Venus of Dolní Věstonice, dated to 29,000–25,000 BCE, is the oldest ceramic figurine in the world (Czechia) [1020×1992]
by Ironyfree_annie
Venus of Dolní Věstonice, dated to 29,000–25,000 BCE, is the oldest ceramic figurine in the world (Czechia) [1020×1992]
by Ironyfree_annie
3 Comments
Tiddy mods are older than agriculture
I have always thought it was funny that the most common interpretations for the figurines like this one are that they either represent fertility goddesses or were just made by bored/sexually motivated people. I do think they are at least meant to represent the idea of female fertility in some form given they’re such an exaggerated representation of a woman’s body, but perhaps they also had other functions and symbolic meaning as well. Maybe children would play with them, for instance. Or perhaps they would be carried around as a good luck charm.
It’s very interesting that there is an ancient Egyptian crocodile goddess whose epithet is “the deep bosomed one” who is usually shown in profile but basically has the same body type.