Female Figurine

Euphemistically termed “Venus” figurines by coy 19th-century male authors, sculptures of women are prominent in the Eurasian archaeological record between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago.  We shall focus particularly on the famous figurine from Willendorf (Austria), and set her into her wider social context.  What purposes did such figurines serve, and what do they tell us about organisation of late Palaeolithic society?  How widespread and consistent in form were they?  We shall also explore the impact these female figurines have also exerted on modern culture since their rediscovery over the last 150 years.

Reading

British Museum 2013: Ice Age Art — The Arrival of the Modern Mind.  http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/ice_age_art.aspx

Gamble, C. 1982.  Interaction and alliance in Palaeolithic society,  Man 17: 92-107