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Venus figures from the Stone Age arranged in Chronological Order
This is a simplified list
Venus figurines is an umbrella term for a number of prehistoric statuettes of humans sharing common attributes (many of the females being depicted as apparently obese or pregnant), found from Western Europe to Siberia. These items were carved from soft stone (such as steatite, calcite or limestone), bone or ivory, or formed of clay and fired.I have used my own broad definition for Venus figures here. For convenience on these pages a venus figure is any sculpture or engraving of a male or female human from the Palaeolithic or earlier.
| Venus | Image | Age | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Makapansgat |  | 2.9 million years - 2.5 million years BP | The Makapansgat pebble, or the pebble of many faces, is a 260-gram jasperite cobble with natural chipping and wear patterns that make it look like a crude rendition of a human face. The pebble is interesting in that it was found some distance from any possible natural source, in the context ofAustralopithecus africanus remains in South Africa. Though it is definitely not a manufactured object, it has been suggested that some australopithecine, or possibly another hominid, might have recognised it as a symbolic face, in possibly the earliest example of symbolic thinking or aesthetic sense in the human heritage, and brought the pebble back to camp, which would make it a candidate for the oldest known manuport at between 2.5 and 2.9 million years ago. |
| Tan-Tan |  | 500 000 - 300 000 BP | The Tan-Tan figurine was discovered during an archaeological survey by Lutz Fiedler, state archaeologist of Hessen, Germany, in a river terrace deposit on the north bank of the River Draa a few kilometres south of the Moroccan town of Tan-Tan. The lowest sediments contain red sands and pebbles and yields stone tools of typical Early Acheulian character. This layer is followed by an approximately 12 metre (40 feet) sequence of alluvial gravels, sands, and finer fractions of varying compositions, the lower part of which contains a rich industry of the Middle Acheulian, free of specimens of the Levallois technique. |
| Berekhat Ram |  | 280 000 – 250 000 BP | The female figurine from Berekhat Ram, in Israel is one of the oldest known figurative carvings in the world, and is somewhere between 250 000 and 280 000 years old, older than Neanderthal man, and probably carved by Homo Erectus. The original pebble bore a resemblance to a female, and this was enhanced by the carver, who cut grooves around the neck and along its arms. Microscopic analysis by Alexander Marshack has now made it clear that humans were responsible. |
| Löwenmensch |  | ~ 40 000 BP | Loewenmensch, Löwenmensch, formerly often called Lowenfrau, the Lion Lady Venus - carved from mammoth ivory, it is 30 cm high and 6 cm in diameter. It was found in the cave of Hohlenstein-Stadel in the Valley of Lone, Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany), in 1931, dated as Aurignacian, in a level recently dated to 40 000 BP, making it the oldest sculpture known. Although this is known in some places as the lion lady, it is now known to be male. The arms bear striations carved into the ivory. Years after the initial discovery the museum officials were presented with an ivory lion muzzle found in the cave. It was a perfect fit. Today it is pieced together from more than 1000 tiny pieces. This male 'venus' may be an attempt to capture the power of the lion. |
| Hohle Fels |  | 40 000 – 35 000 BP | The Venus of Hohle Fels is an Upper Palaeolithic Venus figurine dated to between 40 000 and 35 000 years old, belonging to the early Aurignacian, and is one of the oldest undisputed examples of Upper Palaeolithic art and figurative prehistoric art in general. |
