A unique item of prehistoric sculpture created during the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic, the small ivory carving of a female figure known as The Venus of Hohle Fels (also called the Venus of Schelklingen) was unearthed during excavati…
A unique item of prehistoric sculpture created during the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic, the small ivory carving of a female figure known as The Venus of Hohle Fels (also called the Venus of Schelklingen) was unearthed during excavations in 2008 at Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany. It is dated to the period 35,000-40,000 BCE, which makes it the oldest of all the Venus figurines and the earliest undisputed example of figurative art known to archeology which is associated with the earliest presence of Cro-Magnon in Europe. This tiny work of prehistoric art has a range of unique features as well as several characteristics which are typical of later female figurines, such as the Venus of Willendorf. However, its extreme age sheds new light on the origins of Stone Age art, demonstrating that Aurignacian culture was far more advanced than previously supposed. A number of other important works of prehistoric art have been found in the area of the Hohlenstein mountain, including the first completely intact ivory carving of a mammoth (and other animals) found in the Vogelherd Cave in 2006, dating to 33,000 BCE - see Ivory Carvings of the Swabian Jura. Both the Schelklingen Venus and the Vogelherd Mammoth were discovered by archeologists from the Department of Prehistory at the German University of Tubingen. In addition, fragments of an ivory figurine - known as the Lion Man of Hohlenstein Stadel (dating to about 30,000 BCE) - were also found in the locality in 1939 and finally reassembled in 1969.
Venus of Hohle Fels,Venus of Schelklingen,Venus vom Hohlen Fels,Venus vom Hohlen Fels,vom Hohle Fels,Venus von Schelklingen,Hohle Fels Cave,Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic,ivory carving of a female figure,oldest undisputed example of a depiction of a human being,Oldest sculpture of a human figure yet found,earliest presence of Cro-Magnon in Europe,Venus figurines,Ivory works of art,Swabian Jura,Ice Age Europe,Ice Age Figurines
