Figurative ivory sculpture
Escultura figurativa en marfil (Löwenmensch, Venus de Hohle Fels)
- Date
- c. 40 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Hohlenstein-Stadel and Hohle Fels, Swabian Jura, Germany
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens (Aurignacian)
- Field
- Communication
What it is
The Lion Man (31 cm) and the Venus of Hohle Fels, carved from mammoth ivory. The earliest three-dimensional representations of imaginary beings and the human body.
Hundreds of hours of work per piece suggest specialisation and leisure time financed by the group.
What it led to
- Shared symbolic thought: beings that do not exist
- Portable cult objects: religion without temples
- A tradition of female figurines extending from France to Siberia (Gravettian Venuses)
Built on
- Figurative cave artc. 51 ka
- Blade technology (Mode 4)c. 50 ka
- Blade technology (Mode 4)
- Figurative cave art
Made possible
- Fired clay figurines (ceramic)c. 29 ka
- Fired clay figurines (ceramic)