Oldest Man-Made Sculpture Found in Germany

gaia227

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The known oldest man-made figurine has been found in a cave in Germany. It is being dated back to 35,000 yrs ago. It is similar to Venus figurines that have been found all over Europe but this one is much older. Pretty amazing this little thing has sat in that cave for 35,000 years. I love stuff like this. I love thinking about a human, who 35,000 yrs ago was physical no different than we are today sitting there carving this figurine. He or she dies, maybe the figurine was given to another member of their clan, the clan moved on and the figurine was left behind and 35,000 yrs later it is recovered.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090513/ap_on_sc/eu_germany_oldest_sculpture
 
I absolutely love the links you bring to us Gaia! Thank you :)
 
Thanks for posting that. Very interesting find. Both you finding the article and the statue itself.
 
It is so freaking cool when things that go way, way, way, way, way, way back are found.

Unfortunately, my mind is whacked... at first glance I thought the scientist was holding poo in their hand. :(
 
Thanks for posting that. Very interesting find. Both you finding the article and the statue itself.


I get an 'Archaelogy Today' e-mail newsletter. There is really cool stuff being found all the time out there - some is just a little cooler than the rest :)
 
Its a pre historic statue of Rosie O Donnel... the Rosie of Willendorf?
 
Loved the link!

I am a tad miffed .....how does anyone know a woman didn't carve it?

Like maybe it was some type of self portrait while she was in the last stages of pregnancy? Or maybe the father of the expected baby carved it for her?

The dude that claimed they were obsessed with sex....seems rather ignorant to me. It could have been carved for any one of a thousand reasons!
 
To me it looks like many a Pagan goddess sculptures I have seen. The wide hips, enlarged breast and bulging belly is a common theme in Pagan statuary... they represent "Mother Earth" as well as fertility rights. I could easily see this sculpted by a woman... that is for sure.
 
Thanks Gaia! How cool. I too also enjoy reading about prehistoric humans. I particularly love the Clan of the Cave Bear books. Have any of you read them? The movie was ridiculous though. Jean Auel puts tremendous research into her books. Its incredible that after reading her books, I would see new finds and updated information that I first read about in her books. In particular, she based one of her characters, Mo-gur on a real person whose remains were found buried in a cave (in Russia? I want to say). She also mentions and provides drawings of some of the famous Venus figurines. To me that was just fantastic.
 
Here are some pics of other Venus figurines that have been found all over Europe dating from 35,000 upto as early as 8-10,000yrs ago. They are all very similar in appearence. There are of course lots of theories as to their origins. Probably the most prevailing one being they are a representation of a goddess, the earth mother representing the bearer of life hence the large breasts and belly. There are some issues with that theory because some Venus figurines that have been found are not robust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines
 
Thanks Gaia! How cool. I too also enjoy reading about prehistoric humans. I particularly love the Clan of the Cave Bear books. Have any of you read them? The movie was ridiculous though. Jean Auel puts tremendous research into her books. Its incredible that after reading her books, I would see new finds and updated information that I first read about in her books. In particular, she based one of her characters, Mo-gur on a real person whose remains were found buried in a cave (in Russia? I want to say). She also mentions and provides drawings of some of the famous Venus figurines. To me that was just fantastic.


I sent you a PM about Clan of the Cave Bear series
 
Thanks, Gaia! I teach my students about the Paleolithic female figurines in my Anthro classes and so it will be great to tell them about this oldest known example. 35,000 BCE coincides with the earliest evidence for *advertiser censored* sapiens sapiens in Europe as they migrated from Africa via the Middle East and replaced the Neanderthals. There are many theories about the symbolism of the female figurines. IMO the best argument is that they functioned as a kind of amulet for fertility/reproduction. It is a mistake to call them "goddesses" since there was no concept of powerful deities in the Paleolithic (such a concept didn't evolve until about 3000 BCE when the first states were formed in Mesopotamia/Egypt). What I find most interesting about the figurines is that, although they are found throughout Europe there are regional differences. For example, in western Europe (France and Spain) they are depicted wearing a netted hood or a long string skirt, whereas in Central and Eastern Europe they often are shown wearing woven (basket) headdresses, belts, bandeaux (cupless bras) and bracelets. So, while the depiction of the female figure was widespread, the specifics varied by culture.
 

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