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German
text/ Deutscher Text
19.06.2007
Excavations at Vogelherd Cave in southwestern Germany produce spectacular
new artworks from the Ice Age
Researchers from Tübingen recover the first complete mammoth ivory
figurine
Archaeologists from Tübingen report the discoveries of parts of
five newly discovered figu-rines from the Ice Age in the current edition
of the Journal Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden-Württemberg.
These remarkable finds from Vogelherd Cave in southwestern Ger-many,
which were carved from ivory of wooly mammoths, date to ca. 35 000 years
ago and count among the oldest and most impressive examples of figurative
artworks from the Ice Age.
A particularly spectacular find is the first entirely complete
figurine from the Swabian Jura depicting a finely carved mammoth.
The figurines also include well preserved remains of a lion, a
fragment of an additional mammoth and two as yet unidentified representations.
All of the new finds stem from the sediments of the cave, which
was originally excavated by the Tübingen archaeologist Gustav
Riek in the summer and fall of 1931. The context of the discoveries
and multiple radiocarbon dates indicate that the figurines belong
to the Aurignacian culture, which is often associated with the
arrival of modern humans in Europe. Multiple radiocarbon dates
from Vogelherd yielded ages between 30,000 and 36,000 years ago.
Given the richness of artifacts recovered from Rieks groundbreaking
work in 1931 and occa-sional discoveries by unauthorized excavations
in the former cave filling, the team from Tübingen hoped to
recover important new Ice Age finds from Vogelherd. The systematic
re-excavation of the site began in 2005 and will continue each
summer until 2009. The discovery of five figurines in 2006 as well
as many other artifacts has already exceeded all expec-tations
fort the project.
The complete depiction of a mammoth and the representation of
a lion augment the impressive, internationally renowned ensemble
of figurines recovered by Riek in 1931. The new mammoth, like most
of the Aurignacian-aged figurines from the caves of the Swabian
Jura, is small and carved in exquisite detail using stone tools.
The figurine is 3.7 cm long and weighs 7.5 grams. Of the well over
a dozen figurines from Swabia, this find is the first to be recov-ered
in a complete state. Most of the other art works have fractured
along the concentric rings of the ivory. The mammoth is unique
in its lean form, pointed tail, powerful legs and dynamically curved
trunk. The head of the figurine is decorated with six short incisions,
and the soles of the mammoths feet show a criss-cross pattern.
The newly discovered lion is 5.6 cm long and has a long torso,
outstretched neck and is decorated with ca. 30 finely incised crosses
along its spine. Lions, mammoths and other powerful animals dominate
the depictions of the earliest Ice Age art from the caves of the
Swabian Jura.
These new finds show the splendid artistry of the Ice Age inhabitants
of the Swabian Jura and further underline the observation that
the earliest figurative art was beautiful, highly re-fined and
far from primitive. Four caves from the region (Vogelherd, Hohlenstein-Stadel,
Geißenklösterle and Hohle Fels) have all produced artworks
dating in excess of 30,000 years. These finds represent some of
the earliest and most impressive figurative art known worldwide.
The preliminary results from the excavation will be presented
in a special exhibit at the Mu-seum of Prehistory in Blaubeuren
(24.06.07 13.01.08). In 2009 the figurines will be dis-played
in a major state exhibition in Stuttgart entitled: Cultures and
Art of the Ice Age.
This work has been funded by the following sponsors: Baden-Württemberg
Ministry for Sci-ence, Research and Art, Baden-Württemberg
Heritage Office, Foundation for Ice Age Art in the Lone Valley
and by generous private support from ratiopharm (Ulm), HeidelbergCement
(Heidelberg) and the Würth Group (Künselsau)
The authors of the paper: Einmalige Funde durch die Nachgrabung
am Vogelherd bei Nie-derstotzingen-Stetten ob Lontal, Kreis Heidenheim
are Nicholas J. Conard*, Michael Lingnau and Maria Malina.
Pictures and Copyright:
Jensen/Lingnau, Department of Early Prehistory,
University of Tübingen
Additional Informations:
Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology
Institute of Pre- and Protohistory and Medieval Archaeology
University of Tübingen,
Schloss Hohentübingen,
72070 Tübingen, Germany
Corresponding author
nicholas.conard@uni-tuebingen.de
Tel: 49 (0)7071 29-72416 |
