Venus of Laussel, Unknown artist, Palaeolithic Europe
Unknown artist, Palaeolithic Europe·Venus of Laussel·c. 23,000 BCE·Limestone relief with traces of red ochre·Musée d'Aquitaine, Bordeaux↓

Unknown artist, Palaeolithic Europe

Venus of Laussel, c. 23,000 BCE

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Carved into a limestone block in a rock shelter at Laussel in the Dordogne, a woman with heavy breasts, belly and hips raises a horn in one hand and rests the other on her stomach. She belongs to the Gravettian culture of about 25,000 years ago and was once coloured with red ochre. The block was found in 1911.

Look closer

The horn bears thirteen notches, which some read as a count of lunar months or cycles in a year. Her faceless head turns towards it.

Looks like this

Compared by a vision model

Shares its spirit