The Venus of Hohle Fels is a figurine made of mammoth ivory that was unearthed in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago, belonging to the early Aurignacian and associated with the earliest presence of Cro-Magnon in Europe. The figure is one of the oldest human depictions. The figurine was sculpted from the mammoth tusk but subsequently broken into fragments; six have been recovered, with the left arm and shoulder still missing. In place of the head, the figurine has a perforated protrusion, which may have allowed it to be worn as an amulet.

Prehistoric Museum of Blaubeuren (Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren).

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

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