The Lion Man stands ~31 cm tall and took ~320 hours to carve from mammoth ivory. This 40,000-year-old cave lion-human hybrid from Hohlenstein-Stadel has a distinctive grin. Reconstructed from hundreds of fragments.
Lion Man: oldest zoomorphic statue discovered in Germany
GermanyArtifact
Key facts
- 35-40,000-year-old statue carved from mammoth ivory
- Stands 31.1 cm high, one of the oldest known statues in the world
- Depicts cave lion human hybrid with distinctive grin
- Found in Hohlenstein-Stadel in Swabian Jura mountains
- Required approximately 400 hours to carve
- Found in 1939, reconstructed from hundreds of pieces
- Part of Aurignacian culture (43,000-26,000 years ago)
Site mentioned
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.
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