The Venus of Willendorf and the Deep Roots of Symbolic Thought in the Paleolithic

Art, mobility, and meaning in Gravettian Europe: material provenance, cultural networks, and competing interpretations of one of prehistory’s most iconic figurines

Illustration of the Venus of Willendorf. Powered by Canva

Over time, humans have distinguished themselves from other animals through their artistic creations. We move from simple sketches to the creation of circles and progressively more complex figures, which may also reflect a change in human thought and in the way humans understood themselves and nature. Indeed, all Paleolithic works, including cave paintings, seem to be, especially in the last few thousand years, complex forms that are still difficult to decipher today.

Among these, we certainly find the famous Venus of Willendorf, which is very likely the most well-known prehistoric artifact, both for the possible meanings associated with this figurine and for the period in which it was created. This true work of art is at least 30,000 years old and was discovered in 1908 during prehistoric excavations carried out near Vienna.

The first noteworthy detail is that this object was covered in a reddish pigment, which was accidentally removed during the cleaning of the artifact itself. Unfortunately, both in archaeology and paleontology, some data have been lost because researchers in the past did not place much attention on geological context or on the materials that may have covered artifacts.

Illustration of the Venus of Willendorf. Powered by Canva

It is, however, a faceless female figure. The head is slightly tilted downward, and on it there are some kind of jagged lines that may represent hair, or possibly a hairstyle characterized by braids or curls. Alongside various finds from many other sites showing that even Neanderthals adorned themselves with objects or pigments, it is not difficult to imagine that hair may also have been modified or decorated at that time.

The features that likely make this figurine famous are the large breasts and a relatively abundant abdomen, with robust thighs and no feet. Strictly speaking, it should not even be called a “Venus,” but the name in some way refers to the Roman goddess Venus, symbol of fertility (as she is a fertility deity) and beauty; therefore, it was not difficult for researchers to associate the figurine with the Roman goddess.

Venus of Willendorf (view from all sides), Upper Paleolithic figurine. Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (2020), Venus of Willendorf — All sides, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0). Source: Wikimedia Commons.

A noteworthy detail is that this statuette is not originally from Willendorf; it was carved from a limestone that does not occur near the Austrian prehistoric site. Across Europe, approximately 200 similar figurines have been found, and the reason for their production is still unclear, especially in a period characterized by glaciations. More recently, thanks also to 3D scanning that allowed a kind of “radiography” of the figurine, it was discovered that it is made of oolitic limestone. Essentially, this is a sediment rich in tiny spherical carbonate grains that form by precipitation of aragonite around a carbonate or terrigenous nucleus, typically in warm waters of tropical climates and carbonate platform environments.

These sedimentary structures are not present in the vicinity of Willendorf, but they may have originated from what is now the Czech Republic or Ukraine. However, the most significant similarities come from samples from northern Italy, and the material most likely originated from the southern Alps. Therefore, the figurine may have been created in Italy and later transported to present-day Austria, or alternatively, the raw material may have been transported first and only later shaped.

Venus of Willendorf, one of the most iconic Upper Paleolithic figurines, dated to approximately 25,000–22,000 BCE and associated with Gravettian cultural contexts. The object is currently housed at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna and is widely interpreted as a symbolic or ritual artifact, although its exact function remains debated. MatthiasKabel (2007). Venus von Willendorf. Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (and CC BY 2.5). Click here to see the 3D reconstruction.

In any case, the statuette was carved during the last Ice Age and is associated with the Gravettian culture, hunter-gatherers who most likely spread from central Europe across the continent, albeit very slowly. It has been suggested that Gravettian populations moved at a rate of about 1 km per year and probably did not encounter other Homo sapiens populations or other hominins. Genetic studies and cranial scans indicate that Gravettian populations were not very different biologically, and that culture was also shared across groups and subject to relatively little variation.

Various symbolic objects, such as these figurines, indicate that Gravettian populations maintained strong networks, both in terms of the exchange of information and of ideas and technologies. The approximately 200 figurines are mostly made of limestone, while some are also made of ivory, and the Venus of Willendorf is currently the only one known to have been carved from oolitic limestone. It is not known whether this sedimentary material had any particular symbolic significance. It is established that the figurine had a shared meaning among Gravettian populations, and many researchers suggest that the Venuses may be linked to fertility, as they are characterized by forms that may resemble those of a pregnant woman or a nursing mother.

The Venus of Willendorf is currently housed at the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (Natural History Museum Vienna), located in Vienna, Austria. Image/source: Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0).

Other researchers, however, argue that the figurines may have had a somewhat more erotic meaning, since they were carved during the Ice Age, when the climate was quite harsh, and such a body form (uncommon at the time) may have been appreciated, particularly because excess body fat could symbolize greater resistance to cold. Ultimately, the Venus, with its proportions, may have represented a kind of unattainable standard for women of that period.

A 2011 study instead suggests that the Venus may depict a middle-aged adult woman, “mature”, with a well-nourished body, representing a woman who had given birth to several children. At that time, as in more recent periods, surviving childbirth was not the norm, nor was reaching an advanced age. It represents a woman who survived the hardships of her environment, although it is also true that these interpretations may be influenced by our modern perspective; therefore, the original meaning may have been different.

References

• Bicho N, Cascalheira J, Gonçalves C (2017) Early Upper Paleolithic colonization across Europe: Time and mode of the Gravettian diffusion. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0178506.
• Dixson, A. F., & Dixson, B. J. “Venus Figurines of the European Paleolithic: Symbols of Fertility or Attractiveness?” Journal of Anthropology, vol. 2011, Article ID 569120, 11 pages.
• Garate D, Rivero O, Rios-Garaizar J, Arriolabengoa M, Intxaurbe I, Salazar S (2020) Redefining shared symbolic networks during the Gravettian in Western Europe: New data from the rock art findings in Aitzbitarte caves (Northern Spain). PLoS ONE 15(10): e0240481.
• Janusz K. Kozłowski, The origin of the Gravettian, Quaternary International, Volumes 359–360, 2015, Pages 3–18, ISSN 1040–6182.
• Jennett, K. D. (2008). Female figurines of the upper Paleolithic (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.
• Mounier, A., Heuzé, Y., Samsel, M. et al. Gravettian cranial morphology and human group affinities during the European Upper Palaeolithic. Sci Rep 10, 21931 (2020).
• Weber, G.W., Lukeneder, A., Harzhauser, M. et al. The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf. Sci Rep 12, 2926 (2022).