The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It and its contemporary, the

Venus of Berekhat Ram The Venus of Berekhat Ram (280,000-250,000 BP) is a pebble found at Berekhat Ram on the Golan Heights. The pebble was modified by early humans and is suggested to represent a female human figure. Description The object was excavated and first d ...

, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form.

Description

The Venus of Tan-Tan was described by

Robert G. Bednarik Robert G. Bednarik (born 6 April 1944 in Vienna) is an Australian prehistorian and cognitive archeologist. Robert Bednarik moved from Austria to Australia in 1966. Bednarik, who considers himself an autodidact, is an expert in the fields of rock ...

. The object is a 6 cm long, 2.6 cm wide, and 1.2 cm thick, 10 gram

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

. It was discovered in 1999 during an archaeological survey by Lutz Fiedler, state

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in a river terrace deposit on the north bank of the Draa River, near the bridge of the N1 national route over the Draa, about 10 km to the northeast of the Moroccan town of

Tan-Tan Tan-Tan ( ar, طانطان, ber, ⵟⴰⵏⵟⴰⵏ) is a city in Tan-Tan Province in the region of Guelmim-Oued Noun in southwestern Morocco. It is a desert town with a population (2014 census) of 73,209. It is the largest city in the provinc ...

. No dating of the artifact nor of the deposit as a whole has been performed. Both are attributed to the Middle

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...

, which occurs between 500,000 and 300,000 BP in this region. The object, including its "arms" and "legs", was created by natural

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

processes. The horizontal grooves on both sides of the object seem to be formed partly naturally partly artificially (by percussion). The object also contains traces of pigment, which seems to be

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

according to preliminary study.

Interpretation

According to Bednarik, the object has a general human-like shape. It is assumed that this shape was recognized by early humans and the object was taken as a

manuport A manuport is a natural object that has been deliberately taken from its original environment and relocated without further modification. Typically moved by human hand, some manuports are the result of other hominins. Common manuports include stones ...

. Then its horizontal grooves were accentuated by carving with a stone tool, emphasizing the artifact's anthropomorphous character. Possibly, a pigment was applied to further accentuate the human-like form.

Controversy

To date, the findings of Bednarik have not been re-examined by other scholars and, thus, his statements have been neither confirmed nor rejected. Professor Stanley Ambrose,

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, Urbana-Champaign, has expressed an opinion (based on Bednarik's work and without studying the object directly) that the rock's shape was a result of natural weathering.

References

External links

Don Hitchcock (Don's Maps): "The Tan-Tan Venus"Rock Art Network (Bradshaw Foundation): "Tan-Tan"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venus Of Tan-Tan Archaeological artifacts Archaeology of Morocco

Acheulean 1999 archaeological discoveries

Description

Interpretation

Controversy

See also

References

External links