| Breitenbach |  | 34 000 BP | Three small ivory fragments from Breitenbach, which are only between 14 mm and 18 mm in size seem to be very inconspicuous at first glance, but have been carefully worked and polished on the surface, and can be fitted effortlessly into completely preserved figures such as those known from the 'Hohle Fels' in the Swabian Alb. Breitenbach represents one of the northernmost sites of the Aurignacian. |
| Adorant |  | 35 000 – 32 000 BP | The Worshipper, called 'Adorant', is one of the oldest, most impressive and mystifying statuettes from the Ice Age. It was discovered in an ashy bone layer near a possible hearth at Geißenklösterle. The bas-relief of a human being with raised arms, who seems to be either saluting or threatening, can be distinguished. The raised arms might also be interpreted as an attitude of worship, so the statuette was named the 'Adorant'. |
| Galgenberg |  | ~ 32 000 BP | Galgenberg Venus - Fanny - Venus vom Galgenberg is one of the oldest figurines of a woman ever found, and was created around 32 000 BP. Found on September 23, 1988 during the excavation of a habitation of palaeolithic hunters at Galgenberg near Stratzing (Lower Austria), broken into several pieces. 72 mm high figurine of a woman weighing 10 grams and made of greenish, very shiny amphibolite slate, the upper body is turned to the side, in a dancing position, and has a three-dimensional front, flat back, believed to have had cultic or religious significance. |
| Chauvet |  | ~ 30 000 BP | The Venus figure of Chauvet Cave is a conical pendant from the roof of the cave, and consists of a bison and an exaggerated depiction of a pubic triangle and a vulva, with rudimentary legs ending in points rather than feet. The rock pendant is seen by some as penis like. The whole ensemble is sometimes known as the sorcerer. Although not visible here, the bison is reported to include a human hand on its lower body |
| Willendorf |  | 30 000 - 27 000 BP | Willendorf Venus - The Venus of Willendorf, I, II and III. The Venus of Willendorf I is a superbly crafted sculpture of a naked obese woman from the stone age. It is made of oolitic limestone, and was covered with red ochre when found in 1908. The vulva is particularly well carved, by someone with a good knowledge of anatomy. The feet are rendered as very small, with no indication of ankles. Opinion is divided about the pattern around the head. Some say it is braided hair, others say it is a woven (or crocheted) hat pulled low over the face. |
| Monpazier |  | 30 000 - 20 000 BP (?) | Monpazier Venus - The Venus of Monpazier was collected in 1970 on the surface of a freshly ploughed field by M. Elisée Cérou. It has an exaggerated vulva. The pronounced buttocks and the projecting belly gave it the name Punchinello, but some see in it a woman about to give birth. Carved in limonite, a yellowish brown ore of iron. Often confused on the internet with the Polichinelle Venus, one of the Balzi Rossi or Grimaldi Venuses, with which it has no connection. |
| Dolni Vestonice Ceramic Venus |  | 29 000 – 25 000 BP | The Venus of Dolni Vestonice is a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29 000 – 25 000 BP (Gravettian industry). This figurine, together with a few others from nearby locations, is the oldest known ceramic in the world, predating the use of fired clay to make pottery. It has a height of 111 millimetres (4.4 in), and a width of 43 millimetres (1.7 in) at its widest point and is made of a clay body fired at a relatively low temperature. The palaeolithic settlement of Dolní Věstonice in Moravia, Czech Republic, has been under systematic archaeological research since 1924, initiated by Karel Absolon. In addition to the Venus figurine, figures of animals – bear, lion, mammoth, horse, fox, rhino and owl – and more than 2 000 balls of burnt clay have been found at Dolní Věstonice. The figurine was discovered on 13 July 1925 in a layer of ash, broken into two pieces. |
