The Venus of Hohle Fels is a miniature ivory sculpture of a female. It belongs to the Paleolithic era. With an age of more than 35,000 years, it is the earliest figurine of its type in the world. While certain artifacts resembling human figures are known to be of greater age, the Hohle Fels Venus is much more sophisticated and intricately carved.
Table of Contents
S1 – Discovery
Schelklingen is a town in in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Hohle Fels is a cave near Schelklingen. In 2008, between September 5 and 15, six fragments of carved ivory were discovered in the cave during an excavation. Nicholas J. Conard, the archaeologist leading the excavation, realized the significance of the discovery on September 9 when the torso of the sculpture was recovered.
The six fragments of Hohle Fels Venus were buried three meters below the current surface of the cave. They were close to each other and were well preserved indicating little disturbance after deposition. The figurine is nearly complete except the left arm and shoulder, which are missing.
S2 – Description
Venus of Hohle Fels is made of mammoth ivory. It is a little less than 2.5 inches in height and weighs a little more than 28 grams. It is without a head. The legs are short and pointy. The figurine has large, protruding breasts and sexually explicit genitals. The buttocks are broad and the split between them is deep and continuous. The Venus also has two short arms and hands with visible fingers.
At the top of the figurine, above the shoulders, is a ring. This might have been carved to hang it from a string and wear it as a pendant. There are a number of deeply incised horizontal lines which cover the abdomen. Several of these lines extend to the back suggestive of a clothing of some kind. The explicit sexual attributes of the figurine are in keeping with other discovered Paleolithic “Venuses”.
S3 – Age
The Venus of Hohle Fels was overlain by five layers of sediments from the Aurignacian period. This suggests that the figurine was created at the start of the Aurignacian around 40,000 years ago. Nicholas J. Conard, who led the excavation, has said it was at least 35,000 years old. This makes the Venus of Hohle Fels much older than other similar Paleolithic sculptures and “one of the oldest known examples of figurative art”.
S4 – The Name Venus?
S5 – Paleolithic Art Overview
Main Sources
S1, S2, S3:-
Wilford, John Noble. (May 13, 2009). “Full-Figured Statuette, 35,000 Years Old, Provides New Clues to How Art Evolved”. The New York Times.
Universitaet Tuebingen. (May 14, 2009). “Ivory Venus Figurine From The Swabian Jura Rewrites Prehistory.” ScienceDaily.