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The “Paleolithic Venuses” Have a New Explanation, and It’s Surprisingly Moving

They are among some of the oldest known works of art in the world. Bizarre statuettes of female figures dating from the late Stone Age, many with highly rounded breasts, buttocks, thighs, hips, and stomachs.

Paleolithic Venus.

These iconic and stylized representations of women from the Upper Paleolithic, often called statuettes of Venus, in a vague reference to the Roman goddess of beauty, have been found scattered throughout Europe and Eurasia. More than 200 have been discovered, dated between 38,000 and 14,000 years ago.

While there is much academic debate about what they represented in the eyes of their ancient carvers, many researchers have interpreted the voluptuous characteristics of the statues as symbols of fertility, sexuality, beauty and motherhood.

Others have also noted, however, that enlarged bodies offer a very realistic description of what human obesity looks like. Obesity is a serious problem for people in the 21st century, although it is not entirely clear why it would have been on the minds of our ancestors 30,000 years ago.

“Some of the oldest works of art in the world are these mysterious figures of overweight women from the time of hunter gatherers in Europe’s Ice Age, where you would not expect to see obesity,” says medical researcher Richard Johnson of the University of Colorado.

In a new study, Johnson and his colleagues offer an alternative explanation for the mystery of the figurine’s exaggerated physiques: The bodies are not swollen as symbols of sex, they say, but as symbols of survival.

The researchers analyzed dozens of figures with obese features from various chapters of the period, measuring the statues’ waist-hip and waist-shoulder ratios. When those measurements are compared to where the statues were found – specifically, looking at the distances to ancient glaciers that existed – an interesting connection was found.

Venus statuette locations related to glaciers

Many of the Venus figurines were sculpted during an extreme window of climate change called the Last Glacial Maximum, in which temperatures plummeted and ice masses expanded in many parts of the world.

In the midst of difficulties it is possible, the researchers say, that their well-formed shapes were created in a kind of response to the creeping cold.

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“During this period, humans faced the advance of glaciers and falling temperatures that caused nutritional stress, regional extinctions and a reduction in population,” explain the researchers in the study, pointing to the strange relationship they found.

“The figurines are less obese as the distance to the glaciers increases … Specifically, the body size ratios were higher when the glaciers advanced, while obesity decreased when the climate warmed and the glaciers receded.”

In the team’s hypothesis, the full-figured Venuses existed as a symbol of survival in the face of a relentless winter, exemplifying the virtues of supercharged women, whose larger and plump bodies could better withstand harsh freezing conditions.

(A) Venus of Dolni Vestonice, Czech Republic, 26,000 BP. (B) Venus of Savignano, Italy, 24,000-23,000 BP. (C) Venus of Zaraysk, Russia, 19,000 BP. (D) Venus de Abri Pataud, France, 21,000 BP

“We proposed that they conveyed body size ideals for young women, and especially those who lived near glaciers,” says Johnson.

The researchers argue that obese women would have been better at having pregnancies during the Last Glacial Maximum and also at breastfeeding.

“The statuette would represent a desired likeness of the woman in that the image had the power to produce a healthier mother and child, encompassing conception, precarious pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding,” the authors write. “Increasing fat would provide both a source of energy and much-needed insulation.”

It’s a fascinating argument, although it’s worth noting that not all members of the archaeological community have welcomed its finds.

Still, if researchers are right, these iconic figurines – much worn, as if handled as relics for successive generations – could have played a huge symbolic role, guiding humanity through one of its bleakest climate challenges in the world. his story.

“During this period, figurines emerged as an ideological tool to help improve fertility and survival of mothers and newborns,” the researchers conclude.

“The aesthetics of art therefore played a significant role in emphasizing health and survival to adapt to increasingly austere climatic conditions.”

Findings are reported in Obesity.

Source: ScienceAlert

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