The Barma Grande sculpture of a nude woman has been carved from soft yellow steatite stone. Thought to be about 20,000 years old, she was discovered in the Barma Grande Cave in Grimaldi, Italy. Her bowed head is without features. At her back, hair falls down between her shoulders. Thin tapered arms curve in below her breasts, which lie above a prominent oval stomach and broad hips. Below the stomach a well-defined Y-shaped groove indicates the top of the thighs and the sexual triangle. Her buttocks are also marked by a deep groove. The figure is depicted postnatal.

Musée d’Archéologie Nationale et Domaine, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris.

Culture which succeeded the Gravettian about 22,000 years ago and lasted until 17,000 years ago in some areas. Identified at the Solutré site in east-central France near Mâcon, and found mostly in France and Spain, the Solutrean is famous for its exquisite flint-knapping.

Source: Dr Jean Clottes

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