The Ain Sakhri figurine or Ain Sakhri Lovers is a

Natufian The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introducti ...

sculpture that was found in one of the

Ain Sakhri The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introduction ...

caves near

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

. It is approximately 11,000 years old and thought to be the oldest known representation of two people engaged in sexual intercourse.A History of the World -7
BBC.co.uk, accessed July 2010 It is held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Discovery

The sculpture was identified in 1933 by

René Neuville René Neuville (30 October 1899, Gibraltar – 23 June 1952, Jerusalem) was a French prehistorian and diplomat posted to the French consulate in Jerusalem. Diplomatic career Neuville's father was the consul general of France in Gibraltar. He ...

, a French

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and prehistorian, when looking through random finds obtained by the French Fathers at

. He found the stone whilst visiting a small museum with

Abbé Breuil Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil (28 February 1877 – 14 August 1961), often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist. He is noted for his studies of cave art in the Somme an ...

.A History of the World in 100 objects - Part 7
BBC Radio 4, 26 January 2010
transcript
accessed 23 July 2010 Neuville immediately identified it as important and was able to get an introduction to the Bedouin who had made the finds at Wadi Khareitoun. He was led to a location within the

caves and it is from these caves that the sculpture gets its name. Excavations of the caves revealed that the cave had been used domestically during the later Epipaleolithic (

). For this reason it is thought that the figurine was used domestically and had not been left there as part of a funeral. After the death of René Neuville in 1952, it was purchased by the

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in 1958 from M. Y. Neuville.figurine
British Museum, accessed July 2010

Appearance

The sculpture was made by carving a single " calcite cobble" which was picked away with a stone point to identify the position of the couple. Although it lacks details, such as faces, it is considered to be a clever piece of sculpture. Artist

Marc Quinn Marc Quinn (born 8 January 1964) is a British contemporary visual artist whose work includes sculpture, installation, and painting. Quinn explores "what it is to be human in the world today" through subjects including the body, genetics, ident ...

has noted that the figure looks different depending on the viewer's perspective, and may resemble a couple, a penis, breasts, or a vagina depending on this perspective, or two testicles when viewed upside-down, from the bottom. Quinn compared it to a modern pornographic film where the action may include close-ups and long shots. It is clear that the figures in the couple are facing each other, but the sex of the figures can only be presumed.

References

Bibliography

*B. Boyd and J. Cook, 'A reconsideration of the "Ain Sakhri" figurine', ''Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society'', 59 (1993), pp. 399–405

External links

{{British Museum 9th-millennium BC works 1933 archaeological discoveries Archaeological artifacts Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Erotic art Stone Age Asia Prehistoric art category:Sculptures of the British Museum Israel–United Kingdom relations Natufian culture

Discovery

Appearance

See also

References

Bibliography

External links