inches tall. The “youngest” figures found to date
are about 14,000 years old. Such a wide time
span demonstrates that these figures were im-
portant to prehistoric peoples for a very long
period of time.Early Discoveries
European scholars began recovering the so-
called Venus figurines in the 19th century. The
first one was found in 1864 by French archae-
ologist Paul Hurault, Marquis de Vibraye. He
uncovered a three-inch-high ivory figurine at
Laugerie-Basse, France. The carved nude figure
is missing its head and arms, but the hips, pu-
bic mound, and legs are well defined. Analysis
shows that the figure dates to around 17,000 to
12,000 years ago.
Hurault dubbed the small statue Vénus im-
pudique, which means “immodest Venus,” in
a nod to European artworks that depict Vénus
pudica, or “modest Venus.” A famous example
is Sandro Botticelli’s the “Birth of Venus,” in
which the Roman goddess of love and beauty
modestly shields the viewer from her nudity.
The prehistoric female figure from Laugerie-
Basse, and many others found since then, pre-
sent rather than cover up their bodies. Hurault’s
naming convention caught on among other
archaeologists of the time, and Paleolithic stat-
ues like these were soon grouped together as
“Venuses” in the collective imagination.
The Venus of Brassempouy, discovered in
1894, is believed to be the world’s oldest depic-
tion of a human face. Sculpted in ivory roughly
25,000 years ago, her brows and nose have been
carefully rendered in miniature. The figure is
sometimes called the “hooded lady” because of
the pattern of lines etched into her head. Some
scholars interpret them as a hood with a dec-
orative pattern, while others believe it simply
represents hair.
The Brassempouy fragment is small, slightly
more than an inch in length, and scholars be-
lieve it was once part of a larger figure carved
from a mammoth’s tusk. French archaeologist
Édouard Piette discovered the sculpture in a cave
in southwestern France. Exploring the cave in
the 1890s, Piette’s team also found fragments of
other anthropomorphic works, some of which
appeared female.
Perhaps the most iconic figure is the so-called
Venus of Willendorf, discovered in the Danubehave shocked the men who uncovered them in
the 1800s. The figures do not appear demure
or modest; their nudity is direct and matter of
fact. A few of the figurines wear mini-
mal adornments such as necklaces,
hoods, hairnets, belts, or bracelets.
Their bodies do reflect different
physical types—some are slim
and others curvy—while their
breasts, hips, and bellies are
rounded and prominent.
The oldest figure discovered (so
far) comes from the German site
of Hohle Fels and dates back about
35,000 years. It measures just 2.75THE HOODED LADY, OR THE VENUS OF BRASSEMPOUY,
CARVED 25,000 YEARS AGO (FRAGMENT). NATIONAL
ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM, SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, FRANCE
ERICH LESSING/ALBUMHats or Hair?
T
HE HEADS of the female figurines may not have the
most interesting faces (if they have features at all), but
their creators spent time and attention crafting what
appeared on top. Some interpret these marks simply
as hairstyles, while others see them as adornments, hairnets,
and hats. The markings on the Venus of Willendorf (opposite)
and the Venus of Brassempouy (below) have been interpreted
as headdresses. Whatever the artists’ intentions, the mark-
ings have helped modern scholars understand that during the
Paleolithic period, humans were using ornamentation.
ILLUSTRATION: ALADEMOSCA.COM/C. MARTÍNEZ