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These venuses were images of mother earth. Primitive Venuses

These venuses were images of mother earth. Primitive Venuses

12.06.2019

Plan:

1 Discovery history
2 Description
3 Notable examples
4 Classification
5 Interpretation

Introduction

Venus of Willendorf

« Paleolithic Venus"- a generalizing concept for many prehistoric figurines of women with common features (many are depicted as obese or pregnant), dating from the Upper Paleolithic. Figurines are found mainly in Europe, but the range of finds extends far to the east up to the Irkutsk region, that is, to most of Eurasia: from the Pyrenees to Lake Baikal. Most of the finds belong to the Gravettian culture, but there are also earlier ones related to the Aurignacian culture, including the "Venus of Hole Fels" (discovered in 2008 and dated at least 35 thousand years ago); and later, already belonging to the Madeleine culture.

These figurines are carved from bones, tusks, and soft stones (such as steatite, calcite, or limestone). There are also figurines sculpted from clay and subjected to firing, which is one of the oldest examples of ceramics known to science. In total, more than a hundred "Venus" have been discovered so far, most of which are relatively small in size - from 4 to 25 cm in height.

1. History of discovery

Venus Brassempuiska

The first statuettes of the Upper Paleolithic era depicting women were discovered around 1864 by the Marquis de Vibraye in Logerie Bass (Dordogne department) in southwestern France. Vibret named his find "Venus impudique" (Venus impudique), thus contrasting it with the "Venus Pudica" of the Hellenistic model, one example of which is the famous "Venus Medicean". The statuette from Laugèrie-Basse belongs to the Madeleine culture. She is missing her head, arms, and legs, but has a clear incision made to represent the vaginal opening. Another discovered and recognized instance of such figurines was the "Venus of Brassempuiska", found by Edouard Piette (Édouard Piette) in 1894. Initially, the term "Venus" was not applied to her. Four years later, Salomon Reinach published a description of a whole group of steatite figurines from the Balzi Rossi caves. The famous "Venus of Willendorf" was found during excavations in 1908 in loess deposits in the Danube River Valley, Austria. Since then, hundreds of similar figurines have been found in the territory from the Pyrenees to Siberia. Primitive scientists of the early 20th century considered them the embodiment of the prehistoric ideal of beauty and therefore gave them a common name in honor of the Roman goddess of beauty, Venus.

In September 2008, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen discovered a 6 cm statuette of a woman made from mammoth tusk - "Venus from Hole Fels", dating from at least 35,000 BC. e. It is currently the oldest example of sculptures of this kind and figurative art in general (the origin of the much more ancient figurine of Venus from Tan-Tan is controversial, although it is estimated at 500-300 thousand years). The carved figurine was found in 6 fragments in the Hole-Fels cave, Germany, and represents a typical Paleolithic "Venus" with a pronouncedly large belly, widely spaced hips and large breasts.

2. Description

Most of the statuettes of "Paleolithic Venuses" have common artistic characteristics. The most common are diamond-shaped figures, narrowed at the top (head) and bottom (legs), and wide in the middle (belly and hips). Some of them noticeably emphasize certain anatomical features of the human body: abdomen, hips, buttocks, breasts, vulva. Other parts of the body, on the other hand, are often neglected or absent, especially the arms and legs. The heads are also usually relatively small and lack detail.

In this regard, disputes have arisen regarding the legitimacy of the use of the term steatopygia, in relation to the "Paleolithic Venus". This question was first raised by Édouard Piette, who discovered the "Venus Brassempuiska" and some other specimens in the Pyrenees. Some researchers consider these characteristics as real physiological traits, similar to those observed in representatives of the Khoisan peoples of South Africa. Other researchers dispute this view and explain them as a symbol of fertility and abundance. It should be noted that not all Paleolithic Venuses are obese and have exaggerated feminine features. Also, not all figurines are devoid of facial features. Nevertheless, the appearance of statuettes, similar to each other in style and in certain proportions, allows us to talk about the formation of a single artistic canon: the chest and hips fit into a circle, and the entire image into a rhombus.

