Richard Dempsey discovers prehistoric Paleo Story Stones

Amateur archaeologist Richard Dempsey has uncovered a collection of prehistoric artifacts known as ‘Paleo Story Stones’ that may alter understanding of Paleolithic art and craftsmanship. The findings feature repeated imagery of human faces and mammoths, often depicting a young and an old mammoth together.

Dempsey discovered the first stone in October 2020 at Harvard Hill in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. While mammoth effigies were previously considered rare, with only about a dozen known worldwide, hundreds of these stones have since been identified across various continents. The specimens include volcanic glass from Mount Shasta, rose quartz from South Dakota, and desert glass from Libya, dating between 500,000 and two million years ago.