| Frasassi |  | 28 000 - 20 000 BP | The Venus of Frasassi was carved from a piece of stalactite in the Upper Palaeolithic, between 28 thousand and 20 thousand years ago. Its colour is pearl white.The face is barely shown. Breasts are large, and placed high on the chest. A navel is shown on the full abdomen, and the vulva is clearly shown in relief. Legs taper to about below the level of the knees, which are not shown, when they are broken off or were never carved. Most unusually, the forearms extend well in front of the body, as though they were used to hold something. |
| Mauern |  | ~ 27 000 BP | Mauern Venus - Die Rote von Mauern is a venus statuette in limestone, 27 000 years old, covered with red ochre when found at the Weinberghöhlen caves near Mauern, Bavaria. Lothar Zotz, on 24th August 1948, found the 72 mm tall limestone venus figure on the outer slope between cavities two and three of the Weinberghöhlen. During 1937-38, 1947-49, 1967 and 1974 bone fragments and traces of mammoth, cave bear, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer and 20 other different animals were found at the caves, as well as high quality Blattspitzen or leaf points of Mousterian / Neanderthal origin. |
| La Manche de Poignard |  | ~ 27 000 BP | The Venus called La Manche de Poignard, or dagger handle, 27 000 BP, is from the Grottes du Pape, Brassempouy . The breasts are cylindrical and pendant, the belly is large and hanging. The depression of the spine in the middle of the back is well shown. Huge protuberances of fat cover the hips and descend a little lower than the place where the buttocks should arise. |
| Le Torse |  | ~ 27 000 BP | Le Torse - this Gravettian venus figurine was found during the 1896 excavations by Édouard Piette and J. de Laporterie at Grottes du Pape, Brassempouy. It was found in the upper part of the figurines layer, 4 or 5 cm above a fireplace. Dimensions: 94 mm high, 51.5 mm wide, 48 mm thick |
| La Poire |  | ~ 27 000 BP | La Poire is a figurine of mammoth ivory of which only the corpulent torso survives, found in 1892 in the 'Grotte du Pape' at Brassempouy. The name 'Venus' for this figurine was subsequently adopted by Édouard Piette (1827-1906). She was originally nicknamed la poire - 'the pear' - on account of her shape. For Piette, the name 'Venus' may have come to mind in this particular instance because of the emphatic treatment of the vulva's labia and the prominent, slightly protruding pubic area, which he tastefully refers to as 'le mont de Vénus' - the mound of Venus (or mons pubis). |
| Figurine à la Pèlerine |  | ~ 27 000 BP | The Venus called la figurine à la pèlerine, or figurine dressed in a cape, from the Grottes du Pape, Brassempouy, consists of a fragment of the torso of a figure wearing a cape. The arm in bas relief is folded across the chest. Sculptors had recognised how fragile arms are when they are detached from the trunk, and they used bas relief to represent them. The arm tapers in thickness from the shoulder to the elbow. |
| Sireuil |  | 27 000 - 25 000 BP | Sireuil Venus - The Venus de Sireuil was collected in 1900 in the Dordogne. It is made of translucent calcite. It was found in 1900 by M. Prat, on a road to a stone quarry, where a cartwheel which ran over it in the muddy rut where it lay unfortunately amputated the head and left hand which were not recovered. The material of the object is of amber calcite, slightly translucent, measuring 92 mm in height. Aurignacian flint was found 150 metres from the statue, in a quarry. |
| Femme à la Corne |  | 27 000 - 22 000 BP | Lausell Venus - The Femme à la Corne. This low relief venus is from Laussel, Dordogne. 44 cm (17.5 inches) high. The body swells out towards the viewer from this convex block of limestone. It formed one of a set, a frieze which included other female figures and a male figure. It probably dates to 27 000 - 22 000 BP. It was originally carved on a block of 4 cubic metres (140 cubic feet), and was originally covered in red ochre. The bison's horn and the series of 13 lines on it have often been linked with the moon or menstruation. The lines may represent the thirteen days of the waxing moon and the thirteen months of the lunar year. |