"Venus of Willendorf" and "Venus of Lossel" were apparently covered with red ocher. The meaning of this is not fully understood, but usually the use of ocher is associated with a religious or ritual act - perhaps symbolizing blood during menstruation or the birth of a child.

All the "Paleolithic Venuses" recognized by the majority belong to the Upper Paleolithic (mainly to the Gravettian and Solutrean cultures). At this time, figurines with obese figures predominate. In Madeleine culture, the forms become more graceful and with more detail.

3. Notable examples

Venus from Hole Fels

Venus, the artificial origin of which has not been proven

4. Classification

Of several attempts to create a classification of Upper Paleolithic figurines, the least controversial is that proposed by Henri Delporte, based on a purely geographical principle. He distinguishes:

Pyrenean-Aquitanian group (Venus Lespugskaya, Losselskaya and Brassempuiskaya)
Mediterranean group (Venus from the island of Malta)
Rhine-Danubian group (Venus of Willendorf, Vestonica Venus)
Russian group (Kostenki, Zaraysk and Gagarino)
Siberian group (Venus Maltinskaya, Venus from Bureti)

5. Interpretation

Venus Malta

Many attempts to understand and interpret the meaning and use of statuettes are based on a small amount of evidence. As with other prehistoric artifacts, their cultural significance may never be known. However, archaeologists speculate that they may have been protective and good luck charms, fertility symbols, pornographic images, or even directly related to the Mother Goddess or other local deities. Female figurines, which are examples of Late Paleolithic portable art, do not appear to have had any practical subsistence use. For the most part, they were found on the sites of ancient settlements, both in open sites and in caves. Their use in burials is much less common.

At the site of the Late Paleolithic era near the village. Gagarino in the Lipetsk region, in an oval semi-dugout with a diameter of about 5 meters, 7 figures of naked women were found, which are believed to have served as amulets-amulets. In the parking lot at Malta in the Baikal region, all the figurines were found on the left side of the dwellings. Most likely, these figurines were not hidden, but, on the contrary, were placed in a prominent place where everyone could see them (this is one of the factors that can explain their wide geographical distribution)

The noticeable obesity of the figurines may be associated with the cult of fertility. In times before agriculture and pastoralism, and in times of lack of access to abundant food supplies, being overweight could symbolize the desire for abundance, fertility, and security. However, these theories are not a scientifically indisputable fact and only the result of the speculative conclusions of scientists.

Recently found 2 very ancient stone objects (dating 500,000 - 200,000 years ago) are also interpreted by some researchers as an attempt to convey the image of women. One of them, "Venus from Berehat-Ram", was discovered on the Golan Heights, the second - "Venus from Tan-Tan" - in Morocco. The question of their origin is debatable: whether they were processed by man to give them a more anthropomorphic look, or whether they took this form due to purely natural factors.

Some scholars suggest that there is a direct link between "Paleolithic Venuses" and later depictions of women in the Neolithic, and even the Bronze Age. However, these views are not confirmed and are not consistent with the fact that such images are absent in the Mesolithic era.

Notes

Randall White, "The women of Brassempouy: A century of research and interpretation", Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 13 .4, December 2006:253 - www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/anthro/programs/csho/Content/Facultycvandinfo/White/Women of Brassempouy Final red.pdf pdf file
Conard, Nicholas J.. "A female figurine from the basal Aurignacian of Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany - www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7244/pdf/nature07995.pdf". Nature(459): 248–252. DOI:10.1038/nature07995 - dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature07995. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
V. A. Semenov Primitive Art: Stone Age. Bronze Age .. - St. Petersburg. : ABC Classics, 2008. - S. 53. - 592 p. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-91181-903-3
H. Delporte: L'image de la femme dans l'art prehistorique, Ed. Picard (1993) ISBN 2-7084-0440-7
Hizri Amirkhanov and Sergey Lev. New finds of art objects from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Zaraysk, Russia - antiquity.ac.uk/ant/082/ant0820862.htm
www.membrana.ru - Venuses of the Stone Age found near Zaraisk - www.membrana.ru/lenta/?8913
Gagarino. Paleolithic site. - slovari.yandex.ru/dict/bse/article/00016/10600.htm

Paleolithic Venus

« Paleolithic Venus" is an umbrella term for a variety of prehistoric figurines of women with common features (many depicted as obese or pregnant) dating from the Upper Paleolithic. Figurines are found mainly in Europe, but the range of finds extends far to the east up to the Irkutsk region, that is, to most of Eurasia: from the Pyrenees to Lake Baikal. Most of the finds belong to the Gravettian culture, but there are also earlier ones related to the Aurignacian culture, including "Venus from Hole Fels" (discovered in 2008 and dated at least 35 thousand years ago); and later, already belonging to the Madeleine culture.

