Ethiopian Abstract Figural Marker, Based

Two round knobs, a flat cap, and about twenty-five centuries of no comment.

This abstract figural marker is stone, from Ethiopia in East Africa, dated to about 500 BCE and shown on a base. Standing stones occur in great numbers in parts of Ethiopia, and what many of them meant remains debated. The shaft is a long, slightly bent column with a rough, pecked surface. At the top, a flat disc overhangs two rounded bosses flanking a panel of fine vertical grooves. Whether that reads as a face is left to you. It stands 35.5 inches high.

Minimalism has been around longer than the word.