This standing human figure with a lion’s head is sculpted from mammoth ivory. It was found in many pieces and parts of the front of the body are missing. The stance and muscularity of the shoulders suggest a man standing on tip toes with arms to his sides. The left upper arm is marked with incisions which might represent tattoos or scarring. The head faces forward in an alert stare emphasised by a powerful jaw line and upright ears. Is this a man wearing a lion headdress or a mythical or supernatural being?

Hohlenstein-Stadel cave level IV.

Ulmer Museum, Ulm, Germany.

The most ancient culture of the Upper Palaeolithic, between 35,000 and 28,000 years ago. The culture of the first modern humans in Europe was named after the Aurignac site in Haute-Garonne, France, where it was first identified by Édouard Lartet in 1860.

Source: Dr Jean Clottes

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