These figurines are carved from bones, tusks, and soft types of stone (such as steatite, calcite, or limestone). There are also figurines sculpted from clay and subjected to firing, which is one of the oldest examples of ceramics known to science. In total, more than a hundred "Venus" have been discovered so far, most of which are relatively small in size - from 4 to 25 cm in height.

Discovery history

The first statuettes of the Upper Paleolithic era depicting women were discovered around 1864 by the Marquis de Vibraye in Logerie Bass (Dordogne department) in southwestern France. Vibre called his find “Venus impudique” (Venus impudique), thus contrasting it with the “Venus modest” (Venus Pudica) of the Hellenistic pattern, one example of which is the famous “Venus Medicean”. The statuette from Laugèrie-Basse belongs to the Madeleine culture. She is missing her head, arms, and legs, but has a clear incision made to represent the vaginal opening. Another discovered and recognized instance of such figurines was "Venus of Brassempui", found by Edouard Piette (Édouard Piette) in 1894. Initially, the term "Venus" was not applied to her. Four years later, Salomon Reinach published a description of a whole group of steatite figurines from the Balzi Rossi caves. The famous Venus of Willendorf was found during excavations in 1908 in loess deposits in the Danube River Valley, Austria. Since then, hundreds of similar figurines have been found in the territory from the Pyrenees to Siberia. Scientists of the early 20th century, studying primitive societies, considered them the embodiment of the prehistoric ideal of beauty and, therefore, gave them a common name in honor of the Roman goddess of beauty Venus.

In September 2008, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen discovered a 6 cm statuette of a woman made from mammoth tusk - "Venus from Hole Fels", dating back to at least 35,000 BC. e. It is currently the oldest example of sculptures of this kind and figurative art in general (the origin of the much more ancient figurine of Venus from Tan-Tan is controversial, although it is estimated at 500-300 thousand years). The carved figurine was found in 6 fragments in the Hole-Fels cave, Germany, and represents a typical Paleolithic "Venus" with a pronouncedly large belly, widely spaced hips and large breasts.

Description

In this regard, disputes have arisen regarding the legitimacy of using the term steatopygia, in relation to the "Paleolithic Venus". This question was first raised by Édouard Piette, who discovered the "Venus of Brassempui" and some other specimens in the Pyrenees. Some researchers consider these characteristics as real physiological traits, similar to those observed in representatives of the Khoisan peoples of South Africa. Other researchers dispute this view and explain them as a symbol of fertility and abundance. It should be noted that not all Paleolithic Venuses are obese and have exaggerated feminine features. Also, not all figurines are devoid of facial features. Nevertheless, the appearance of statuettes, similar to each other in style and in certain proportions, allows us to talk about the formation of a single artistic canon: the chest and hips fit into a circle, and the entire image into a rhombus.

>> Paleolithic Venus
Paleolithic Venus

For a comprehensive idea of Venus, they are usually mentally transferred to the times of antiquity and see the flowering femininity of Venus de Milo, the goddess of love and beauty that captivates the male imagination, the celestial Sandro Botticelli emerging from the foam of the sea. But what if you send the imagination to thirty or thirty-five thousand years ago? The Upper Paleolithic - the early Stone Age - gave humanity the image of the most ancient Venus, the true goddess, the miracle and purpose of which is the continuation of life.