| Lespugue |  | 26 000 - 24 000 BP | Lespugue Venus - The Venus of Lespugue is a statuette of a nude female figure from the Gravettian period, dated to between 26 000 and 24 000 years ago. It was discovered in 1922 in the Rideaux cave of Lespugue (Haute-Garonne). Approximately 6 inches (150 mm) tall, it is carved from tusk ivory, and was damaged during excavation. Of all the steatopygous (large posterior) Venus figurines discovered from the upper Palaeolithic, the Venus of Lespugue, if the reconstruction is sound, appears to display the most exaggerated female secondary sexual characteristics, especially the extremely large, pendulous breasts. |
| Brassempouy |  | ~ 25 000 BP | Brassempouy Venus - this miniature head, 36.5 mm high, 22 mm deep and 19 mm wide, was carved from mammoth ivory. Found at Brassempouy, Landes, France in 1892. It may be 25 000 years old. It is one of the few Ice Age figures with facial features and a detailed hairstyle. It is the original for the 'Ayla' head from Jean Auel's Earth Children series of books. |
| Mainz |  | ~ 25 000 BP | The Linsenberg - Mainz venus figures were found at the archaeological site which occupies a height overlooking the city of Mainz. It is an open air site, and is buried in loess, the archaeological layer lying just above a bed of clay. Around 1920 E. Neeb and O. Schmidtgen collected two fragments of venus figures made of greenish sandstone, which are kept at the Archaeological Museum in Mainz. The first, with a height of 36 mm, includes only the lower limbs, with feet represented by a blunt point, and part of the pelvis, with the pubic triangle. |
| Tursac |  | ~ 25 000 BP | Tursac Venus - The Venus of Tursac is a calcite figure from 25 000 years BP. It was discovered on 5th August 1959 by M. Henri Delporte at Tursac, a village in the Perigord, near Sarlat, in the summer of 1959 at 'l'Abri du Facteur'. It is a treasure, a figurine made from a block of translucent calcite measuring 8 cm high and weighing 57.4 grams. While it lacks a head, arms and breasts it is still a very rare and important find. |
| Figurine à la Ceinture |  | ~ 25 000 BP | The Venus called la Figurine à la Ceinture or the figurine with a belt, from the Grottes du Pape, Brassempouy, displays the lower part of a human body. It is difficult to determine the sex. The belly is as flat as that of a man. The hips and thighs have female contours. The legs are pressed one against the other, and end in points. The sexual organs are not shown distinctly, and this suggests that they are not those of a man. This figurine never had feet. The vertical groove in the back is deep. |
| la Fillette or la Poupée |  | ~ 25 000 BP | The Venus called la Fillette or la Poupée, from the Grottes du Pape, Brassempouy, is a figurine of a girl, made with just a few blows of the flint. It is a child's toy. She has no arms, and probably never had feet. She is naked, and her hair is long. The sex is shown. |
| Kostenki |  | 25 000 - 21 000 BP | Venus figures from the Kostenki - Borshevo region on the Don River. Kostenki is a very important Palaeolithic site. It was a settlement which contained many venus figures, dwellings made of mammoth bones, and many flint tools and bone implements. |
| Milandes |  | 25 000 - 15 000 BP (?) | The Venus of Milandes is a phallic shaped venus figure from the Dordogne valley, apparently of Palaeolithic age. It was found by a five year old boy in a field, and taken home as one of a number of curiosities found that day. It was shaped from a silicified iron bearing limestone pebble, already with a phallic - feminine shape, and further altered to accentuate this interpretation. The object has a maximum height of 77.3 mm to a maximum width at the hips of 39.0 mm. The object weighs about 90 grams. |
| Savignano |  | 25 000 - 15 000 BP (?) | The Savignano Venus is from the north Italian plain, and is 22cm high. It is made of serpentine, and arms are indicated only, across the breasts. It was found in 1925 at Savignano sul Punaro, near Modena. The figurine was buried a metre deep in alluvial deposits devoid of archaeological context. For this reason, the dating is uncertain, but most authorities include it in the Upper Palaeolithic , based on stylistic comparisons with other known venus figurines. |
