Behold the First Realistic Depiction of the Human Face (Circa 25,000 BCE)

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In 1894, archae­ol­o­gist Édouard Piette dis­cov­ered the “Venus of Brassem­pouy,” oth­er­wise known as the “Lady with the Hood.” Unearthed in south­west­ern France and dat­ing to around 25,000 BCE, this carv­ing rep­re­sents the ear­li­est real­is­tic depic­tion of a human face. The figure’s fore­head, nose, and brows are care­ful­ly carved in relief, as is the hair, arranged in a neat geo­met­ric pat­tern. But what hap­pened to the mouth? Or the eyes? We’re not sure.

The Venus is carved from mam­moth ivory, like­ly using a stone flint, and stands just 3.65 cm tall. For some, it marks a major devel­op­ment in fig­u­ra­tive art. Or, as his­to­ri­an Simon Schama has sug­gest­ed, this fig­urine may well be the “dawn of the idea of beau­ty” in human cul­ture.

Relat­ed Con­tent 

The World’s Old­est Cave Art, Dis­cov­ered in Indone­sia, Is at Least 67,800 Years Old

Alger­ian Cave Paint­ings Sug­gest Humans Did Mag­ic Mush­rooms 9,000 Years Ago

Was a 32,000-Year-Old Cave Paint­ing the Ear­li­est Form of Cin­e­ma?

A Styl­ish 2,000-Year-Old Roman Shoe Found in a Well

Exquis­ite 2300-Year-Old Scythi­an Woman’s Boot Pre­served in the Frozen Ground of Siberia