The Venus of Brassempouy, ANCIENT PALEOLITHIC FEMALE FIGURINE

Description

This beautiful and haunting sculpture of a woman’s head was carved from mammoth ivory during the Ice Age. At over 25,000 years old, this prehistoric figurine is the oldest known realistic depiction of a human face. The Venus of Brassempouy was discovered in 1892 by Édouard Piette, a French archaeologist and prehistorian. The figurine was found in the Grotte du Pape (meaning ‘The Pope’s Cave’), one of two caves located near the village of Brassempouy in the southwestern French department of Landes. The Venus of Brassempouy was carved out of mammoth ivory and has been dated to around 23,000 BC. The Venus of Brassempouy, which measures around 3.5 cm (1.38 inches), is a fragmentary figurine, as only its head was discovered. Her face is triangular and seems tranquil. While forehead, nose and brows are carved in relief, the mouth is absent. A vertical crack on the right side of the face is linked to the internal structure of the ivory. On the head is a checkerboard-like pattern formed by two series of shallow incisions at right angles to each other; it has been interpreted as a wig, a hood, or simply a representation of hair. Today, the Venus of Brassempouy is kept in the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, not far from Paris. This precious figurine, however, is not on permanent display, as, being made of ivory, it is highly susceptible to changes in moisture, temperature, and light. This STL was made from a high resolution scan of the original cast of this…