Explanations and Controversies
These statues may be small in stature, but the
debate surrounding them is enormous. The
function and meaning of the Venuses have
been hotly debated ever since the first dis-
covery in the 19th century. Since Stone Age hu-
mans left behind no written records, scholars
have had to rely on the archaeological record
to formulate different hypotheses. Because
this kind of evidence may be more open to in-
terpretation, consensus among scholars has
been difficult to achieve. Even the term “Ve-
nus” has come under fire since it is an anach-
ronism (Venus would not be worshipped until
the Roman era) and because it may imply that
the Stone Age figures fulfilled the same role
as the Roman goddess. The name has stuck in
the popular consciousness, but scholars debate
its continued use.
One of the earliest and most common theo-
ries was that the small carved figures were god-
desses of childbirth and reproduction. They
served as divine representations and were used
in fertility rituals. This theory puts forth the
notion that the communities across Europe and
Asia highly valued fecundity and motherhood
enough to display them in their works of art.
Some researchers argue that because the fig-
ures are loosely naturalistic rather than realistic
and based on a specific person, they must have
been endowed with ceremonial or commemo-
rative purposes. The female figurines perhaps
served as a link between the worlds of the liv-
ing and of the dead in this context. Others sug-
gested that they were ritual items, believed to
possess supernatural powers and used by sha-
mans or healers.
Other hypotheses have moved away from re-
ligious or mystical considerations into the more
mundane. Some researchers’ explanations range
far and wide—from erotic objects to children’s
toys. It is, of course, possible that the figures
were made for different purposes in different
places or periods, as the geographic areas and
time spans in which they have been found are
both vast. One controversial, recent theory is
that some of the figures may be self-portraits,
created from the perspective of a woman looking
down at her own body. As research progresses
and new discoveries are made, it is almost cer-
tain that ideas will continue to evolve on the
roles of the figures.Valley in Austria. Named after the place where
it was found in 1908, the small limestone figure
measures slightly more than four inches high.
The artist carved several bands encircling the
figure’s head which may be hair or may depict
a hat. The figure’s body features large breasts, a
protruding belly, rounded buttocks, and legs that
taper to a point. The artist’s visual emphasis led
scholars in the 1900s to believe that the art-
work must be a fertility goddess, who embodied
love and beauty. Their conclusions came under
scrutiny in the following decades, as debate
arose over what evidence existed to support
a claim that the Venus of Willendorf’s
subject shared a function similar to its
Roman-era namesake.RED CALF ETCHING. COW BONE AND IRON
OXIDE, REPLICA OF A MAGDALENIAN-ERA ARTIFACT
FOUND AT THE CAVE OF MAS-D’AZIL, FRANCE
SPL /AGE FOTOSTOCKSurviving the
Long Winters
THE FUNCTION AND MEANING of the Stone Age Venuses
have long been debated, and a new hypothesis has
entered the fray. Rather than seeing the figurines
as deities or embodying aspects of sexuality and
fertility, researchers are looking at them as em-
blems of survival. Many of these figures were
created during the Last Glacial Maximum, a time
in which temperatures plummeted, glaciers ex-
panded, and food resources became scarce.
A team of researchers from the University
of Colorado and the American University of
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, studied the
Venus figurines and noted that more vo-
luptuous artworks with prominent fat
deposits on the hips, buttocks, and bel-
lies were found closer to glaciers. The
farther away a population lived from an ice
mass, the more proportions decreased. They
concluded that fuller-figured Venuses served
as symbols of survival in harsh, frigid conditions
because the bodies of these “overnourished”
women could withstand food shortages during
the long winter.
PULCINELLA, ONE OF THE 13 GRIMALDI VENUSES.
SOAPSTONE, CIRCA 24,000 YEARS OLD. NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY
MUSEUM, SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, FRANCE
ERICH LESSING/ALBUM