Interpreting the artifacts

Oldest animation? Very unlikely. The goat would only seem to jump if spun in a rig that only let you view the vase at the proper intervals. You could make such a rig, and it probably wouldn't have survived the millenia, and there's a hint that animations existed circa 300BC, but still--I think it's more likely the artist just put a little goat variety in each section.

The blog author has an interesting theory about a natural zodiac, with the signs representing things in the animal kingdom that happened at different times in the year. It's kind of hard to evaluate, since the zodiac inventors have been dead for thousands of years and didn't write a lot of explanations. It would be too easy for me to make strained associations, since I'm not steeped in Babylonian (and pre-; there should have been plenty of antique influences) art.

Is this a marble replica of a sacred clay mask? Weird, but a logical interpretation...

Or so it seems to this novice.