Stylised Female Figurine
Ritual use
Mezin type, Ukraine
Eastern Epigravettian
Around 20 000 years
The female figurines […] are so schematic in form that Fedor K.Volkov considered them bird figurines during his excavations at Mezin before the First World War
G. Bosinski, Homo Sapiens, Errance, Paris. 1990
Commentary :
At Mezin, in the Ukraine, a unique set of mammoth ivory female figurines from the Late Palaeolithic were discovered. These figurines are all extremely stylized, many of them are formed in shapes reminiscent of birds. They are decorated with geometric motifs that include hair, pubic triangles as well as chevrons suggestive of woven clothes.
The abstract and highly original Mezin figurines not only served to portray individuals but also satisfy the social, ritual or religious needs of Palaeolithic hunters some 20 000 years ago.
