Venus figurines of Gönnersdorf

The Venus figurines from Gönnersdorf, at Neuwied, are paleolithic sculptures depicting the female body.

Discovery
Gerhard Bosinski led the excavations between 1968 and 1976 at Neuwied, a town on the Rhine in Germany.

Features
The figures consist of carved bone, antler or Mammoth tusk ivory. They are between 15,000 and 11,500 years old and stem from the Magdalenian period. These figurines are between 5.4 and 8.7 cm long.

At the same place of many engravings of animals, human beings and abstract signs on slate were found. The depictions of human beings were much stylized. Most often women were depicted, always in profile without a head. The Montastruc decorated stone (Palart 518) in the British Museum has similar stylization.

Literature

 * Bosinski, G. (1979). Die Ausgrabungen in Gönnersdorf 1968–1976 und die Siedlungsbefunde der Grabung 1968. Mit Beiträgen von David Batchelor. Wiesbaden: Steiner. ISBN 3-515-02509-X.
 * Delporte H. (1979). L’image de la femme dans l’art préhistorique. Paris: Ed. Picard.
 * Müller-Beck, H. & Albrecht, G. (ed.), (1987). Die Anfänge der Kunst vor 30000 Jahren. Stuttgart: Theiss.