Venuses of the Paleolithic or Paleolithic Venuses is a general term for prehistoric figurines, reliefs and figurines of women, the image of which is based on many common features. There is no traditional modern eroticism in the ancient figurines, but there is admiration and admiration for the woman-mother, the woman-goddess, the woman-beginning of life. Paleolithic Venuses are always obese, most often pregnant women, with sagging breasts, the milk of which a lot of children are fed, with huge hips that ensure easy childbirth. All the organs of the female body that are responsible for the process of childbirth are given special attention, the rest - hair, smile, eyes, long legs - did not interest the prehistoric artist at all.

Figurines are distributed throughout Eurasia, from Baikal to the Pyrenees. The material of the figurines is bone, mammoth tusks, soft stone that can be processed with primitive tools of the first sculptors: limestone, calcite, steatite. By the way, the first ceramic figurine in the history of mankind is the Paleolithic Venus found in the Czech Republic. At the moment, archaeologists have a hundred figurines of Venus from 4 to 25 centimeters high, the most famous of which are:

Venus from Hole Fels, 35-40 thousand years old, Germany, mammoth tusk;

Vestonica Venus, 27-31 thousand years old, Czech Republic, ceramics;

Venus of Willendorf, 24-26 thousand years old, Austria, limestone;

Venus from Lespug, 23 thousand years old, France, ivory;

Venus Maltinskaya, 23 thousand years old, Russia, mammoth tusk;

Venus of Brassempuiska, 22 thousand years old, France, ivory;

Venus Kostenkovskaya, 21 thousand years old, Russia, limestone;

Venus Losselskaya, 20 thousand years old, France, limestone.

The figurines mostly belong to the archaeological Gravettes culture, there are also both earlier examples of the Aurignacian culture (35 thousand years ago, Venus from Hole Fels), and later figurines of the Madeleine culture period.

Many scientists have attempted to create a classification of finds. In the scientific world, the classification of Henry Delport, which is based on the geographical principle, is considered the least controversial:

Pyrenean-Aquitanian group (Venus of Lespug, Lossel and Brassempuy);

Mediterranean group (Venus from the island of Malta);

Rhine-Danubian group (Venus of Willendorf and Venus of Vestonice);

Central Russian group (Kostenki, Zaraysk, Gagarino);

Siberian group (Venus Malta, Venus from Buret).

There are two, perhaps the most mysterious of the Paleolithic Venuses, that is, figurines whose creation by human hand has not been proven. Most researchers argue that both figures acquired anthropomorphic features in a natural way. It's all about the age of the finds, if the classic Venuses of the Stone Age are a maximum of 40 thousand years old, then the Venus from Tan-Tan is from 300 to 500 thousand years old, and the Venus from Berekhat-Rama

230 thousand years. The material of the disputed figurines is quartzite and tuff, soft rocks, largely subject to erosion.

The first Venus was discovered in France in 1864. The Marquis de Virbe presented his find to the public, christening it "Venus dissolute" (Venus impudique). The statuette of the Marquis de Virbe dates back to the Magdalenian archaeological culture. This is a small rough female figurine without a head, arms and legs, the master paid attention only to female sexual characteristics: a clear incision at the site of the vaginal opening and a large breast. In 1894, and again in France, on the territory of the cave dwelling of the Stone Age people, Edouard Piette discovered the first of the famous Paleolithic anthropomorphic female figures - Venus of Brassempuis. The Venus of Willendorf lay for 26,000 years on the banks of the Danube until it was recovered from the loess deposits in 1908. At the moment, the Venus from Hole Fels is the last significant find, plus it is also the oldest figurine found, the very first example of figurative art.

Why do scientists call prehistoric figurines "Venuses"? If in scientific circles there are disagreements in the dating, purpose and method of processing the material when creating figurines, then there is a common opinion regarding symbolism: a female figurine of the early Stone Age is the embodiment of the ideal of beauty of that time, therefore, the generalized name was given in honor of the goddess of beauty. Attempts to interpret the meaning and possible use of ancient figurines are based on assumptions, on personal guesses of archaeologists, on certain ideas of scientists about the universe, but there is no most basic one in any proof - there are no facts. The case is common for almost all artifacts of prehistoric times, and the indisputable truth is that the true cultural meaning of objects will forever remain a mystery and will never go beyond someone's conjectures, assumptions or stereotypes. The following versions about the purpose of the Paleolithic Venus are considered the most plausible: a symbol of fertility, both female and agricultural; the image of the Mother Goddess or any other female deity; protective female talisman; pornographic image. There are only a few such figurines found in burials. The only thing that can be stated with certainty is that the figurines could not be of practical use and were not a tool for earning a livelihood. Common find sites are open settlements or caves.

