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Ice Age Artists Turned the Natural Patterns of Mammoth Tusks into Art 18,000 Years Ago
Around 18,000 years ago, artists living in what is now northern Ukraine carved small human figures from mammoth ivory. A new study suggests that the patterns covering these objects were shaped by the natural structure of the ivory itself. Researchers made the discovery after examining 18 figurines from Mizyn, one of Ukraine’s most important Upper…
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Two Tiny 40,000-Year-Old Ivory Birds Unearthed in Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave
Archaeologists working in Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave have uncovered two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory around 40,000 years ago. Barely larger than a thumbnail, the figures were recovered by a University of Tübingen team from deep Aurignacian layers inside the UNESCO World Heritage cave. One appears to show a resting or brooding bird,…
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The Origins of Writing May Reach Back 40,000 Years, Study Suggests
Before clay tablets and urban bureaucracies, before agriculture reshaped human life, Ice Age hands were carving deliberate patterns into ivory. Rows of dots. Repeated crosses. Carefully spaced notches. For decades, archaeologists described these markings as symbolic or decorative. A new computational study now argues something more radical: these 40,000-year-old signs may represent one of the…
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27,000-Year-Old Figurine with Expressive Face Redefines Prehistoric Art
A groundbreaking discovery in northern France has shed new light on prehistoric art and human creativity. During 2021 excavations at the Amiens-Renancourt site, archaeologists uncovered a 27,000-year-old figurine head with an incredibly detailed face and a complex headdress — a rarity for its time. This tiny sculpture, measuring just 2.1 cm, is being hailed as…