23,000-Year-Old Artifact Discovered in the Pope’s Grotto Continues to Mystify Researchers

By: Alyssa Miller | Published: Aug 25, 2024

An artifact unearthed in Western Europe that was crafted by an ancient humans tens of thousands of years ago continues to captivate the imagination of historians and archaeologists due to its incredible detail and mysterious nature.

This small figurine is one of the oldest of its kind ever found in Europe, and has been instrumental in enriching our understanding of the Upper Paleolithic humans who once flourished on the continent during the last Ice Age.

What Are Venus Figures?

The term Venus figurine is used to define over 200 small statues of voluptuous females discovered at sites throughout Europe and even as far away as Asia.

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A photograph of a Venus Figurine

Source: Wikimedia

The oldest of the Venus figurines go back as far as 40,000 BCE. Ancient artisans utilized various materials, including mammoth tusks, teeth, bone, and even stone to craft these intriguing statues.

Why Are They Called Venus Figurines?

Despite predating the myths about the goddess Venus by several thousands of years, a researcher named them in honor of the Roman goddess as they appear to represent fertility and sexuality, just like their Roman counterpart.

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A painting depicting the Roman goddess Venus by Sandro Botticelli

Source: Wikimedia

“When paleoanthropologists refer to figurines as Venuses, [they] usually do so with air quotes,” said researcher von Petzinger.

Discovery of a Unique Artifact in a French Village

Over a century ago, one of the most fascinating Venus figurines ever discovered was unearthed inside a cave in southwestern France. The small ivory statue was later dubbed the Venus of Brassempouy in honor of the village in which it was found.

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A photograph taken within the village of Brassempouy in France

Source: Wikimedia

Researchers were drawn to the artifact for many reasons, one of the most prominent being the realistic nature of the face on the figurine.

The Lady With the Hood

The Venus of Brassempouy is sometimes called “The Lady with the Hood,” due to the unique headpiece adoring the figurine.

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A photograph taken on an artist's reconstruction of the unique Venus of Brassempouy structure

Source: Wikimedia

Prized for its realism and attention to detail, the figurine’s distinct facial features, including a distinction between its forehead, pupils, chin, and nose, have fascinated researchers for centuries. According to France’s National Archaeological Museum, the object is one of the earliest examples of a carved human face.

Resembling a Future Culture

The Venus of Brassempouy also is notable for the incision made on the top and sides of the head. While these incisions may look like a headpiece that resembles those worn by the ancient Egyptians, others believe that it could be hair.

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A photograph of the Giza Pyramids found in Egypt

Source: Wikimedia

However, the dating of the figure suggests that it predates ancient Egyptians by thousands of years.

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The Dimensions of the Venus Statue

Found in the village of Brassempouy, within a cave known to locals as the Pope’s Grotto, the small Venus figurine is a mere 1.4 inches tall and less than an inch wide.

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A photograph of the small Venus of Brassempouy statue

Source: Wikimedia

Researchers have theorized that the head may have once been attached to a body, yet no evidence has ever been discovered to back up their claim.

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23,000-Year-Old Figurine

According to researchers’ estimates, the Venus of Brassempouy was created by a Paleolithic human around 23,000 years ago.

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A photograph of the Venus of Brassempouy

Source: Wikimedia

It was discovered alongside eight other figurines in the cave. The Pope’s Grotto and a nearby site known as the Gallery of the Hyenas are some of the earliest Paleolithic sites in France.

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Notable for the Detail

Unlike other known statues, researchers find the Venus of Brassempouy significant. While the figurines all depict voluptuous female figures with exaggerated features, they have stylized heads that are often disproportionately small and lack detail.

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A photograph of two researchers seated at their desks working on a paper

Source: Freepik

Despite missing her body, the Venus of Brassempouy stands out for her highly detailed face.

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The Earliest Depictions of Human Face

The Venus of Brassempouy, measuring about 3.5 cm (1.38 inches), is a fragmentary figurine, with only the head discovered. Experts believe that someone destroyed the rest of the figurine at some point in the past.

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A researcher is pictured smiling at her desk

Source: Wikimedia

This fragment holds great significance as one of the earliest known depictions of a human face.

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The Artistic Capabilities of Paleolithic Humans

The Venus of Brassempouy and other Paleolithic figurines have provided sufficient evidence for researchers to suggest that humans of the era had advanced artistic capabilities.

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An artist's depiction of Stone Age humans

Source: Wikimedia

The artisans were able to create realistic statues using simple tools and techniques on a wide variety of materials.

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The Venus of Willendorf

The Venus of Willendorf is another well-known example of a Paleolithic statue carved with incredible detail. This unique artifact was first discovered in 1908 during an archaeological dig in Lower Austria.

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A photograph of the The Venus of Willendorf

Source: Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna

The fascinating detail on the figurine, including what appears to be beautifully carved locks of curly hair, adds a unique level of realism to this stone object.