The unifying factor for Stone Age Venuses is artistic characteristics. The most common type is a diamond-shaped figure with a wide middle part - these are the hips, buttocks and stomach, and narrowed upper and lower parts - the head and legs. The figurines most often lack legs and arms. The head is small, without details.

Classical, recognized by all Venuses belong to two cultures of the Upper Paleolithic: Gravettian and Solutrean - these are the most obese figures, by the time of the Madeleine culture, the figurines become more graceful, acquire a face, body details acquire clear lines, and artistic skill noticeably increases. The use of ocher in the creation of figurines is known - these are the Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Lossel. Definitely, the ocher coating carries sacred symbolism (blood during menstruation or at birth), there is a connection with some kind of religious ritual action.

Among the hundreds of female figures of the Upper Paleolithic, each of which deservedly claims to be unique, there is still the most unique one - Venus Vestonica, she forced the scientific world to radically reconsider the ideas about the life of an ancient person. The "goddess of the Stone Age" was found in the Czech Republic on July 13, 1925, on the site of an ancient hearth, by archaeologists Emmanuel Dania and Josef Seidl. The expedition members did not immediately understand what kind of treasure they were holding in their hands and what their small find would mean for history. At first glance, it was already a well-known female image: magnificent breasts, wide hips and a round belly. Only when all the "time deposits" were carefully cleaned off, it became clear that modest Czech historians became famous in an instant, the goddess Venus showed her kindness and once again surprised humanity with a gift. Venus Vestonica is the oldest ceramic figurine interspersed with organic material. Indisputable proof that approximately 26-29 thousand years ago people knew how to burn clay, until 1925 even the most daring minds could not imagine such a thing. In 2004, a tomographic study of the figurine was carried out, and again a sensation - it turns out that the figurine has a fingerprint of a ten-year-old child left before firing. Venus from Upper Vestonice belongs to the Gravettian archaeological culture.

An object 11 centimeters long, in some way turning archaeological science upside down. Currently, Venus Vestonica is exhibited in the museum of the Czech city of Brno.

"Paleolithic Venuses": the oldest works of art

Since the dawn of civilization, a special place in people's lives has been played by art, which in ancient times had a ritual character. Many are familiar with the so-called "Paleolithic Venuses" - figurines of the Upper Paleolithic era, depicting obese or pregnant women. The most significant of these findings will be discussed below.

Prehistoric figurines of women, which scientists called the general concept of "Paleolithic Venuses", were found mainly in Europe, but the range of such finds extended to most of Eurasia up to Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia.

Most of the Western European finds belong to the Gravettian culture dating back to 28-21 millennium BC. e., but figurines were found that belonged to the earlier Aurignacian culture (33-19 millennium BC).

Such ancient works of art include Venus from Hole Fels, discovered in a cave of the same name near the German city of Schelklingen. This is the oldest of the "Paleolithic Venuses" known to science, its age is determined between 35 and 40 thousand years. This figurine is recognized as the oldest work of figurative art. Venus of Swabia, as this figurine is also called, is made of woolly mammoth tusk and represents the figure of an obese woman with a bright accent on her breasts and vulva. The figurine was preserved without some fragments, however, from the surviving part, it is clear to scientists that it was used as a pendant.

In our time, more than a hundred "Paleolithic Venuses" are known, which are made of soft rocks of stone, bones, tusks, and even molded from clay using firing. The size of such figurines varies from 4 to 25 cm. Sometimes such “Venuses” were also found in the form of bas-reliefs (Venus of Lossel).

One of the first "Paleolithic Venuses" found was Venus Brassempuiska, or "Hooded Lady". It was discovered near the French village of Brassempouy in 1892. Only a fragment depicting a woman's face remained from the statuette. This image is considered one of the earliest realistic depictions of the human face in general.

