Found by Jean Clottes, this extraordinary sculpture seems to tell the woman’s story through its mixture of simplified and exaggerated features. Made of a pebble of limonite quartz which had a suggestive shape the body of this slim but heavily pregnant figure tapers up to the rounded head which has slight indications of a face. There are no arms and a marked waist between the bottom of the large round breasts and the large, prominent stomach. The bottom of the stomach appears almost cut away to reveal the disproportionately large, forward facing open vulva, the bottom of which reaches to her slightly bent knees. The lower legs are short and the feet curve together. The upper body leans back above exaggerated buttocks separated by a deep groove.

Monpazier open site, Dordogne, France.

Musée des Antiquités Nationales, St Germain-en-Laye, Paris.

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

→ Ice Age Art Index
→ Ice Age Art Gallery
→ Bison of Tuc D'Audoubert