Vogelherd cave's chambers have produced dozens of finely carved mammoth ivory figurines: horses, lions, mammoths, bison, and other animals. First excavated in the 1930s, these figurines rank among the world's oldest-known Ice Age art. Some have cross-hatched patterns possibly depicting fur or skin.
Vogelherd cave yields hundreds of Ice Age animal figurines
GermanyEpigraphy
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Y-shaped cave with three galleries meeting in center
- Excavated in 1930s, majority of Aurignacian figurines found here
- Collection includes horses, lions, mammoths, bison, hedgehogs, fish, waterfowl
- Figurines made from finely carved woolly mammoth ivory
- Some have cross-hatched patterns possibly depicting fur or skin
- Also found: mammoth engraving on bone pendant, musical instruments
- Part of Swabian Jura caves with evidence of Aurignacian and Magdalenian occupation
Sources
The Earliest Sculpture of a Horse - History of Informationhistoryofinformation.com
The Wild Horse is part of a collection of ivory carvings that depict mammoths, bison and lions, and a snow leopard found in the cave that date from the Middle ...
Vogelherd Cave - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The excavation also yielded several figurines of 5 to 10 cm length carved from mammoth ivory, found in an Aurignacian layer (see below). They featured ...
World's 1st carved horse: The 35,000-year-old ivory figurine from ...livescience.com
Considered the oldest known horse sculpture made by anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), this horse-shaped figurine is carved out of mammoth ivory.
Carved 40,000 Years Ago and Found in a Cave, These Are the ...goodnewsnetwork.org
This is the first depiction of a horse ever made by humans as far as we know; cut from ivory an incredible 35,000 – 40,000 years ago.
Vogelherd Horse: World's Oldest Known Horse Carvingmymodernmet.com
Carved mammoths, lions, and bison have been discovered. The details of the figurines include cross markings and other delicate details. The ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.