In 1908, another famous "Paleolithic Venus" called the Venus of Willendorf was found in the Danube Valley in Austria. The figurine, 11 cm high, was carved from oolitic limestone. This material is not found in this area, and this is talking about the movements of ancient people. The figurine is tinted with red ocher and dates back to about 24-22 millennium BC. e. Venus of Willendorf is also made in an exaggerated manner, has a clearly defined navel, genitals and breasts, on which hands are folded.

The oldest ceramic figurine known to science is the Vestonice Venus, found in Moravia (Czech Republic) in 1925. Its age is dated within 29-25 millennium BC. e. It is noteworthy that during the tomographic study of the figurine, an ancient imprint of a child's hand, left before firing, was found on it.

The cultural significance of these figurines may never be known, as in the case of other prehistoric artifacts, scientists operate on only a small amount of facts in an attempt to interpret their meaning. Archaeologists suggest that the "Paleolithic Venuses" could be talismans, amulets and amulets, symbols of fertility and the ability of women to give viable offspring. Such figurines were rarely found in burials, most often they were found at the sites of ancient settlements.

On Monday I was going to tell about this sculpture that stands near the Latvian Academy of Arts, but there was so much material that I drowned in it. Looks like it needs to be split up. In painting, for example, there is no more iconic painting, replicated in reproductions and adorning a variety of objects, even far from art, like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. It is already part of the modern subculture in its new capacity. There are several such iconic objects in sculpture. The most famous, of course, is the armless ancient Venus de Milo. But the glory of another Venus in the Western world is no less. So, get acquainted - Venus of Willendorf. Now in Riga. What is it - I will tell under the cut.

Back view:

The history of this Paleolithic Venus from Austria needs to be told in order to better understand why she looks the way she does.

First, a little historical digression.
From the height of our time, it is difficult to imagine that already in the Stone Age people aspired to art, to reproduce their own kind. About 40 thousand years ago, during the Great Ice Age, an event occurred that marked the beginning of a new page in the history of mankind. On the ice-free expanses of Europe, a man of the modern type appeared (Homo sapiens - a reasonable man).

The era of the Upper (Late) Paleolithic began (from the Greek "palailos" - ancient and "lithos" - stone). Its upper boundary is determined by the time of global warming (about 10 thousand years ago), when the territory of prehistoric Europe was completely freed from the ice shell.

The reasons for the cultural revolution that occurred about 40,000 years ago among the Cro-Magnons who came to Europe remain mysterious. This was the second breakthrough in the cultural development of Homo sapiens (the first occurred over 70,000 years ago in South Africa). Curiously, the first of two revolutions, during which shell necklaces and abstract geometric designs came into use, roughly coincides in time with the massive eruption of the Toba volcano in Sumatra. The second revolution occurred immediately after the arrival of sapiens in Neanderthal-inhabited Europe. In the Aurignac era, not only painting and sculpture appeared for the first time, but, probably, music as well, as evidenced by bone flutes found in southern Germany. Outside of Europe, all this appears several millennia later.

The Upper Paleolithic era is a period of serious changes in the material culture of ancient man: the technique of processing stone and bone becomes more perfect, techniques for firing clay material are mastered, and fine arts arise. The hand-drawn and sculptural images of both animals (mammoth, reindeer, cave lion, etc.) and humans that have survived to this day are amazing in their craftsmanship and accuracy.

Among the masterpieces of Paleolithic art, a special place is occupied by sculptural images of naked (rarely in clothes) women found at sites, the absolute age of which is 27-20 thousand years ago. All of them are executed in a vivid realistic manner and, as a rule, convey a naked woman with emphasized signs of gender.

Such figurines, called by archaeologists all over the world "Paleolithic Venuses", were found in France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, but especially a lot of them were found on the territory of Russia. The range of finds extends far to the east up to the Irkutsk region, that is, to most of Eurasia: from the Pyrenees to Lake Baikal. Most of the finds belong to the Gravettian culture, but there are also earlier ones related to the Aurignacian culture, including the "Venus of Hole Fels" (discovered in 2008 and dated at least 35 thousand years ago); and later, already belonging to the Madeleine culture.

