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5. The Venus of the Upper Paleolithic: View of Anthropologist

The Venus of the Upper Paleolithic: View of Anthropologist

Vorontsova E.L.

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow

Abstract

The «Venus» figurines are the first images of the human body from the European Upper Paleolithic. There is no existing consensus on why these figures were created or what purposes they served. Exaggerated sexual attributes of the figurines have usually been seen as symbols of a womanhood and a fecundity or interpreted as sex objects made from a male point of view. Five female figures extracted from the Avdeevo site (Russia) were studied. A steatopygia (fat is located principally on the buttocks) wasn’t detected. Large mammary glands of the statuettes could have reflected breast ptosis (lowering of mammary glands). Only one statue was in the state of pregnancy. All other figures had big bellies due to a stretched abdominal wall so that abdomen protruded forward and the obese pannus formed. Using a panoramic photography of what a sculptor sees for a close-standing model, we have demonstrated that the proportional distortions found in the female figurines occur naturally. Thus, the size, shape, and proportions of body parts in early figurines appear to be determined by their position relative to the observation point and the relative effects of foreshortening and distance rather than by symbolic distortion. We believe that the figures of Venus portray real women.

Keywords

Upper Paleolithic, female statuettes, Venus figurines, Avdeevo, proportions of body, foreshortening

Цит.: Vorontsova E.L. The Venus of the Upper Paleolithic: View of Anthropologist // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 2/2017; с. 122-132