The availability of micro-computed tomography (♜T Fig. Older female figurines such as the Venus from Hohle Fels 12-stylistically closely related to other Aurignacian figurines-are commonly regarded as a link to the female representations of the Gravettian.īecause of the unique value of the Venus from Willendorf, one of the most famous signs of early modern human symbolic behaviour, invasive investigations have been impossible since its discovery in 1908. Many figurines from France and Italy are not stratified and can therefore not be dated. The youngest group of sculptures are the Balzi Rossi figurines from Italy 11. Chronologically, the Venus I from Willendorf is slightly older than the figurines from Eastern Europe and also those from France. Types like the figurines from Renancourt in Northern France 9, the Mediterranean figurines or the figurines from Mal’ta in Siberia 10 are bound to the respective regions. g., Lespugue, Willendorf and Kostenki, and abstract representations often combining male and female characteristics, also distributed from France to Russia.

Among the female representations of the Gravettian there are supraregional types such as the naturalistic figurines, e. Based on shape and making, a connection to the Ukraine/South Russia has been claimed, placing figurines from Pavlov-Willendorf-Kostenki-Avdeevo in one cluster 8. The figurines from Willendorf (alongside the Venus I made from oolitic limestone, there are two younger ivory figurines: Venus II and III) are part of a system of representations distributed from France to Russia, and are very similar to different Russian figurines. In the last years, Stránská Skála (Czech Republic) was conferred to represent the potential source of material for the Venus from Willendorf 7. The origin of the raw material was elusively discussed earlier 6, and already the discoverer Josef Szombathy suspected that the raw material of the Venus was collected elsewhere, potentially in the nearby Vienna Basin where Tertiary limestone deposits exist. Oolitic limestones are completely absent in and around Willendorf. The figurine was made from oolitic limestone and painted red, possibly with ochre, which was almost entirely removed by cleaning at the time of discovery. 1), reposited at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, is exactly 110 mm in height and represents a symbolized adult and faceless female with exaggerated genitalia, pronounced haunches, a protruding belly, heavy breasts, and a sophisticated headdress or hairdo 4, 5. Willendorf is thus one of the earliest evidences in Europe for early modern human settlings and emphasizes the significant role of the Danube corridor for modern human dispersal. The occupation of Willendorf II itself goes far back into the Early Aurignacian, when people first settled in a cold steppe-type environment 43,500 years BP 3. Both layers are associated with Gravettian industries. The excavation documentation leaves space for interpretation as far as the attribution of the horizon with the figurine to layer Willendorf II/9 (29.1–28.8 ka cal BP 3) is concerned, but the figurine evidently comes from an archaeological horizon 25 cm below 2 Layer 9, possibly equivalent with Layer 8a (< 30.8–29.2 ka cal BP 3), and is therefore roughly 30,000 years old. As glaciers and polar ice caps started melting 15,000 years ago, flooding of land combined with tidal influence changed the geography of the Keys and their surrounding areas.The Venus I figurine was found on the left bank of the Danube in Willendorf II/Lower Austria on August 7th, 1908 1, 2 during excavations led by Josef Szombathy, supervised by Hugo Obermaier and Josef Bayer. The two dominate rock formations in the Keys are Key Largo Limestone and Miami Oolite.ĭuring this time of lower sea levels, the Florida land mass was much larger than it is today and the area now referred to as Florida Bay was forested. They are island remnants of ancient coral reefs (Upper Keys) and sand bars (Lower Keys) that flourished during a period of higher sea levels approximately 125,000 years ago (a period of geologic time known as the Pleistocene Epoch).ĭuring the last ice age (100,000 years ago) sea level dropped, exposing the ancient coral reefs and sand bars which became fossilized over time to form the rock that makes up the island chain today.

The Florida Keys are a chain of limestone islands that extend from the southern tip of the Florida mainland southwest to the Dry Tortugas, a distance of approximately 220 miles.

Limestone oolite