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The Purpose of the Figurines

Researchers are still uncertain about the purpose of the Venus figurines found throughout Europe, and the topic remains widely debated.

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A close-up photograph of a Venus figurine

Source: Wikimedia

Some researchers have proposed theories suggesting that they may have had a religious function; others think they were used as amulets to help Paleolithic humans gain weight.

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Alternative Theories on the Creation of the Figurines

Theories proposed in recent years even try to establish a link between the figurine’s creation and changing climates, which may have forced prehistoric inhabitants to migrate away from their homeland.

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A photograph of a headless Venus figurine

Source: Wikimedia

Despite our inability to say for certain what the figurines were used for, researchers are certain their significance to the ancient cultures that once roamed Europe cannot be overstated.

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Valuable Insight Into a Mysterious Era

As researchers continue to unearth more of these unique figurines, they will gather further knowledge of the development of artistic techniques in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic period.

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An artist's depiction of ancient hominins in Europe

Source: Wikimedia

The Venus figurines continue to shed light on the world that existed long before civilization as we consider it today.

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Some of the Oldest Pieces of Art

The cave art found in Chauvet Cave near Avignon, France, and the Lascaux Caves near Bordeaux predates the Venus of Braseempouy.

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A photograph of several researchers working at their desk

Source: Wikimedia

These caves contained the oldest known pieces of art, which may have also shown early signs of a calendar used to track animals and the seasons.

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Indonesian Pig

Researchers discovered a “warty pig” in the Leang Tedongnge Cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia. After dating the art piece to be about 45,500 years old, they believe it could be the earliest example of “representational” art ever found.

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Leang Tedongnge, Höhleneingang

Source: Oktaviana/Wikimedia Commons

Researchers say that Indonesia is a hotspot for rock art and early work that challenges our understanding of the creative endeavors of our early ancestors.

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Neanderthal Wall Carvings

Researchers discovered another one of the earliest instances of art crafted by Neanderthals engraved in the Roche-Cotard cave.

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Lebend-Rekonstruktion im Neanderthal-Museum (Erkrath, Mettmann) eines Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

Source: Neanderthal-Museum, Mettmann/Wikimedia Commons

Researchers dated the art piece back to 75,000 years ago, making the rock piece thousands of years older than the first Homo sapiens that arrived in Europe.

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Neanderthal Bone Carving

About 51,000 years ago, a bone was carved by Neanderthals long before H. sapiens arrived.  Archaeologists believe that the Neanderthals also likely carved wood, but the craving did not survive the years.

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Human leg bones in a crossed pattern.

Wellcome Images/Wikimedia Commons

Researchers discovered this carved toe bone from a giant deer in a cave in Germany. Experts believe this carving is the earliest symbolic carving ever found.

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South African “Hashtag”

Archaeologists found a rock flake marked in red ochre with criss-crossed lines in the Blombos Cave in South Africa.

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Close-up photograph of a high-tech microscope in a lab

Source: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The rock with “hashtag” symbols is thought to be about 73,000 years old, and archaeologists think it was probably made by early H. sapiens.

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Eagle Talon Pendants

About 130,000 years ago, a white-tailed eagle talons from the Krapina Neanderthal site in present-day Croatia. Archaeologists believe that the talons might have been part of a jewelry assemblage.

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An Eagle hunting for fish in a body of water

Source: Ken Canning

Neanderthals collected these eagle talons found in an ancient rock shelter in Croatia. Researchers discovered the artifacts nearly a century ago, but modern technology recently revealed their age.

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Hominin Wood

Wood is easy to carve, but it typically rots when exposed to air and decays rapidly. Likely, many wooden objects made by Neanderthals and even earlier hominins have completely disintegrated over time, which explains why archaeologists have never found any.

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Source: James Wheeler/Pexels

However, the discovery of a 476,000-year-old wooden structure in Zambia, preserved in clay, reveals the skillful craftsmanship that archaic hominins likely used to create artworks.

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Tibet Handprints

Fossilized children’s hand prints near a hot spring in Tibet could be as old as 200,000 years, according to one study, potentially making them some of the earliest art ever discovered. Artists made the prints in travertine stone, which remains soft when wet and hardens as it dries.

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Padmasambhava's student's handprint near the opening of the cave where Padmasambhava realized Vajrakilaya in Parping, Nepal.

Source: Wonderlane/Flickr

However, archaeologists debate whether this behavior qualifies as art and whether the Tibetan prints are truly as ancient as suggested.

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Ancient Zigzag Patterns

Researchers believe that the hominin Homo erectus created these zigzag patterns on a shell found in Indonesia up to 540,000 years ago.

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A man wearing eyeglasses studying carvings on a piece of wooden plank

Source: English Heritage Website

Although the purpose behind the design remains unclear, archaeologists note that people still create similar patterns today.

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