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Venus of Willendorf (Austria)
Date: 25,000 BCE
Material: Oolitic limestone
The Venus of Willendorf was discovered
in 1908, near Krems in Austria. It remains one of the most graphic, naturalistic
prehistoric representations of an obese female.
Venus of Savignano
(Italy)
Date: 25,000 BCE
Material: Serpentine stone
Discovered in shallow clay soil by
the Panaro River, the Venus of Savignano is the Italy's most famous prehistoric
female sculpture. Carved out of a block of yellow-greenish serpentine
stone, the statuette's bust is tilts backwards and its back is convex:
the belly is large, as are the buttocks, below which are voluminous thighs,
ending in short tapering legs without feet. Traces of red ochre are visible
on the head, right arm and lower backside.
Venus of Moravany
(Slovakia)
Date: 24,000-22,000 BCE
Material: Mammoth ivory
Discovered in a freshly ploughed
field close to the village of Moravany nad Váhom in Slovakia, in
1938, this figurine is carved from mammoth bone and is 7.6 centimetres
in height. The locality was first settled by Neanderthal Man during the
Middle Paleolithic, attracted by the abundant supply of game and the nearby
hot springs. The Venus of Moravany is currently housed at the Bratislava
Castle museum.
Limestone Venus
of Kostenky (Russia)
Date: 23,000-21,00 BCE
Material: Limestone
Some 10 centimetres in height, this
figurine exhibits the usual exaggerated breasts and belly. Its head, devoid
of any facial features bends down towards the chest, its braceleted arms
are pressed into the body with hands on the belly. The head is incised
with a braid-like pattern suggesting a hair style, headdress or cap. The
neck is encircled with a plait, resembling a halter-neck style dress fastening,
tied up at the back. It is the second oldest Venus figurine found in Russia,
after the Kostenky bone venus discovered at the same site. It should not
be confused with the earlier bone Venus of Kostenky (see above).
Venus
of Laussel (France)
Date: c.23,000 BCE
Material: Limestone
The Venus of Laussel was discovered
in 1911, carved on a free-standing block of stone in the Dordogne region,
quite close to the prehistoric caves of Lascaux. It is a limestone bas-relief,
approximately 43 centimetres in height, of a female nude. The sculpture
is faintly coloured with red ochre. It was one of six venus figurines
carved in relief, which occupied a ceremonial area of the Stone Age rock
shelter where it was found. Featuring the customary pendulous breasts,
large hips and obese forms, it has hands and fingers but no feet, and
the sculptor used the contour of the stone to enhance the pregnant belly.
In her right hand, the woman holds a bison horn which contains 13 notches
- which may symbolize the number of menstrual cycles in one year. One
of the earliest known examples of prehistoric bas-relief sculpture, the
Venus of Laussel is housed at the Musée d'Aquitaine, in Bordeaux.
Venus
of Brassempouy (France)
Date: 23,000 BCE
Material: Mammoth Ivory
Discovered in 1892 at Brassempouy,
in southwest France, this figurine is possibly the earliest prehistoric
carving of a human face.
Venus
of Lespugue (France)
Date: 23,000 BCE
Material: Mammoth ivory
Discovered in 1922 in the Stone Age
cave of Les Rideaux near the village of Lespugue in the Haute Garonne
region of France, this famous carving is roughly 6 inches in length and
represents the height of abstraction for venus figures of the Gravettian
Upper Paleolithic culture. Presenting an overall lozenge-like shape, it
shares the common characteristics of no facial detail, exaggerated breasts,
hips and buttocks, but these features are taken to such extremes that
the breasts merge with the torso leading to an uncommonly flattened profile.
Overall, a highly stylized interpretation of typical venus sculptural
conventions. The figurine is housed at the Musée de l'Homme in
Paris.
Venus of Garagino
(Ukraine)
Date: 22,000 BCE
Material: Volcanic rock
Discovered in 1926 by archeologist
Zamiatinine, on the right bank of the Don River near its junction with
the Sosna River in southern Russia, the figurine is roughly 6 centimetres
in length and carved from volcanic rock. It was unearthed during excavations
of a Stone Age settlement, during which a large quantity of prehistoric
petroglyphs, artifacts, flint tools and
animal bones were discovered, along with several "venus" figurines.
Sculpted in almost caricature-style, the Gagarino Venus is mainly composed
of gargantuan breasts and belly, with short stubs of thighs, broken above
the knee. It is the oldest venus statuette ever found in the Ukraine.
Mal'ta Venus
(Russia)
Date: 21,000 BCE
Material: Mammoth ivory
Discovered in a prehistoric cave
close to Lake Baikal in Russia, the Mal'ta Venus is the oldest recorded
example of Siberian figurative sculpture. Carved from mammoth ivory, it
displays the exaggerated forms associated with most European venus figurines,
including large breasts, buttocks, hips and thighs. It is housed at the
Hermitage Museum, in St Petersburg.
Venus of Engen (Swiss)
Date: 13,000 BCE
Material: Jet, a type of semi-precious lignite
Carving closely resembling the Venus
of Monruz (see below), discovered about 120 kilometres from the Monruz,
but is dated 3000 years older.
Venus of Monruz/Neuchatel (Swiss)
Date: 10,000 BCE
Material: Black Jet
Magdalenian pendant (1-inch tall),
of a stylized human figure. Found in 1991 in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Late Stone Age
For a later masterpiece of prehistoric sculpture, see the extraordinary
Thinker of Cernavoda
(5000 BCE, National Museum of Romania).
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