800px venus von willendorf 01

Pre-Historic Art

By lissa.dehring@gmail.com
  • Period: 40,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE

    Paleolithic Art

    Paleolithic art, dating from roughly 40,000–10,000 BCE, consists mainly of cave paintings, carvings, and portable figurines that often depicted animals and fertility symbols. It reflects a hunter-gatherer culture deeply connected to nature, survival, and ritual practices. Artworks were not merely decorative but served spiritual, symbolic, and communal purposes within early human societies.
  • Gravettian Culture, Woman of Willendorf, c. 35,000-30,000 BCE, limestone, 4.4” Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
    28,000 BCE

    Gravettian Culture, Woman of Willendorf, c. 35,000-30,000 BCE, limestone, 4.4” Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

    The Woman of Willendorf (c. 28,000–25,000 BCE) is a small limestone figurine from the Paleolithic period, discovered in Austria. Her exaggerated features—enlarged breasts, hips, and belly—suggest she symbolized fertility, abundance, and the survival of the community. As part of Gravettian culture, this figurine reflects the importance of reproduction, the reverence for the female body, and the spiritual or ritual beliefs tied to ensuring the continuity of life in a hunter-gatherer society.