The Identity of the Camel on the Khurab Pick

Extract

The copper shaft-hole pick from Khurab, Makran, is one of the most intriguing finds relating to the history of the camels. It is, in my opinion, quite certain that the animal figurine above the shaft-hole depicts a camel of some kind. The attitude of the seated beast, with its steeply rising thick neck, and slightly raised head, is characteristic and does not occur in any other mammal. In addition, there are the rounded nose and the thickened cheek.

There are, however, two species of camel, the Bactrian with two humps, and the single-humped dromedary. The Khurab beast has only one hump and thus might perhaps be regarded as a dromedary. But every other feature speaks against such interpretation.

The neck, for instance, is thick and provided with a flange and a “ruff” of locks of thick hair in front, as found in the Bactrian camel. Moreover, the hump is situated above the pelvis, a position occupied by the posterior hump of the Bactrian, and much too far back for the dromedary. The question has from time to time been raised whether this hump is a genuine part of the figurine. Mr. Lauriston Ward has assured us that the hump is definitely part of the original artefact and not a lump of corrosion. It requires interpretation, therefore, as part of the animal. One might argue that it merely indicates the raised hindquarters of the seated beast, but the distinct individuality of the “hump,” which rests on top of the outline of the back, deprives this assumption of any anatomical foundation.