For a comprehensive idea of ​​Venus, they are usually mentally transferred to the times of antiquity and see the blooming femininity of Venus de Milo, the goddess of love and beauty that captivates the male imagination, the sea 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 organs of the female body, which are responsible for the process of childbirth, were 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 with a height of 4 to 25 centimeters, 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 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 unanimous opinion regarding symbolism: a female statuette 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 for 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 increases markedly. 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.

Plan:

Introduction

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

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 figurines, 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 figurines 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

1. 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
2. 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.
3. 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
4. H. Delporte: L'image de la femme dans l'art prehistorique, Ed. Picard (1993) ISBN 2-7084-0440-7
5. 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
6. www.membrana.ru - Venuses of the Stone Age found near Zaraisk - www.membrana.ru/lenta/?8913
7. Gagarino. Paleolithic site. - slovari.yandex.ru/dict/bse/article/00016/10600.htm

Over time, figurines increasingly acquire feminine features. They are still far from the Upper Paleolithic masterpieces, but the path of development is already looming (800-232 thousand BC, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

“proto-veners” from the Gross Pampau locality, Germany, c. 0.5 million liters n.

Venus from Tan-Tan is an anthropomorphic quartzite figurine 580 mm long, discovered in 1999 by a German expedition in the floodplain of the Dra River south of the Moroccan city of Tan-Tan.
Together with Venus from Berehat Ram (known since 1981 from Palestinian materials), it is the oldest (500-300 thousand years) example of the “Paleolithic Venus” and, thus, perhaps the earliest monument of artistic creativity known to science.

The world's oldest figurine has been found in the Hohle Fels (Hollow Rocks) cave in southwest Germany.

Only six centimeters high... Perhaps the most ancient female figurine known so far was presented at a press conference in Tübingen by German archaeologists who found it. She is about forty thousand years old. A small female figurine carved from a mammoth tusk is one of the main archaeological sensations of recent years. Until now, during the excavations of settlements of the early Stone Age, only animal figurines have been found. "Swabian Venus", as it was called in Germany, was found in September last year south of Stuttgart, in a mountain range on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Danube. Several examinations carried out during this time confirmed the hopes of archaeologists: an unknown stone age master carved it 40 thousand years ago. That is, we are talking about the oldest sculptural image of a man known so far.

A cursory glance is enough to highlight the pronounced female physicality, the absence of a face and the complete inattention of the manufacturer to the study of the limbs in miniature Paleolithic figurines (Balzi Rossi, Italy, 25-20 thousand years BC, steatite, 6.1 cm,

The Vestonice Venus is a "Palaeolithic Venus" discovered in Moravia on July 13, 1925 and is currently on display at the Moravian Museum in Brno. It is the oldest ceramic figurine known to science. Height 11.1 cm, width 43 mm. Belongs to the Gravettian culture and dates variously - between 29,000 and 25,000 years. BC e.

Venus of Willendorf (German: Venus von Willendorf) is a small figurine of a female figure, discovered in one of the ancient burials near the town of Willendorf, in Austria, by archaeologist Josef Szombathy (German: Josef Szombathy) in 1908. It is currently kept in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
The figurine, 11 cm high, is carved from oolitic limestone, which is not found in the area (which indicates the movements of the ancients) and tinted with red ocher. According to a 1990 estimate, the figurine was made approximately 22-24 thousand years before our era. Almost nothing is known either about the place, or about the method of manufacture, or about the cultural purpose of this figurine.

Zaraysk. Female figurine. 20 thousand BC Mammoth tusk. Dimensions: height - 16.6 cm; width at the shoulders - 4 cm, at the waist - 5.1 cm, at the hips - 5.5 cm; thickness at the shoulders - 3 cm, at the waist - 4.3 cm, at the hips - 4.4 cm. The ratio of the length of the body to the length of the legs is 8.6 / 7.6 cm.
Two female figurines carved from mammoth tusk, as well as a number of other art objects of the Upper Paleolithic, were found at the excavation site near Zaraisk (150 km from Moscow). As for the "Venuses", archaeologists have already found figurines of the Stone Age similar to them in a number of places from the Pyrenees to Siberia. And very similar to Zarayskie - in the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region and the village of Avdeevo, Kursk region, which speaks of cultural ties between these regions.
But there are still disputes among specialists regarding the cultural or religious purpose of the figurines.
It is curious that both figurines were carefully buried in special round pits, and fine sand and red ocher were placed under the figurines from below, and ancient people covered the “venus” with mammoth shovels from above.

