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The Venus of Galgenberg is a
Venus figurine
A Venus figurine is any Upper Palaeolithic statuette portraying a woman, usually carved in the round.Fagan, Brian M., Beck, Charlotte, "Venus Figurines", ''The Oxford Companion to Archaeology'', 1996, Oxford University Press, pp. 740–741 Mos ...
of the
Aurignacian
The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic
associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where t ...
era, dated to about 30,000 years ago.
The sculpture, also known in German as the Fanny von Galgenberg, was discovered in 1988 close to
Stratzing, Austria, not far from the site of the
Venus of Willendorf
The Venus of Willendorf is an Venus figurine estimated to have been made around 25,000-30,000 years ago. It was found on August 7, 1908, by a workman named Johann Veran or Josef Veram during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szomba ...
. The two statuettes are normally displayed in the same cabinet at the
Museum of Natural History
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
in Vienna, to emphasise the special nature of these two "old ladies", as the curator affectionately calls them.
The figurine measures in height and weighs 10 g. It is sculpted from shiny green
serpentine rock which is found in the immediate vicinity of where the figurine was unearthed.
Because the figurine exhibits a "dancing pose" it was given the nickname of "Fanny" after
Fanny Elssler
Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 23 June 181027 November 1884) was an Austrian ballerina of the Romantic Period.
Life and career
She was born in Gumpendorf, a neighborhood of Vienna. Her father Johann Florian Elssler was a second ge ...
, an Austrian ballerina of the 19th century.
Literature
* ''Das neolithische Fundmaterial von St.Pölten/Galgenleithen.'' in: ''Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien.'' Wien 108.1978, 50ff.
* ''Zur altsteinzeitlichen Besiedlungsgeschichte des Galgenberges von Stratzing/Krems - Rehberg.'' in: ''Archäologie Österreichs.'' Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Bd 18. Wien 4.1993,1,10 ff.
* Bednarik, Robert (1989) The Galgenberg figurine from Krems, Austria. ''
Rock Art Research
''Rock Art Research'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal
An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve ...
''. 6. 118-25
See also
*
List of Stone Age art
This is a descriptive list of Stone Age art, the period of prehistory characterised by the widespread use of stone tools. This article contains, by sheer volume of the artwork discovered, a very incomplete list of the works of the painters, sculpt ...
*
Art of the Upper Paleolithic
The art of the Upper Paleolithic represents the oldest form of prehistoric art. Figurative art is present in Europe and Southeast Asia, beginning between about 40,000 to 35,000 years ago.
Non-figurative cave paintings, consisting of hand ste ...
References
External links
Venus vom Galgenbergfrom the
Aeiou Encyclopedia
Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German language, German and English language, English about Austria-related topics.
Background
The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in ...
.
Don's maps
{{Venus figurines
Galgenberg
Archaeological discoveries in Austria
Archaeological discoveries in Europe
Aurignacian
Stone sculptures in Austria
1988 archaeological discoveries