40,000-Year-Old Bird Figurines the Size of a Thumbnail Discovered in German Cave
The finds include two mammoth-ivory birds and flute fragments, adding to evidence of early symbolic art and music at Hohle Fels.
- Researchers at the Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art in Blaubeuren, Germany, unveiled new ivory bird figurines discovered at Hohle Fels Cave during the 2025 field season on July 29.
- Located in the Swabian Jura highland region, Hohle Fels is renowned for Aurignacian-era artifacts, including the 40,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels figurine and early musical instruments that mark a shift in symbolic expression.
- Paleontologist Elisa Luzi identified the new bird carvings while filtering sediment for microfossils, using the meticulous process archaeologist Alexander Janas employs to recover small objects from Hohle Fels.
- Archaeologist Nicholas Conard argues the figures demonstrate "cognitive and cultural sophistication" that helped early humans flourish in ice-age Europe, while palaeolithic archaeologist Daniel Adler speculates they expressed group affiliation or preserved memories.
- Conard plans to collect ancient DNA from Hohle Fels sediments to test theories on human evolution and determine why this region became a hub for symbolic expression during the Aurignacian period.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Thumbnail-sized Ice Age figurines discovered in Hohle Fels Cave
Two exquisitely carved Ice Age bird figurines, each no larger than a thumbnail, have been discovered at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hohle Fels Cave in Germany's Swabian Jura. This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com - © 2023 - HeritageDaily
40,000-year-old bird figurines the size of a thumbnail discovered in German cave
Archaeologists excavating in the famous prehistoric Hohle Fels cave in Germany have uncovered two bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory. The thumbnail-size carvings add to the existing evidence that ice age humans had a sophisticated artistic sense 40,000 years ago."The figurines demonstrate that the earliest artists were skilled ivory-carvers, who could depict delicate motifs in miniature form," Nicholas Conard, an archaeologist at the U…
40,000-Year-Old Bird Figurines Found in German Cave
Archaeologists in southwestern Germany have unearthed two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, among the smallest and most delicate examples of Ice Age art ever found. The post 40,000-Year-Old Bird Figurines Found in German Cave appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
The unique carvings date from the younger Stone Age. In the same cave flutes have already been excavated. What makes the finds so special.
Here you can find information on the topic „Elfenbeinvogel von Angenein" (Eleven-legged birds of ancestors). Read now "Mini-birds of ivory discovered in Unesco-Höhle".
On the Swabian Alb, researchers discovered the oldest figural works of art in the world. Now they dug out two filigree animal figures. What do they reveal about life 40,000 years ago?
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