| Renancourt |  | 23 000 BP | Another venus has been discovered in France, and is known as the Venus of Renancourt. It was discovered on 27th November 2014 near Amiens, and is a limestone statuette of a woman about 12 cm high, found in about 20 pieces. It is an exceptional find. |
| Khotylyovo |  | 23 000 BP | A venus figure carved in mammoth ivory, from circa 23 000 BP, has been discovered at the East Gravettian Khotylevo 2 site by Dr Konstantin N. Gavrilov, from the Institute of Archaeology, RAS. The Upper Palaeolithic site of Khotylevo 2 is situated 400 km SSW of Moscow and 25 km NW of Bryansk. |
| Mal'ta - Buret' |  | 23 000 - 19 000 BP | The Mal'ta - Buret' venuses and culture in Siberia - the site of Mal'ta, is composed of a series of subterranean houses made of large animal bones and reindeer antler which had likely been covered with animal skins and sod to protect inhabitants from the severe, prevailing northerly winds. Among the artistic accomplishments evident at Mal'ta are the remains of expertly carved bone, ivory, and antler objects. Figurines of birds and human females are the most commonly found items. |
| El Pendo |  | 23 000 - 17 000 BP | The Venus of El Pendo Cave, Camargo, province of Santander, may be of modern manufacture. It is in the form of a spear straightener or baton de commandement, made of deer antler, variously dated to the Solutrean or the upper Magdalenian, excavated by Abbé Jesus Carballo at El Pendo Cavern. Of interest is the form of the handle, which evokes the feminine form. This 'Venus' was discovered in the Solutrean layer of the El Pendo Cave. It is made of deer antler, and its form evokes that of a woman, with arms raised and with large hips. |
| Moravany |  | ~ 22 800 BP | Moravany Venus - the Venus of Moravany is 76 mm tall, and was discovered when it was found in a ploughed field by a farmer in 1938 in the area of Moravany nad Váhom, a village near the spa resort Piestany in Slovakia. It is officially dated 22 800 B.P. and belongs to the shouldered points horizon. (Willendorf-Kostenkian or Upper Gravettian). |
| Abri Pataud |  | ~ 22 000 BP | The Venus of Abri Pataud. The figure, which appears to represent a comparatively young female, is more slender and gracile than is normally the case. Executed on an unprepared, roughly tabular limestone block that is 194 mm long, 140 mm wide, and 50 mm thick, the figure, which is shown in bas-relief, is almost exactly 60 mm long and 11 mm wide at the point of greatest width, in the region of the hips. |
| Zaraysk |  | 22 000 - 16 000 BP | The Zaraysk Venus is not voluptuous, which puts it with the 'thin' Kostenki - Avdeevo venuses, but in this case there is one difference, that the legs are not placed together, which is also the case for the Willendorf venus. This testifies to the uniqueness of the Zaraysk site, which has features of both the Kostenki and Avdeevo cultures. Zaraysk or Zaraisk or Зарайск is an important Palaeolithic site from the Ice Age in Russia, and is the northernmost example of the Kostenki - Avdeevo culture. |
| Gagarino |  | ~ 21 800 BP | The Gagarino venus which is most well known is of an obese woman from the Gagarino site, located on the right bank of the Don River near the Sosna tributary. Here peasants discovered a house pit while excavating a silo trench. Zamiatinine, who excavated this site during 1926 - 1929, found a house pit roughly oval in outline about 5.5 metres long and 4.5 metres wide. The wealth of material remains found in this one house pit is seen in the recorded finds of some six hundred flint implements, over a thousand blades, and proportionately large numbers of cores and waste flints. Artefacts of bone as well as seven 'venus' figurines completed the roster of non-lithic material. |