Neolithic Moravan Venus (22,800 years old) Moravani nad Vakh, Slovakia, mammoth bone, 7.7 cm. There is more information about the Neolithic, when agriculture began. It is assumed that people of the Linear Pottery culture came to the territory of Slovakia around 5000 BC. Remains of settlements, burial grounds (for example, in Nitra and Štúrovo), remains of ceramics, votive gifts or cult objects, such as female figurines (“paleolithic Venuses”) from Nitran Castle or Moravan nad Vahom, have been found.

Also known is Venus (pictured in the middle) from Savignano (Italy); the figurine is made of serpentine, its height is 22.5 centimeters.

The pinnacle of artistic skill is Venus from Lespug: it is carved from a mammoth bone, its height is 14.7 centimeters). Although her body has incredibly exaggerated features, it has a harmonious appearance and is made with great artistic taste. Her whole figure is symmetrical and forms a regular rhombus. A small head passes into a narrow chest, the body expands into strong sides and narrows again to barely outlined legs. Indeed, this is the work of a great master. In the Late Stone Age, an Aurignacian sculptor created what has come down to us as Venus from Lespug Cave, a Paleolithic female figure carved from mammoth tusk, found in 1922 in the upper Garonne River in France. This period covers 30-10 thousand years BC.

VENUS PALEOLITHIC Limestone figurine (center). Height -10.2 cm. Kostenki-1, the second residential complex. Age of the site: 22-23 thousand years. Two figurines made of mammoth tusk. Height -11.4 cm (left) and 9.0 cm (right). Kostenki-1, the first residential complex. Age of the site: 21-23 thousand years.

Kastinsk, Kostenyok, Kostenki... The name of a village on the Don River, 40 kilometers south of Voronezh. Sculptural figurines of naked women, nicknamed by archaeologists all over the world "Paleolithic Venuses", appeared on the territory of Europe 20-27 thousand years ago. For the first time, a fragment of such a figurine was discovered by archaeologists in 1894 in the town of Brassempouy in France. Then they began to be found at other Paleolithic sites in Europe, including ten well-preserved statuettes - in Kostenki-1, made of limestone and mammoth tusk.

Whom could these figurines with their hypertrophied volumes of the chest, abdomen and hips represent? Many assumptions have been made by our famous archaeologists. Some believed that these figurines were symbols of fertility and the unification of the family, others saw in them the attributes of hunting magic, others saw the mistresses of the forces of nature and even “superhuman female beings”

Not only the whole figurine, but also its sexually significant part could well satisfy the Paleolithic man (Kostenki, Russia, 23 thousand years BC, marl, 13.5 cm

They are commonly referred to as the Maltese Venuses. One of the striking features of the megalithic culture is the abundance of figurines and statues depicting stylized women. There are also images of men, as well as, let's say, people of unclear gender, but female figures clearly predominate. By the way, there are strange figurines in which you can change heads. In short, all these finds together allow at the moment to attribute the culture to a clearly matriarchal type with the cult of worship of the goddess (goddesses), the cult of fertility and abundance (the statuettes of women clearly show that they were not yet familiar with weight loss systems, and men were kept in a reasonable prosperity).

The largest of them has a height of about a meter, symbolizing, apparently, the mother goddess. As a rule, they are dated in the range of 3000 - 2500 BC. The buildings had a frankly cult purpose and have peculiar "altars", niches, stone tables, doorways, podiums and stairs.

Women's beauty has always been the subject of controversy and discussion. We compare the standards of past years or centuries with modern ideals, scold or admire the standards, look for flaws and note the merits. Yes, the female body is an acute, controversial topic, almost like politics or religion. I usually don’t enter into such discussions, because, as practice shows, they end up not in the best way or, in a good version, simply with nothing) and this text (by the way, the first experience on a gossip) is no exception.

