Today’s blog post will focus on Venus figurines,
which are sculptures of women often times depicted with exaggerated secondary
sexual characteristics and date to as far back to the Upper Paleolithic Era (40,000
and 10,000 years ago). Named after the
Roman goddess of love, a culture and ideology that formed several millennia after
their creation, these sculptures have fascinated and perplexed scholars for
decades. Venus figurines have been found
throughout Europe and Asia (i.e. Siberia).
These figurines depict women of various shapes and sizes, ranging from
figurines with robust and exaggerated secondary sexual characteristics and
large bellies (Figure 1) to slender women with very diminutive secondary sexual
characteristics (Figure 2). They were
carved out of a variety of soft stones (e.g. steatite, calcite, and limestone),
bone, or ivory, but there are several examples of Venus figurines being formed
and fired in clay.
 |
| The Venus of Lespugue (23,000 BCE) |
It is unclear as to what purpose the Venus figurines
served in Upper Paleolithic cultures. Speculation exists because the Upper
Paleolithic groups did not have a written language, meaning scholars do not
have a substantive reference to consult for understanding their past cultures. This, however, has not prohibited scholars
from hypothesizing about the nature of these unique sculptures. The robust secondary sexual characteristics
and large bellies of several Venus figurines have been associated with
pregnancy and therefore some scholars believe that Venus figurines were
fertility idols that were used to encourage pregnancy among women. Other scholars claim that these figurines may
actually be self portraits of Upper Paleolithic women. Yet still other scholars believe that these
sculptures were early pornographic images that served a specific purpose that
pornography typically does, which is to titillate and excite.
 |
| Venus of Galgenberg (30,000 BCE) |
Despite their mysterious purpose Venus figurines do
provide insights into Upper Paleolithic culture and people. They were not oafish brutes who lacked
intelligence and creativity. They were
not people who had to fight for their survival every moment of their days. They were imaginative and artistic people who
had a dynamic way of life that eventually gave rise to more modern cultures
throughout the Old World.
Sources:
Boundless.
“Venus Figurines.” Boundless Art History. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015.
Holloway, A. 2014. “The Venus Figurines of the European Paleolithic Era.” Ancient Origins.
Soffer, O., J.M. Adovasio, and D.C.
Hyland. 2000. The “Venus” Figurines. Current
Anthropology 41: 511-537.
Venus
Figurines. Encyclopedia of Stone Age Art.
38 comments:
Could't there be multiple reasons for the creation of the Venus figurines? The figurines were found thousands of miles and years apart. If we look at how cultures differ just a short distance apart today, It cannot be all that different back then.
Could very well be the case. :)
The sad part of this whole thing is everything is based on hypothesis because no real writing was available back in that date. The epic of Gilgamesh was the first known writings on stone tablets.
I can see them used as fertility idols. Because based on the time period, a lot of the figurines and drawings of the area were to tell stories or to idolize gods and help with issues. Still to this day medicine men use idols as well as herbs to help with issues.
While many have could indeed hypothesize that the Venus Figurines were used for fertility avatars, I would have to say that I think they were most likely pornographic in nature and used as such. The Roman's, for example, were pretty hedonistic. This, however, does not take away from their artistic quality, they have a wonderful beauty to them. There are several statutes worldwide in every culture that are nudes, illustrating the human form. I believe they could be an embodiment of life as it was in their particular culture from fertility to art, to human sexuality.
BLC
Being the fact that they seem to only have ideas on what the potential meanings are behind the figurines. If had to input an idea (understanding these are completly different time periods) Romans when they sculpted men it was very strong, tone and very defined based on muscle. As ones anatomy should strive to look for back then. So maybe in some uniqe way this could have been a symbol for women to idolize, representing wealth for food, or like listed above pregnancy.
You have a good line of thinking here, but within the context of paleo/very Archaic humans it is doubtful that wealth was much of a factor. I say this because we (anthropologists) often use modern hunter-gathering groups as our analogy of how paleo groups would have structured their social groups, and there is very little (if any) evidence of wealth being a factor (or existing at any level) among these groups. But excellent thought process. :)
It's hard to really judge or say what is what based off of this post, but it does get me thinking about their thoughts when it comes to women and the who pregnancy thing and how it applies to our society today. :) This deserves a bit more digging to break it down more and understand it in my opinion :)
Hello, TooK. If you are one of my students please email me privately in order for me to give you the extra credit point you earned on this post. As noted in the syllabus & stated in class if you post under a pseudonym (fake name) you need to let me know so I can award points accordingly.
Pretty interesting to see that we (humans and the like) have been trying to portray ourselves for so long. Whatever they were trying to do, it's awesome that they have been able to be recovered and preserved for scholars to argue about.
It is interesting how the women body has been depicted throughout the centuries, and the ideal form always seems to accentuate the child bearing and nurturing qualities. I wonder if archaeologists hundreds of years from now will believe that Kim Kardashian or Heidi Klum statues had the ideal body types.
It's interesting that after thousands of years, these figurines held their shapes in such great condition. I'd love to be able to see one in person. They remind me quite a bit of the "Goddess" figurines that my friend has all around her home.
Modern goddess figurines are actually inspired by these figurines. :)
I feel like art doesn't really change when it comes to a woman's body. It's usually depicted in a sexual way or they are nude, regardless if the art is from a different country or culture.
I have actually never seen nor heard of this sculptures but by the reading I can say I got a good first understanding of what they are and how people felt about them. Although I did read that people thought they were pornographic sculptures which I do disagree because to me by having the women it shows that they were strong and able to fend for themselves.
