Chipped Stone Venus Figurines from Poland

Venus figurines--those ancient little statuettes of fat ladies--are among the best known artifact on the planet--except they really aren't. Venus figurines are much more varied, including portable art plaques and two- and three-dimensional carvings of men, children and animals as well as women in all stages of life. Together, they have been found at sites left behind by hunter-gatherer societies of the European and Asian late Pleistocene (or Upper Paleolithic) between about 31,000 and 9,000 years ago, during the last gasp of the last Ice Age. And as reported recently, they are of chipped stone.

The following photographs are of images of chipped stone Venus figurines (style Lalinde/Gönnersdorf) from the Wilczyce site in Poland, dated between 14,000 and 16,000 years ago. They were provided by archaeologist Romuald Schild, and taken by Dagmara Manka. More information may be found in the article Venus Figurine Variations: Lalinde/Gönnersdorf Figurines.