Made from baked clay the snout, ears and eyes of this lion are carefully modelled. Whether it is a lion or lioness cannot be determined because, as paintings in Chauvet Cave show, Ice Age lions did not have manes. On one side of the head there are holes in the eye and above the ear which might represent wounds.

Dolní Vestonice, Moravia, Czech Republic.

Brno Museum, Czech Republic.

Culture taking its name from the La Gravette site, Dordogne, France, and lasted from about 28,000 years ago until 22,000 years ago. Original elements in Gravettian cave art include the use of hand stencils, and the type of female statuette widely but incorrectly known as 'Venus' first appear in the portable art of this period.

Source: Dr Jean Clottes

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