-Erick Anguiano
I personally enjoy the fact that they come in all shapes and sizes, I'd really love to know what exactly they were made for!! Art or purpose, either way they are beautiful!
Cool to see that even in a time so long ago different sizes of women were idolized enough to create art from their forms.
Jordan R
This post is interesting in how nobody really knows what the meaning is to the sculptures because they had no writing in their time. It could mean a variety of things and it is cool thinking about the possibilities they could be. It is also interesting how their ideal women looked back then compared to our ideal women today.
It's interesting to see how depictions of women's bodies have changed. These figurines have a specific shape, and proportions that look absolutely opposite from the women we see walking the catwalks today. It begs the question of what a woman's figure actually represents, and means to us as a society. Why have these body types been represented so differently over the ages?? Very thought provoking. Thanks!!
-Matt Santos
Cultural preference of beauty have changed throughout history. If we look at changing cultural attitudes regarding beauty here in the US we will see that they have changed drastically throughout the years. Each decade has at least one specific preference that is different from the previous and the next. The reasons typically mirror changing cultural attitudes, too. For example, in the 1980s/1990s the drug look was very popular as was the drug scene in clubs, but as the war of drugs ramped up and people changed their attitudes about drugs and recreational drug use that look was no longer popular and seen oppositely in the sense of it was completely rejected and seen as both deviant and sickly. So cultural attitudes affect various aspects of culture (because culture is integrated). :)
I remember reading about these my freshman year of college in an English class. Our professor said that they were fertility idols and while some people were turned off by them, I thought they were really cool. I love art, though I have minimal artistic skill, and I love learning about early art and its values in society.
I love observing art like these sculptures because it is essentially like a time capsule in history on what people valued and believed in. This blog was very interesting to read because although the sculptures were carved in very different shapes, it still displayed the type of female body that was desired. It makes me a little sad though to see that even back then there was a certain body type that was desired more than others, similar to how it is today.
-Sam Ruebush Anth 102
When I first opened this blog I was looking at the first image of the Venus of Lespugue and was trying to figure out what it was. Once I understood that it was a Venus figurine I was able to see the figure in the picture. I really liked how the figurine comes in many different shapes and sizes. To me the represents how every women's body is different. I also enjoyed the idea that they could have been made for being fertility idols.
Leslie Milton
Anthropology 101
Course 3001
It's amazing to see art from so long ago. Regardless of their purpose they are very interesting to look at. I find the hypothesis that they where used as fertility aids to be most believable. Ancient man has a long history of superstition, and the big bellies seem to depict a pregnant woman.
It was amazing to see those figurines from a long time ago. There are some cool artwork from that time period. I am surprised that women who carry those figurines could get pregnant.
Kevin, as noted both in class today and in this blog post, these figurines are believed to have been fertility idols, meaning that individuals believed that they would induce pregnancy. That does not mean that they will cause pregnancy, although that would solve some problems that exist today. :)
Before this post, I had only seen these figures in passing (skimming through art books, really). I had no idea of the prevalence within several civilizations. In doing further reading to construct a thoughtful comment, I saw that their discovery was fairly recent (~1890s). I'm sure that many anthropologists are wary of attaching our modern cultural ideologies in the interpretation of the significance of the figures. Feminist movements in the 1960s-70s made an argument for seeing these figures as a form of self-representation due to the lack of mirrors. An enjoyable article on that here: (http://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=pure) I feel that seeing them as pornographic tools is perhaps too simple, but maybe, human nature and proclivities are simple.
This is interesting on how that thought these figures would induce pregnancy.
Aaliyah Caldwell
I really wish I could go back in time and ask them what these mean and why they were made I find them cool and different and wished I knew why they were truly made.
It’s really cool how these figures have lasted so long up do 40,000 bc it’s around the estimated time of domesticated dogs. Also its possibly porn so I think that’s funny
I wish there was more evidence or at least a stronger background on the history as well as purpose of the venus figurines. It seems there are just a variation of assumptions
Jovie Black
The bad thing is that this lacks truth in what the sculptures mean. As stated above, these are hypothesis that were made. However, these sculptures look very much decent.
I remember when we did this in class. This is very interesting and I cant believe they the was actually making thing like this back then.
Dalyla Jordan
I wish their was more information on the venus figurines, i wonder if any anthropologist are doing more research on them.
It is so cool seeing all these artifacts that have been left behind for us to find. I wonder if they had the brain power to think about later generations finding this figurines. I believe that they are depicting pregnant women within.
I always heard that fuller women are perceived as more child barring and fertile. So I am assuming the Venus figurines show the beauty standard of the time. I mean we change how we find people attractive so this could be the best example.
There are several possible reasons that I can think of for these statues. The first is like you said; they could be fertility idols. The second is that they were designed to honor women in the family who died. The third is that they were a symbol of something terrible happening to that family, like a miscarriage or a stillbirth. The last is similar to many paintings of naked women in museums: to celebrate the female form and it's beauty.
The Venus figurines have been discovered in many areas, leading me to believe they probably had a variety of uses. The fact that these women were idolized is very interesting, and their body shape is something modern people try to avoid. They variety of different shapes and sizes of the figurines depict that every body is different. Also, I definitely think they were used more as a fertility tool rather than a pornographic figure.
Makayla Peterman
With these items it is very hard to tell what is what for me. Like in the first photo you can tell it's a curvy woman but she doesn’t have a lot of characteristics. Like you can not tell where her face or arm is. But maybe that's the point of it. I also agree with her that the person who made this probably wasn’t around a lot of war but an area with more artistic and calm people.
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