Lion man
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A lion headed figure, first called the Lion man (German: Löwenmensch), then the Lion Lady (German: Löwenfrau), is an ivory sculpture that is the oldest known zoomorphic, animal-shaped sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general. The sculpture has also been interpreted as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it may have represented a deity. The figurine was determined to be about 32,000 years old [1] [2] by using the C14 method on carbon bearing material from the same layer in which the sculpture was found. It is associated with the archaeological Aurignacian culture. [1]
Its pieces were found in 1939 in a cave named Stadel-Höhle im Hohlenstein (Stadel cave in Hohlenstein Mountain) in the Lonetal (Lone valley) Swabian Alb, Germany. Due to the beginning of the Second World War, it was forgotten and only rediscovered thirty years later. The first reconstruction revealed a humanoid figurine without head. During 1997 through 1998 additional pieces of the puzzle were discovered and the head was reassembled and restored.
The sculpture is 29.6 cm (11.7 inches) in height, 5.6 cm wide. and 5,9 cm thick. It was carved out of mammoth ivory using a flint stone knife. There are seven parallel, horizontal, carved gouges on the left arm.
Originally, the figure was classified as male by Professor Hahn. From examination of some additional parts of the sculpture found later, Professor Schmidt then determined that the figure was female (a lioness) and called it Lowenfrau (lionlady). [2] Both interpretations lack scientific evidence, however, but no mane is part of the sculpture. Recently it is more often called a lion headed figurine, rather than the probably-incorrect title, lion man.
Interpretation is very difficult. The sculpture shares certain similarities with French cave wall paintings, which also show hybrid creatures. The French paintings, however, are several thousand years younger than the German sculpture.
After this artifact was identified, a similar, but smaller, lion-headed sculpture was found, along with other animal figures, in another cave in the same region of Germany. This leads to the possibility, that the lion-figure played an important role in the mythology of humans of the early Upper Paleolithic.
The sculpture can be seen in the Ulmer Museum in Ulm, Germany.
[edit] References
- ^ Lionheaded Figurine. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
- ^ Dalton, Rex (2004-01-01). Lion Man Oldest Statue. VNN World. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
