Stone Age Art

This Stone Age figurine unearthed at Zaraysk, Russia, looks like a pregnant woman. Of course it could be a paunchy man, but the back view on the right strongly suggests female hips. This is one of two figurines found at Zaraysk. Both were carefully buried, each one covered with the shoulder-blade of a mammoth. If the first thing Stone Age Man does when he gains the technology is carve a woman, he may be more like us than we care to think. Greek statues of goddesses are a long way from the Upper Palaeolithic. And so are modern pop divas, whose photos are widely shown for fans to worship. It seems only the technology has changed.