Venus Figurine.
The term Venus figurine is used to describe the more than 200 small statuettes of voluptuous female figures that have been found at Upper Paleolithic sites across Europe and some parts of Asia. However do not mistaken the word Venus for the goddess with the same name as Venus figurines pre-date myths about the goddess Venus by thousands of years. The name is derived in part from theories that associate these figurines with fertility and sexuality two traits associated with the Roman goddess.
The Paleolithic period lasted from around 30000 BC to 10000 BC and is characterised by the emergence of human creativity. Man-made artifacts from this period show the very earliest signs of workmanship from small personal adornments and cave paintings to the prevalent Venus figurines which represent the earliest known works of figurative art.
To date more than 200 of the figurines have been found all of whom are portrayed with similar physical attributes including curvaceous bodies with large breasts bottoms abdomen hips and thighs
The heads are often of relatively small size and devoid of detail and most are missing hands and feet. Some appear to represent pregnant women while others show no such signs.
Scholars speculate that these Venus figurines were associated with fertility beliefs or shamanistic rituals.
Some scientists argue that it is unlikely that the figures were realistic representations of women. At the time the statuettes were made Europe was in the grip of a severe ice age and it is unlikely that obesity was a common feature. Instead they propose that the figures may have symbolized abundance and hope for survival and longevity and for well-nourished and reproductively successful communities during the harshest period of the major glaciation in Europe.
Unfortunately the true meaning and purpose of these statuettes may never be known leaving us to wonder why prehistoric people separated by significant time and distance created such similar figures and what they really meant.