This is a peaceful post about the oldest images of women known to the world. It is very unusual to look at figurines created several tens (in some cases hundreds) of millennia ago.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, in different regions of the world, archaeologists found figurines depicting a female body. They were dubbed the primitive Venuses. Dating fluctuates between 230 - 20 thousand BC. However, the main discoveries belong to the era of the Upper Paleolithic (35-10 thousand BC).

Let me remind you that the Stone Age (that is, the age when people used stone tools) is conditionally divided into three large periods: the Paleolithic (2 million-10 thousand years BC), the Mesolithic (10-6 thousand BC), Neolithic (6-2 thousand BC). The Paleolithic is divided into early (2.5 million years BC - 200 thousand years BC), middle (200-35 thousand years BC) and upper (35-10 thousand years BC) ).

The most studied is the Upper Paleolithic and most of the finds, including Venus, belong to this period. It was in the Upper Paleolithic that the last ice age ended, and Homo erectus was reclassified as Homo sapiens sapiens.

The more interesting are the first two Venuses found on the Dutch Heights (Berehat-Ram) and in Morocco (Tan-Tan). Scientists date them to about 230 millennium BC. This is the era of the Middle Paleolithic, therefore the creator of the figurines is Homo Erectus, thus both Venuses are the oldest examples of primitive art. However, until now, scientists have not come to a common conclusion - whether to consider these stones as figurines. There is no evidence that the shape and notches are the work of man. Perhaps this appearance is just the irony of the forces of nature. However, the opposite has not been proven either. Notches are made on the stones, which means that a person had a hand in them. Here, you can judge for yourself.

Venus from Berehat-Ram (Dutch Heights) It is an anthropomorphic stone from the tuff rock, 35 mm in length.

Venus from Tan-Tan, Morocco (58 mm)

However, traditionally Paleolithic Venus is called the young ladies of the Upper Paleolithic era, in the man-made origin of which there is no doubt, just as there is no double interpretation of the depicted. Everything is clear.)

These beauties, enjoy)

Willendorf Venus (28 -25 years ago BC). Austria, 11 cm. Made of oolitic limestone, which is not found in the area, which indicates the movement of peoples.

This is probably the most famous Venus. Her image is replicated more than Milosskaya. In my opinion, this is the most appetizing Venus. All like a donut. The hairstyle is very well conveyed, the author obviously worked on it for a long time. But the face and hands are completely undeveloped. This feature is common to almost all Venus. Apparently, the figurines were used as amulets for cult activities.

Most likely, this is the personification of fertility and fertility (the ability to bear children). Accordingly, the primitive sculptor, first of all, singled out and accentuated those places that are associated with these qualities: the chest and vulva. But the author's face, arms and legs in this respect were of little interest. Although, as we will see, attention to detail was not at all alien to primitive art. Sometimes such accents on trifles appear in the most unexpected way (as I already said, the curls in the hair of the Willendorf Venus - each ring is cut out).

Venus from Hole Fels (Venus of Swabia, Venus of Schelklingen), Germany. 35-40 thousand years ago. Mammoth tusk, 6 cm

Except for the first two Venuses "for people", which indeed there are serious doubts, then this Venus is the oldest known work of art and the progenitor of all other Venuses. It is interesting that a hole was made in place of her head, it is assumed that the figurine was used as a pendant. So it is also the oldest known jewelry. Considering that the figurine was carved from mammoth tusk, in an era when the tools were made of stone, one can imagine how long and painstaking work it was (it is also interesting that the author decided to decorate it with carvings - one of the examples of unexpected attention to detail).

By the way, this Venus has the most beautiful breasts (the dancing Venus also has a good shape - you will see below) - unlike the others - it provocatively sticks up!

Venus of Galgenberg, Austria, 30 t y d o Oe, 7 cm, serpentite (mineral)

Here is an attempt to depict movement. Most likely a ritual dance. This Venus is called dancing, she is the owner of the most elegant figure. And here the author tried to convey the movement. By the way, despite the roughness of the work, there is a touching charm in this figurine)

Venus from Lossel, France, 20000 BC Bas-relief on limestone painted with red ocher

This Venus is interesting in that she has a turium horn in her hand (which was used as a container for drinking). That is, a household genre, one might say.

Venus Vestonica. Moravia, Czech Republic, 29-25 BC Ceramics, 11 cm

Venus of Brassempuiska, France, 22,000 BC Ivory.