For the first time, a fragment of such a figurine was discovered by archaeologists in 1894 in the town of Brassempuis in France. Later, similar figurines were discovered in 1908 in Central (Willendorf, Austria), and then in 1923 in Eastern Europe (Kostenki 1 (upper layer) - Russia). To date, more than a hundred "Venuses" have been discovered, most of which are relatively small in size - from 4 to 25 cm in height.

Whom could these figurines with their hypertrophied volumes of the chest, abdomen and hips represent? Many assumptions have been made by famous archaeologists. Some believed that these figurines were symbols of fertility and the unification of the family (Peter Efimenko), others saw them as attributes of hunting magic (Dr. and. N. Sergey Zamyatnin), others - mistresses of the forces of nature and even "superhuman female beings" (Academician Alexey Okladnikov).

The semantics of the Venus of the Paleolithic has not yet been deciphered. Some researchers see in them images of a deity, an ancestor, a symbol of fertility, as they emphatically express the idea of motherhood, fertility. Others believe that this is an image of participants in ancient magical rites aimed at good luck when hunting or images of real women, different in their constitution and emotional mood.

Another version: in its upper, often faceless “head” part, this image symbolizes the heavenly, masculine nature of the deity, and in the lower part it represents its earthly, feminine essence. The discovery of this material embodiment of the philosophical concept of "a single but dual deity" somewhat changes our understanding of the spiritual life of ancient people, whom we habitually call "primitive".

Well said here:
Another range of Upper Paleolithic finds that have a meaning that goes beyond this ordinary this-worldly life are numerous figurines, reliefs and drawings of women. Of course, this plot was at first interpreted quite materialistically, as a manifestation of the erotic inclinations of ancient man. But, it must be confessed, there is little eroticism in most of these images.

The figurines of the Paleolithic "Venuses", related mostly to Aurignac and disappearing in the Madeleine, show that the interest in women thirty thousand years ago was very different from the present. The face, arms and legs are very poorly worked out in these figures. Sometimes the whole head consists of one magnificent hairstyle, but everything that has to do with the birth and feeding of a child is not only carefully spelled out, but, it seems, exaggerated. Huge ass, hips, pregnant belly, saggy breasts.

Paleolithic Venus is not the graceful creature that captivates the imagination of the modern man, and not the flourishing femininity of the Louvre Aphrodite, but the mother of many children. These are the most famous "Venuses" from Willendorf (Austria), Menton (Italian Riviera), Lespyuju (France). Such is the remarkable relief from Lussel (France), on which a woman standing in the front holds in her right hand, bent at the elbow, a massive horn, very reminiscent of cornucopias, but most likely this is a sign of the presence of the Bison God.

Female figurines made of stone and bone, faceless, but with emphasized signs of a feminine, giving birth nature, were very widespread in the Upper Paleolithic throughout Northern Eurasia. Almost certainly, they reflected the maternal womb of the earth reviving to furnace life. Vestonice "Venuses" are especially interesting because they are made of clay and fired. These are almost the first samples of terracotta in the history of mankind (25,500 lots ago).

Paleolithic "Venus" of the Aurignacian time:
a) from Willendorf, Austria. Height 11 cm. Limestone;
b) from Sapinnano, Italy. Height 22.5 cm. Serpentine;
c) from Lespugue, France. Height 14.7 cm. Mammoth bone;
d) from Dolni Vestonice, Czech Republic. Terracotta

And it’s not that the Paleolithic artist simply couldn’t or didn’t want to depict female beauty. On several monuments we can see that he did this perfectly in principle - an ivory head (Brassempui), a relief in the La Madeleine cave, discovered in 1952. But the figurines and images of "Venuses" by no means set out to glorify the perfection of female beauty.

Most likely, these "Venuses" were images of "Mother Earth", pregnant with the dead, who still have to be born again to eternal life. Perhaps the essence depicted in this way was the genus itself in its course from ancestors to descendants, the Great Mother, always producing life. In Ukraine, in Gagarin, seven such figurines were located along the walls of the Madeleine dugout. They stood in special niches. It certainly was an object of worship.