| Avdeevo |  | 21 000 – 20 000 BP | Avdeevo - Venus figures and other finds from this important archaeological site. The Avdeevo venus figures are quite variable, but most depict mature women in various stages of the reproductive cycle. Avdeevo is located on the Sejm River near the city of Kursk, Russia. Two oval living areas surrounded by semisubterranean lodges and pits have been identified at Avdeevo. Both were occupied between 21 000 and 20 000 BP. The tool inventory consists of Kostenki knives, shouldered points, and leaf points on blades. |
| Placard |  | 21 000 - 19 000 BP | Placard Venus - La grotte du Placard is a decorated cave in the commune of Vilhonneur in Charante, 30 km east of Angoulême. It has been extensively researched and has levels dating from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, especially the Magdalenian and Solutrean. |
| Krasnyy Yar |  | ~19 100 BP | Krasnyy Yar Venus - The Siberian Palaeolithic site of Krasnyy Yar, located on the right bank of the Angara, about 200 km downstream of Irkutsk, which itself is 72 kilometres from the outflow of the Angara River from Lake Baikal, yielded in 1957, a highly stylised female figure. It is a small figurine of bone, carefully polished, whose size is 37mm x 11mm x 8 mm. The area at the time was an arid arctic steppe, and oil shale gathered nearby was used for fuel. |
| Madeleine |  | 18 000 - 14 000 BP | A new venus figurine has been recognised from La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, in the Dordogne, France. It was discovered by Capitan and Peyrony at La Madeleine, and was described in 1928 as a dagger blade made of reindeer antler. I thought it was a venus figure when I saw it on display in Le Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac in 2008, and it has now been described as such by Jean-Pierre Duhard in Paleo 21, 2009-2010. |
| Magdeleine des Ablis |  | 18 000 - 13 000 BP | There are two reclining bas relief venus figures at La Magdeleine des Ablis, which is located near Penne, in Tarn. The engravings and sculptures were found in 1950 by M. Bessac. Dating has been proposed for the engravings as being circa 13 000 BP, but this may be too young a date. Moreover, the works are not homogenous, and a considerable period of time may have elapsed between the engravings. |
| Parabita |  | ~ 17 000 BP | The Venus of Parabita is 90 mm high and 20 mm wide, and is made from a splinter of bone from an aurochs or horse. There are no features on the face, while the chin and neck is crossed by two parallel curved incisions, creating the impression of a collar or hood. From here the two sloping shoulders continue into arms, which become thinner, then thicker, and finally come together under a prominent abdomen, perhaps indicating pregnancy. A second venus is smaller, 61 mm high and 15 mm wide, and has different stylistic features. |
| Venus Impudique |  | ~16 000 BP | Impudique Venus (Immodest Venus). Discovered in 1864 by the Marquis Paul de Vibraye at Laugerie Basse. It was the first Venus figure found in France. The Marquis was playfully reversing the appellation of 'Venus pudica' ('modest Venus') that is used to describe a statue type of the Classical Venus which shows, in many statues the goddess attempting to conceal her breasts and pubic area from view. The inference the Marquis makes is that this prehistoric Venus makes no attempt to hide her sexuality. This ivory venus is 8 cm high, and has lost the head. The stomach is flat, and could be of a young girl. |
| Mas d'Azil |  | 16 000 - 15 000 BP | Sculpture of a female figure from Mas d'Azil, from the middle Magdalenian, discovered by Piette. This human bust, carved in the root of an incisor of a horse, shows a great mastery of sculptural technique. The nature, form and volume of material forced the sculptor to enclose the body within narrow limits. The originality of this sculpture is reinforced by the representation of the breasts, elongated and pendant, but not bulky. There is also a second stylised venus figure, which is very reminiscent of the female/bird sculptures of Mezin. |