This Venus is called the "lady with the hood". She is the first of the discovered Venuses (found in 1892). Ironically, this is the only Venus with a face, however, devoid of everything else. Again, the carving of the hood, given the level of tools used by the sculptures, is impressive.

Venus of Lespug, France (26~24 years BC), 15 cm, ivory

Here is another example of how a primitive author can emphasize completely, it would seem, minor things. There is an assumption that this Venus is dressed in a skirt of twisted threads.

Venus Savinyanskaya, Italy, 28-20 thousand years BC Serpentine. 22 cm - one of the largest

Venus Moravanskaya, Slovakia, 22-23 thousand years BC Mammoth tusk 7.6 cm

And finally - our domestic Venus. Ten figurines were found in the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region. They were created according to a similar canon - hypertrophied body sizes, small arms, legs and head. Perhaps this is due to the cult of the ancient Goddess of fertility and childbearing, who It was in the Upper Paleolithic that a person began the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and cattle breeding, and the favor of the goddess became especially important)

Thank you all, do not judge strictly!)

"Paleolithic Venuses"

Another range of Upper Paleolithic finds that have a meaning that goes beyond the limits of 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", relating 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, as 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).

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 Lespuju, France. Height 14.7 cm. Mammoth bone;
• d) from Dolni Vestonice, Czech Republic. Terracotta

a massive horn in his hand, very reminiscent of cornucopias, but most likely this is a sign of the presence of the Bison God.

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.

The finds made in Ukraine by K. Polikarpovich clarify the meaning of the strange figurines. In the sanctuary on the Desna, in addition to the skulls and tusks of a mammoth, in addition to howler monkeys, he also found a female figurine made of ivory of the Venus type. It used to be attached to something and was part of the mortuary sanctuary.

Large ungulates, bison, mammoths, deer, bulls become in the Upper Paleolithic an almost universal image of the Heavenly God. They, the bearers of the male “family” principle, give life, which the “Mother Earth” accepts and bears in her womb. Was it not this thought that directed the chisel of the Upper Paleolithic master from Laugèrie-Basse when he worked on the image of a pregnant woman at the feet of a deer?

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.

Mircea Eliade is very mistaken when he states in the introduction to The Sacred and the Worldly: were able to develop and form a widely ramified religious system only thanks to the discovery of agriculture. It is equally obvious that the pre-agrarian society of vagrants-nomads was not able to feel the sacredness of Mother Earth with the same depth and with the same force. Differences in experience are the result of economic, social, and cultural differences, in a word, Stories.” “Evident” is not yet true; The cults of the Mother Earth hunters of the Upper Paleolithic force us to assume that the religious is not always a product of the social and economic, but is sometimes their cause and premise.

For a better understanding of all the ambiguity of causes and effects in human culture, the figurines of “Venuses” from Dolnja Vestonice are especially interesting. Vestonice "Venuses" are made of clay and fired. These are almost the first samples of terracotta in the history of mankind (25,500 years ago). The ancient mystic must have tried to capture in the material itself the great idea of ​​the earth uniting with the heavenly fire to receive the heavenly seed. Maybe a lightning strike that melted the soil brought him to these images. At least twelve thousand years separate these clay figurines of Mother Earth, specially fire-fired, from household ceramics that appeared in the early Neolithic.

Very characteristic and discovered in the late 1950s under the canopy of the rocky shelter of Angles-sur-l "Engli (Angles-sur-1" Anglin, Vienne, France) is the scene of the Madeleine time. Three women, with clearly underlined signs of their gender, stand close to each other. One - with narrow girlish hips, the other - pregnant, the third - old, flabby. The first stands on the back of a bison, whose tail is raised and whose head is bowed, showing that it is depicted in the excitement of the rut. Doesn't this relief reflect the rhythm of life and emphasize that for the Cro-Magnon this life was not an accident, but a divine gift, a seed of God, which must be properly disposed of in order to gain eternity? Or maybe this is the first of a long series of images of the Great Goddess in her three images - an innocent girl, a mother and an old woman of death, images - so characteristic of later humanity? Death, withdrawal from life in this case turns out not to be a complete disappearance, but only a stage of being, followed by a new conception by a divine seed, a new birth, a complete disappearance, but only a stage of being, followed by a new conception by a divine seed, a new birth.