THE RUDAPITHECUS AND THE EVOLUTION OF MANKIND

Venus statues

Kostenki 1
Ukraine
Year of discovery: 1892
Age: 23-21 thousand years
Archaeological culture: Gravettian
Material: marl
Size: 78 x 39 mm (111 mm tall with a head)
Note: Its head is decorated with braids or headwear. Around the breasts and shoulders, braided straps are illustrated. There is a bracelet on its left hand. From the area of Kostenki and Borshevo, several Venus figurines have been turned out.

Brassempouy
French
Year of discovery: 1892
Age: 25 thousand years
Archaeological culture: Gravettian
Material: clay fragments
Size: 36.5 x 19 mm
Note: It is one of the earliest depictions of the human face. On the head, there is hair, braid or hood. The proportion of the face does not resemble any fossil human remains.

Willendorf
Austria
Year of discovery: 1908
Age: 28–25 thousand years
Archaeological culture: Gravettian
Material: limestone with oolite
Size: 111 x 58 mm
Note: The figurine was originally painted with red ochre. This and the overemphasized primary sexual characteristics link it to fertility rites. Its head is decorated with braids.

Dolní Věstonice
Czech Republic
Year of discovery: 1925
Age: 29–25 thousand years
Archaeological culture: Gravettian
Material: terra-cotta / fired clay
Size: 111 x 43 mm
Note: In 2004, the fingerprint of a 10-year-old Palaeolithic child was identified on it. Its price, according to estimations 10 years ago would be 40 million dollars in the antiquity market!

Hohle Fels, Schelklingen
Germany
Discovered: 2008
Age: 40–35 thousand years
Archaeological culture: Aurignacian
Material: ivory
Size: 111 x 43 mm