The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German variously Venus vom Hohlen Fels, vom Hohle Fels; Venus von Schelklingen) is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine found near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, belonging to the early Aurignacian, at the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which is associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon) in Europe. It is the oldest undisputed example of Upper Paleolithic art and figurative prehistoric art in general.
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Context
The Swabian Alb region has a number of caves that have yielded mammoth ivory artifacts of the Upper Paleolithic period, totalling about twenty-five items to date. These include the lion-headed figure of Hohlenstein-Stadel and an ivory flute found at Geißenklösterle, dated to 36,000 years ago.[1] This concentration of evidence of full behavioral modernity in the period of 40 to 30 thousand years ago, including figurative art and instrumental music, is unique worldwide and Conard speculates that the bearers of the Aurignacian culture in the Swabian Alb may be credited with the invention, not just of figurative art and music, but possibly, early religion as well.[2][3] In a distance of 70cm to the Venus figurine Conard's team found a flute made from a vulture bone.[4] Additional artifacts excavated from the same cave layer included flint-knapping debris, worked bone, and carved ivory as well as remains of tarpans, reindeer, cave bears, woolly mammoths, and Alpine Ibexes.[3]
Discovery and significance
The discovery of the Venus of Hohle Fels pushes back the date of the oldest prehistoric sculpture, and arguably the oldest known figurative art altogether,[5] by several millennia,[6] establishing that works of art were being produced throughout the Aurignacian Period.[7]
The figurine was discovered in September 2008 in a cave called Hohle Fels (Swabian German for "hollow rock") near Schelklingen, some 15 km (9 mi) west of Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany, by a team from the University of Tübingen led by archaeology professor Nicholas Conard, who reported their find in Nature.[8] The figurine was found in the cave hall, about 20 m (66 ft) from the entrance and about 3 m (10 ft) below the current ground level. Also found in the cave was a bone flute dating to approximately 35,000 years ago, the oldest known musical instrument.[9]
Description
The figurine is a representation of a woman, putting emphasis on the vulva and the breasts. Consequently it is presumed to be an amulet related to fertility. It is made of a woolly mammoth tusk and had broken into fragments, of which six have been recovered, with the left arm and shoulder still missing. In place of the head, the figurine has a perforation so that it could have been worn as a pendant. Archaeologist John J. Shea suggests it would have taken "tens if not hundreds of hours" to carve the figurine.[3]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ http://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/~ic108/lithoacoustics/BAR2002/BARpreprint.pdf
- ^ Älteste Menschenfigur der Welt gefunden Südwestrundfunk 14 May 2009.
- ^ a b c Maugh II, Thomas H. (May 14, 2009). "Venus figurine sheds light on origins of art by early humans". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-venus14-2009may14,0,181830.story. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ^ http://www.epoc.de/artikel/999323&_z=798890
- ^ The grid or cross-hatch patterns patterns found engraved at the Blombos Cave in South Africa, dating to 75,000 years ago, may or may not be considered "abstract art".
- ^ by at least 5,000 years, if the 35,000 BP date is compared to that of the Venus of Galgenberg, or by as much as 10,000 years if the 40,000 BP date is accepted.
- ^ Henderson, Mark (2009-05-13). "Prehistoric female figure ‘earliest piece of erotic art uncovered’". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6282102.ece. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
- ^ Conard, Nicholas J.. "A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian of Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany". Nature (459): 248–252. doi:. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7244/pdf/nature07995.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
- ^ Wilford, John N. (June 24, 2009). "Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music". The New York Times. doi:. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
External links
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