In Japan, found an ancient artifact depicting a human face

The first known example of a painted stone depicting a human face was discovered by Japanese archaeologists. The artifact is dated by the Ceramics of Jomon (8000 BC) and was buried underground.
The culture of Jomon’s pottery was rich in tools and decorations made of bone, stone, shell and horn; ceramic figures and vessels; and varnishing. This culture existed for a very long period of time from 10,500 BCE. before 300 BC. and was mainly associated with pottery, decorated with drawings or reliefs.
The discovered stone was flattened and formed into a triangle, about four inches in size on each side. Yasushi Kosugi from the University of Hokkaido explained that the face image consists of lines forming a nose and eyebrows, oval eyes and an open oval mouth.
“The find is extremely valuable in that it can help to find out what spiritual culture is in the middle of Jomon,” said Yasushi Kosugi, a professor of culture at the University of Hokkaido.
Archaeologists say that the stone fragment itself refers to the second half of the period of the middle of Jomon (4,300 years ago), and the site of its discovery is part of the five archaeological sites of Koren in Kikonai, in Oshima Prefecture, southwest of Hokkaido.

12-13 cm wide and tall and 1.4 cm thick, the stone is in the shape of an inverted triangle.
While the horizontal line is drawn near the upper side with a black pigment, an ellipse is also drawn on it, which apparently represents the eye and the lines forming the eyebrows and nose.
It is not yet known how the object was used and for what purposes. Perhaps it was used for religious services or other purposes in ancient times.
Earlier, archaeologists have unearthed a drawing of a human body, dated the same period, however, the face image has never been found anywhere else in Japan.