| Kesslerloch |  | 16 000 - 14 000 BP | The Kesslerloch Venus has been made from a piece of jet. The breasts have been shown by a V shaped notch in the upper part of the figure. In the same fashion, the legs are separated by a V shaped notch. The back of the figure mostly still shows the original surface. Overall, the whole figure is angular and unfinished. Perhaps this is only a work in progress. It was discovered in 1954 by W. Mamber in the old excavation of Jakob Nüesch. Kesslerloch is a Swiss cave discovered in 1873, west of Thayngen, in the canton of Schaffhausen, a Palaeolithic site, with many discoveries of stone, bone and reindeer antler. |
| Bédeilhac |  | ~ 15 000 BP | The Venus of Bédeilhac - also known as la Femme à la Capuche. It is formed from a horse canine tooth, pierced and sculpted. 47 mm long. Discovered in the Jauze-Mandement section, the third terrace. It was part of a necklace of perforated teeth. The sculpture represents a human head with eyes, a very large nose, and it seems amazed, the mouth partially open. The figure is framed by a sort of hood. There is a biconical transverse perforation through the neck. It was discovered by Joseph Mandement, who also made the first crossing of the Green Lake at Niaux. He was an amateur archeologist, and made many discoveries at Niaux, Mas d'Azil and Bédeilhac. |
| Petersfels |  | 15 500-14 000 BP | The Engen (Petersfels) venuses are made of jet, or hard coal, and were found at the Petersfels site, near Engen in Germany. It is one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in Central Europe with an enormous number of important artefacts. It was a settlement site of the Magdalenian (late Upper Palaeolithic), with many layers, towards the end of the last ice age, during the period 15 500-14 000 BP. The main activity here was reindeer hunting in autumn. |
| Abri Fontalès |  | 15 000 BP - 12 000 BP | Abri Fontales in the l'Aveyron gorge, in Tarn-et-Garonne has venus figures and engravings of the Lalinde type |
| Lalinde / Gönnersdorf |  | ~15 000 BP | Lalinde / Gönnersdorf figurines and engravings are strictly stylised, overtly female forms with over-sized buttocks, long trunks, small or missing breasts, and no heads. These images have been found at sites such as Gönnersdorf in Germany, in Abri Murat and Gare de Couze in France, Pekárna in the Czech Republic, and Wilczyce in Poland. |
| Wilczyce |  | ~15 000 BP | Female figurines in the style of Lalinde/Gönnersdorf from Wilczyce are unusual in that many are knapped from flint. Located on the Sandomierz plateau in southern Poland, the Wilczyce site was discovered in 1994 during a prospecting campaign carried out by the Polish Academy of Sciences. The site is located on a slope dominating the valley of the river Opatówka, and uniquely, the venus figures are all in 'ice wedges' deposits, which occur in areas subjected to permafrost. |
| Waldstetten |  | 15 000 BP | The Waldstetten Venus was discovered in 2019 in the Ostalb District of Germany, outside the town of Waldstetten, was made in the Gönnersdorf style about 15 000 years BP. It is engraved with lines which further identify it as having the properties of a phallus. |
| Supplicant |  | 15 000 - 10 000 BP (?) | The Venus of Laugerie Basse - the Supplicant. This venus is a tiny, broken, crudely carved statuette of reindeer antler, 44 millimetres long, depicting a faceless human bent forward as though in supplication, with arms raised as if in prayer or adoration. |
| Courbet |  | ~ 14 900 BP | The Venus figure of Courbet is about 14 900 years old, and is made of fine-grained red quartzite. 25 mm. Musée Toulouse-Lautrec d’Albi. |
| Neuchâtel - Monruz |  | ~ 14 900 BP | The Venus figures of Neuchâtel - Monruz - The Venus of Neuchâtel is a pendant in jet, and is 16 mm high. It was found at Neuchâtel in 1991, and is dated at 14 900 BP. The site of Monruz (commune of Neuchâtel) borders the lake over a length of a hundred metres. Formerly open to the air, it was by now covered with five metres of clay, sand, and gravel , capped by the bitumen of a trunk road. |
