estimated as 125,000 years old:

125,000 years old extinct animals in Ratnapura gem gravels: Bone fragments of rhinoceros and hippopotamus:

Late stone age: Balangoda culture, 30,000-1,000 BC: Kuruwita, Batadomba-lena & human skull from Ballan-bandi Palassa:

Prehistoric agriculture on the Horton plains: 13,000 years old fossilized barley pollen grain:

Homo heidelbergensis, also Homo rhodesiensis, is an extinct species of the genus Homo which lived in Africa, Europe and western Asia between 600 and 200 thousand years ago.

The first discovery, a jaw, was made in 1907 in Mauer near Heidelberg in Germany where it was described by Otto Schoetensack from Heidelberg University and was named Homo heidelbergensis. This postmark shows the Homo heidelbergensis jaw from Mauer, issued by Germany in 1982 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the discovery:


Homo heidelbergensis skull founded in Elandsfontein, SA and its reconstruction, issued by South Africa on November 10, 2006:

The Steinheim skull is a fossilized skull of a Homo heidelbergensis found in 1933 near Steinheim an der Murr, Germany, hence, it is also called Homo steinheimensis. The skull is estimated to be 250,000–350,000 years old. This 1988 meter from Steinheim an der Murr, Germany publicizing an exhibition about Homo steinheimensis:

France 1965 Tourism
France 2013 Patrimony Heritage of France
Alignements de Carnac is one of the megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany. More than 3000 standing and aligned granite blocks were erected by pre-Celtic people between ca. 4500 and 3300 BC. The remains of this Neolithic period suggest that these sites had a sacred and ceremonial function.

Spain 1995 Archaeology
Dolmen of Menga in Malaga is a megalithic burial mound (a tumulus) dated to ca. 3700 BC. The burial chamber was built with thirty-two megaliths and was covered with soil. The skeletons of several hundred people were discovered here.

Spain 2006 Archaeology
Los Millares in Almeria is a prehistoric settlement from the Bronze Age (ca. 3200 to 2200 BC), formed by the town and its necropolis. The site comprises three concentric lines of stone walls with bastions and a main gate. The site belongs to the Bell Beaker culture of western Europe.

Portugal 2011 Archaeology in Portugal
Megalithic Monuments of Alcalar are located on a hilltop north of the city of Portimão in southern Portugal. It is the site of a necropolis of rectangular burial mounds and tholos built by people in the Alcalar settlement during the 3rd millennium BC. The stamp shows a cairn corridor built with local limestone blocks.

Portugal 2018 Prehistoric Route
This stamp set features artifacts selected from four prehistoric periods:
Rock engravings, Côa valley (Paleolithic, 40,000 to 10,000 BC)
Carthage vase, bank of Tagus River (Neolithic, 5500 to 3000 BC)
Schist plaque, Apple Beach Prehistoric Monument (Megalithic, 3600 to 2000 BC)
Figurine of the Perdigoes, Guadiana Valley (Calcolithic, 2900 to 2000 BC)

Ireland 1993 Céide Fields
Céide Fields on the north County Mayo coast is the oldest known field system in the world. A complex of stone-enclosed fields, dwelling areas, and megalithic tombs dated to ca. 3500 BC was preserved beneath blanket bogs. The stamp design shows the mapped field outlines and a profile of the bogs through time.

Ireland 1996 World Heritage Site
Bend of the Boyne is located 8 km west of Drogheda in County Meath. The site is a complex of Neolithic mounds, chamber tombs, standing stones, henges and other prehistoric enclosures built between ca. 3300 and 2900 BC. The passage graves of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth are well-known for their collections of megalithic art.

Åland 1994 Archaeology
The stamp set depicts pottery, stone tools, and a reconstructed settlement of the Pitted Ware culture, a hunter-gatherer culture in the southern Scandinavia region from ca. 3500 to 2300 BC.