For the guardian of the clan, individual "personal" signs are not important. She is a womb eternally pregnant with life, a mother eternally feeding with her milk. It is unlikely that the thoughts of the ancients rose to high abstractions, but if they buried their dead in the ground, then they believed in their resurrection, and if they did, they could not help but worship the Mother-Raw-Earth, which gives food, life and rebirth.

The hopes of the Cro-Magnons were not limited to the earth, they aspired with their souls to the heavenly God-Beast, the all-powerful giver of life. But from the experience of everyday life, they knew perfectly well that the seed of life must find the soil in which alone it can germinate. The seed of life gave the sky, the soil - the earth. Worship of Mother Earth, so natural among agricultural peoples, actually turns out to be older than agriculture, since the goal of worship for ancient man was not the earthly harvest, but the life of the future age.
http://storyo.ru/history_rel/05_06.htm

In general, you understand ...

As an esoteric symbol:

Here is one of such theories about Makosh (see the link below): http://www.litsovet.ru/index.php/gallery.view?gallery_id=14092

I want to say that modern stereotypes of beauty, following the example of Twiggy, do not allow us to notice that the figure of these Venuses may not necessarily be fat or pregnant. For example, compare:

In general, it's all about proportions:

People of art also worship these Venuses, various monuments are erected to the same Venus from Willendorf, in Austria, the USA and other countries:
http://www.donsmaps.com/willendorf.html
http://www.mikebikes.org/07trip/traismauer.htm
Monument in Austria: http://www.travel-club.com.ua/index.php?mo=image&id=5699
Tom Chapin "Manna" 2007, DeCordova Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts
Reminiscent of Neolithic fertility statuettes like the Venus of Willendorf, Manna makes reference to the duality of base desires and the richness of life sustaining gifts.
From DeCordova Sculpture Park's homepage. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneorla/2761242150/
From papier-mâché http://laurietobyedison.com/discuss/?p=3417
http://artbydelilah.blogspot.com/2010/10/venus-of-willendorf-project.html
Venus of Willendorf - made of old recycled Halogen lamps http://asketchaday.blog.com/

Venus from halogen bulbs and Venus on prostheses:

Venus with bunny ears and a hole in her side:

This is also an artistic interpretation of the forms of the Venus of Willendorf:

Some believe that she had such hands:

Venus of Willendorf is often carved out of ice http://foto.mail.ru/mail/sergii_59/21/1428.html
http://www.twinoaks.org/community/leaves/leaves-94/lvs94-p5.html

But the Riga monument, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting:

Venus as a bachelor's work
Jun 9, 2010
Such a sculpture appeared yesterday near the Academy of Arts. This bachelor's work of one of the students is called "Venus of Willendorf"
http://olgai2.livejournal.com/62685.html
http://www.bezhin-lug.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=103&start=180#p7113

Initially, Venus was inside the building of the Academy of Arts:
And this, I think, is simply an unsurpassed masterpiece of domestic sculpture! The author has created a copy of the famous Willendorf Venus - a figurine, which is about 3000 years old. How much grace and grace!
True, the original, located in the Vienna Historical Museum (see photo), has a size of about 11 cm. But we are used to thinking big! There should be a lot of good Venus!
My colleague specifically decided to pose so that everyone could appreciate the scale of the work. Nightmare and horror, to be honest! And it still stood on the square in front of the academy for quite a long time!
March 2011
http://gaviota15.livejournal.com/25751.html

Venus was also seen in a shopping center in Old Riga:
Shopping Mall with Venus of Willendorf Sculpture - Riga - Latvia http://www.flickriver.com/photos/adam_jones/5833438330/

And here is what the author of this sculpture herself writes (translated from English as best she could):
The Venus of Willendorf of the 21st century is my search for the depth of female identity. It is a [sculpture] 4.5 m high of glued corrugated sheets and covered with particles of mirror plastic, created as a kind of replica of a masterpiece of the Stone Age. The 21st century Venus of Willendorf is a conceptual work that allows women in our time to shine in her reflection, while Venus shines for herself. She is amazing with her feminine forms. It may even be shocking to some. This work is about a woman, but not about feminism.