| Pekarna |  | ~ 14 500 BP | The Venus of Pekarna, from Pekarna Cave, Moravia. |
| Roc-aux-Sorciers |  | ~ 14 000 BP | The Venus of Roc-aux-Sorciers was found in an Upper Palaeolithic rock shelter site dating to the mid-Magdalenian cultural stage, ca 14 000 BP, made famous by its relief wall carvings. The south-facing rock-shelter is composed of two geologically distinct sections; below is the Abri Bourdois, a classic rock-shelter site beneath a slight overhang, and above is the Cave Taillebourg, a deeper vestibule. |
| Roc-aux-Sorciers |  | ~ 14 000 BP | The second Venus of Roc-aux-Sorciers has many similarities to the first. It is apparently of the same lithic material, and stands 75 mm tall. |
| Balzi Rossi Venuses |  | ~ 14 000 BP | Balzi Rossi Venuses - the Grimaldi Venuses. On the Liguria coast are the entrances of the complex of the caverns of the Balzi Rossi (literally red leaps). The complex is composed of numerous coves and shelters. The first searches occurred in 1846-57, by the prince of Monaco, Florestano I. More recently, between 1928 and 1959, regular diggings were executed. Louis Alexandre Jullien discovered, between 1883 and 1895, about fifteen figurines, the greatest series ever found in only one place in Western Europe. |
| Nebra |  | 14 000 - 13 000 BP | Nebra Venus - The site of Altenburg in the Stone Age was a particularly favorable place to settle. Excavations have uncovered a settlement of the Magdalenian hunters. The tent-like dwelling was visited repeatedly over a number of summers. Floor plans and post holes of residential buildings have been identified. The most well known discovery is the 'Venus of Nebra', one of three sculptures in ivory approximately 7 cm high. |
| Las Caldas |  | ~ 13 400 BP | This Venus figure from Las Caldas Cave has the head of an ibex and the legs and genitals of a female human. Some think it is not meant to be a venus, but is part of an atlatl, a spear thrower. |
| Vogelherd |  | ~ 13 000 BP | The Vogelherd Venus is one of the Lalinde - Gönnersdorf venus figurines, made of a boar's tooth, and was found at the 2008 re-excavation of the materials from the Riek excavation of 1931 in front of the Vogelherdhöhle cave. It is of Magdalenian age, from circa 13 000 BP. |
| Enval |  | ~ 13 000 BP | This statuette discovered at the foot of the rock escarpment of l'abri d'Enval in 1970 is one of the smallest known palaeolithic figurines, being 31 mm high, with a width of 15 mm and a thickness of 14 mm. It was made of soft sandstone more than 13 000 years ago. |
| Tolentino |  | 12 000 - 5 000 BP | The Venus of Tolentino is a figure carved with a chisel on thin chert, height about 13 cm. The drawing depicts a woman with zoomorphic features. It has legs, breasts, and a geometric vulva, but the body is surmounted by a cow's head (or a herbivorous animal, bovid or equid). The Venus de Tolentino has been dated to a period between 5 000 and 12 000 years ago, between the Pleistocene and Neolithic, when agriculture developed in Europe. The stone on which the Venus is carved was probably used as a tool striker, or to crush seeds. Both ends are chipped from use. |
| Craiova |  | 10 000 - 5 000 BP (?) | Little is known about the Craiova Venus. It was found near Craiova, Oltenia, Romania. It may be Neolithic. |
| Chiozza |  | est. ~ 10 000 BP (?) | The Chiozza Venus was discovered in 1940 in the clay pit of Chiozza, near Scandiano, Italy. It was found in Holocene alluvial deposits, and it is not possible to objectively determine its age. It may be Palaeolithic. The statue is carved in Chiozza hard brown sandstone with a height of 205 mm, a maximum width of 50 mm and a maximum thickness of 60 mm. The head is subspherical, and carries no detail. The neck is thick and poorly marked; the torso, square, carries pendant breasts, but they are relatively flat, and the arms are completely lacking. This is a rather crude representation, whose general formation closely preserves the shape of the block of raw material. The style, without force and without originality, is not especially Palaeolithic. |