An amateur archaeologist claims to have discovered thousands of artifacts in California's Mojave Desert that could significantly alter the understanding of ancient American history and prehistoric art. Richard Dempsey, a retired insurance salesman, believes he has found previously unknown Paleolithic artifacts, which he has termed "Paleo Story Stones."
Dempsey's discovery, first made in October 2020 along the ancient shoreline of Pleistocene Lake Manix, centers on flaked stone objects that he says consistently depict recognizable images of human faces and mammoths. According to a press release, these visual patterns appear repeatedly on artifacts made from diverse materials and found in widely separated locations. Dempsey suggests these are not conventional tools like projectile points or scrapers, but objects intentionally shaped to create symbolic imagery.
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He states that the artifacts exhibit flaking around their edges to form these images, and many also show fine engraving, grooving, and smoothing that he argues are unrecognized elements of Paleolithic craftsmanship. The Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age, spans from approximately 3.3 million years ago to about 10,000 BCE.
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Over the years since his initial find, Dempsey reports documenting thousands of similar artifacts. These objects are made from a variety of materials including chert, jasper, quartz crystal, rose quartz, citrine, obsidian, volcanic glass, meteorites, fossil coral, bone, and antler. Dempsey claims examples have been recovered from six continents, with Antarctica being the only exception.
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Dempsey's investigation has been described by a representative as "one of the most ambitious archaeological investigations of the past decade." He asserts that the consistent imagery and recurring patterns, regardless of the artifact's material or origin, point to a deliberate and widespread artistic tradition among early humans.