The Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave is a 35,000–32,0000 year-old carved section of

mammoth ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

, with a depiction of a human figure. It was discovered in the Geißenklösterle cave in the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

near

Blaubeuren Blaubeuren () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. it had 11,963 inhabitants. Geography Geographical location The core city Blaubeuren lies at the foot of the Swabian Jura, west of Ulm. Neighbori ...

, Germany.

Significance

The object (or 'plate') is an exceptional artwork, demonstrating a highly developed aesthetic ability within early

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

Aurignacian The Aurignacian () is an archaeological industry of the Upper Paleolithic associated with Cro-Magnon, Early European modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the L ...

culture. It is one of several figurative works of

art of the Upper Palaeolithic The art of the Upper Paleolithic represents the oldest form of prehistoric art. Figurative art is present in prehistoric Europe, Europe and Prehistoric Indonesia, Southeast Asia, beginning around 50,000 years ago. Non-figurative cave paintings, c ...

discovered in the cave.

Description and Interpretation

The engraved mammoth tusk is a well-preserved, rectangular piece: tall, wide, and thick. Traces of

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

and

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

can be found on it by microscope analysis. The mineral ochre was often used during Palaeolithic rituals. Front Face (Side A) The front face has a human figure (anthropoid) of uncertain sex in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

, with raised arms and outstretched legs, but no hands. The posture is usually interpreted as an expression of worship, which is why in German the figure is called an 'adorant', a word meaning 'worshipper'. It has been claimed that a belt and sword can be seen, although these are probably natural features of the ivory. Reverse Face (Side B) On the plate's reverse are 88 small notches in rows.Müller-Beck, H. and Albrecht, G. (Ed.), 1987: ''Die Anfänge der Kunst vor 30000 Jahren'' Theiss: Stuttgart. S. 75; Abb. S. 32.

Discovery and Display

The object was discovered during an excavation in 1979. Excavations took place at the Geißenklösterle cave between 1973 and 1991, and have continued since 2001. It is now in the collection of the

Landesmuseum Württemberg The Landesmuseum Württemberg (Württemberg State Museum) is the main historical museum of the Württemberg part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It emerged from the 16th-century “Kunstkammer” ( Cabinet of art and curios ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Replicas are used for public display, as the original is accessible only for scientific examination.

References

Literature

* Joachim Hahn, 1980: "Eine aurignacienzeitliche Menschendarstellung aus dem Geißenklösterle bei Blaubeuren, Alb-Donau-Kreis". In: ''Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg – Nachrichtenblatt der Landesdenkmalpflege'', Vol. 9, Nr. 2 (1980), S. 56-58. * Joachim Hahn, 1988: ''Die Geißenklösterle-Höhle im Achtal bei Blaubeuren'', Stuttgart: Karl Theiss Verlag. * C.–S. Holdermann, Müller-Beck, H. and Simon, U., 2001: ''Eiszeitkunst im süddeutschschweizerischen Jura: Anfänge der Kunst,'', Stuttgart: Karl Theiss Verlag. * H. Müller-Beck und G. Albrecht (Ed.), 1987: ''Die Anfänge der Kunst vor 30000 Jahren'', Stuttgart: Theiss.

External links