Lion Man: oldest known human-animal sculpture from Germany

Cave Structures< 4500 BC
NEW | 40,000-Year-Old "Proto-Writing" Discovered on Ice Age Artefacts
Source: NEW | 40,000-Year-Old "Proto-Writing" Discovered on Ice Age Artefacts by Ancient Architects

Site mentioned

📄 Hohlenstein-Stadel🗺️ More sites in Germany🌍 Show on the globe

The 31.1 cm Lion Man was carved from mammoth ivory and took about 320 hours to make. Dating to roughly 35,000–40,000 years ago, this Aurignacian human-bodied, cave-lion-headed figurine has a distinctive grin. It was found in 1939 at Hohlenstein-Stadel in Germany's Swabian Jura and reconstructed from more than 500 fragments.

Key facts

  • Dated to roughly 35,000–40,000 years ago and associated with the Aurignacian.
  • Carved from mammoth ivory and stands 31.1 cm high.
  • Combines a human body with a cave-lion head and has a distinctive grin.
  • Found in 1939 in Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in the Swabian Jura, southern Germany.
  • The original carving is estimated to have taken about 320 hours, not 400.
  • Reconstructed from more than 500 fragments.
  • Classified as the oldest known anthropomorphic animal sculpture and among the world's oldest works of art.

Related stories

Sources

The Lion Man: an Ice Age masterpiece | British Museumbritishmuseum.org
Ivory figure with lion head and partly human body standing upright The Lion Man. Stadel Cave, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 40,000 years old.
The Lion-Man of Hohlenstein-Stadelnutcrackerman.com
According to an experiment, it likely took about 320 hours to carve the figure. The original was heavily damaged by the discoverer himself, the ...
The 40000-year-old Lion Man of the Hohlenstein-Stadelthekidshouldseethis.com
This Lion Man or Löwenmensch (lion-human) figurine is the oldest-known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world.
The Lion Man from Ulm - Don's Mapsdonsmaps.com
Height 30 cm, about 6 cm diameter. Made of mammoth ivory. Found in the cave of Hohlenstein-Stadel in the Valley of Lone, Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany), in 1939.
Lion-man - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
It is an anthropomorphic figurine combining a human-like body with the head of a cave lion (Panthera spelaea). Löwenmensch (Lion-man). Material, Mammoth ivory.
Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadelen.wikipedia.org
The Löwenmensch figurine, also called the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel , is a prehistoric sculpture discovered in Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave,
Lion manen.wikipedia.org
Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel, a prehistoric sculpture discovered in a German cave in 1939 Stephan Bibrowski (born 1890), a famous sideshow performer,
The Lion Man of Hohlensteinmeer.com
The Lion Man was discovered in 1939 in the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in southern Germany. Its age, determined through radiocarbon dating ...
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