Venus figurines from Gönnersdorf

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 ′ 51.5 ″  N , 7 ° 24 ′ 55.6 ″  E

Upper Palaeolithic archaeological site Gönnersdorf​

Germany

Venus figurines from Gönnersdorf, copies from the Landesmuseum Bonn: No. 10: figurine made of bones, No. 11: figurine made of antlers, No. 12: figurine made of ivory, No. 13: incomplete figurine made of antlers

The Venus figurines from Gönnersdorf ( Neuwied ) are eleven Stone Age depictions of the female body. The statuettes are made of bones, antlers and ivory. The age of the figurines is given as 15,000 to 11,500 years; they come from the Magdalenian . The figurines are between 5.4 cm and 8.7 cm long. The site was excavated under the direction of Gerhard Bosinski between 1968 and 1976 and has been explored since then.

Depiction of four women (with a child on the back of a figure), engraving on a slate plate

Engraving on a slate

In addition to the statuettes, numerous engravings of women and animals as well as abstract symbols on slate were found at the same place . The more than 200 depictions of women are highly schematic. Most of them are portrayals of women in profile, without exception without a head. They are often presented in groups that are interpreted as scenic representations.

See also

• List of Paleolithic Venus figurines
• Engraved slate from Gönnersdorf
• Upper Paleolithic minor art
• Lion man

literature

• Gerhard Bosinski : The excavations in Gönnersdorf. 1968–1976 and the findings of the excavation in 1968. With contributions by David Batchelor. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1979, ISBN 3-515-02509-X .
• H. Delporte: L'image de la femme dans l'art préhistorique. Picard, Paris 1979, ISBN 2-7084-0034-7 .
• Hansjürgen Müller-Beck , Gerd Albrecht (ed.): The beginnings of art 30,000 years ago. Theiss, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-8062-0508-6 .

Web links

Commons : Venus of Gönnersdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gönnersdorf and Andernach - Martinsberg at donsmaps.com by Don Hitchcock
• Lalinde / Gönnersdorf Figurines and Engravings at donsmaps.com by Don Hitchcock

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Bosinski (1987) in Müller Beck & Albrecht, p. 53.
2. ^ S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser / O. Jöris, Contextualizing the Female Image - Symbols for Common Ideas and Communal Identity in Upper Palaeolithic Societies. In: F. Wenban-Smith / F. Coward / R. Hosfield / M. Pope (Eds.), Settlement, Society, and Cognition in Human Evolution. Matt Pope. Cambridge University Press.