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Venus of Willendorf
The Venus is a completly conserved statue, 11 cm high and made of limestone, which represents a naked(corpulent) woman.
This figure is anatomically realistic and proportional fair, shaped;the sexual attributes are accentuated, while the face is abstarct. The head shows numerous bulges, which seem to indicate a braided hairstyle. The arms are very short. The shanks are shortend, and the feet have been neglected totally, probably to able to put the figure into an upright position. Except for a bracelet on the right wrist and the special hairstyle there is no body ornamentation visible; but traces of a red colouring give evidence of a primeval painting.
The discovery of this statue, which is to be interpreted as expression of a fertility cult or as a symbol of the "Magna Mater" ("big earth mother"), was a scientific sensation. Under the denomination "Venus of Willenorf", this ice age work of art became famous across the borders of lower Austria.
The site of the Venus is freely accessible and beside the uncovered and post signed exavation history you can visit an imitation of the Venus.
Amongst all the discovered, comparable figurative findings from the stone age - which are over 130 objects, scattered from south of France and north of Italy over middle Europe to Siberia, and made of different materials - the Willendorfer statue is the most beautiful one and belongs also to the oldest of this specific group type.
