Challenge Issue This tiny 35,000-year-old “Venus” figurine (about the size
and weight of a small cluster of grapes), recently discovered in the archaeologically
rich Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany and associated with the assumed ear-
liest presence of undisputed Homo sapiens in Europe, changed paleoanthropological
interpretations of the origins of figurative art. Prior to this discovery, the earliest
figurative art had included only representations of animals; female figurines did not
appear until about 30,000 years ago. The exaggerated breasts and vulva and stylized
markings on this carving, as on similar prehistoric statuettes known as Venus figu-
rines, indicate the importance of female fertility to our ancestors. Did our ancestors
worship the power of females to give birth? Do these figurines represent our ances-
tors’ attempts to connect groups of people to one another across time and space?
Such creations suggest that humans, as a thoughtful and self-reflecting species,
have always faced the challenge of understanding where and how we fit in the larger
natural system of all life forms, past and present. In turn, these figurines challenge
us to weigh whether a biological change was at the root of this creative expression,
which would have separated these ancestors from the archaic Homo sapiens that
came before them.
Photographer: H. Jensen; Copyright © University of Tübingen