Voluptuous Venus figurines may have helped prehistoric Europeans survive the Ice Age
The objects were passed on as “ideological tools” that created advantageous body ideals for women, researchers argue.
Venus figurines were symbols of survival, representing an ideal that helped prehistoric Europeans through phases of starvation and climatic change, write researchers in the journal Obesity.
The figurines, which depict obese or pregnant women, were
The Art Newspaper
December 3, 2020
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created in Europe during the last Ice Age, between 38,000 and 14,000 years ago, making them among the world’s earliest art. Most are generally big enough to be held in one hand and some appear to have been worn as amulets. Scholars have long debated the figurines’ meaning, arguing that they represented fertility or beauty, or even goddesses, but with little proof.
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