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Kostenki on the Don River is a very important Paleolithic site. It was a settlement which contained venus figures, dwellings made of mammoth bones, and many flint tools and bone implements.
Venus figures from the Kostenki - Borshevo region on the Don River
Photomontage of an important Kostenki Venus, diadem, and the Don River in the Kostenki region
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski
Kostenki is a very important Paleolithic site on the Don River in the Ukraine. It was a settlement which contained venus figures, dwellings made of mammoth bones, and many flint tools and bone implements. Kostenki / Kostienki is not actually a single site but really an area on the right bank of the Don River in the regions of the villages of Kostenki and Borshevo, consisting of more than twenty site locations, all dating to the Paleolithic.
The Kostienki limestone venus.
Found at the Russian site of Kostenki in 1988, this is by far the biggest such object known from the ice age. The height of the surviving fragment is 13.5 cm (5.5 inches) It is noteworthy not only for its massive size and the prominent navel, but also for the bracelets on the wrists, which appear to be joined together at the front like a pair of handcuffs.
Photo: P. Bahn, 'Prehistoric Art'
The Kostienki limestone venus.
Photo: Cohen (2003)
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This Venus figure from Kostienki 1, catalogued as number 3 by Abramova (1962), made of mammoth bone, shows the characteristic pregnancy, well developed buttocks and pendulous breasts of many such statues. In the rear view she can be seen to be wearing a fringe or girdle.
Venus figure, another version of the one above.
Note that the head, apparently found separately, has been attached at a different angle.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2008
Source: Facsimile, Voronezh Museum.
This photo of the original is catalogued as Kostenki 1, Venus figure number 3 by Abramova (1962)
(Note the hole between the ankles which could have been used to thread a cord through to make a pendant - Don )
Photo: Abramova (1962)
This photo of the original as seen in the upper drawing in the image below, is catalogued as Kostenki 1, Venus figure number 4 by Abramova (1962)
Photo: Abramova (1962)
Venus figure as shown in the lower drawings above of two venus figurines from Jelinek.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2008
Source: Facsimile, Voronezh Museum.
Venus figure as shown above.
The venus does not seem to be in a very good condition, the ivory is apparently delaminating.
Catalogued as Venus figure number 2 by Abramova (1962)
Photo: Abramova (1962)
Statuette féminine de Kostienki 1, vue de face. Collection MAE. Photo
L. Iakovleva.
Venus from Kostienki 1, frontal view. Collection MAE. This is the same as the venus above.
Photo and French text: "les mammouths - Dossiers
Archéologie - n° 291 - Mars 2004"
Photograph L Iakovleva.
My thanks to Anya for access to this resource.
This is quite a heavy looking venus figurine. It may not have been completely finished.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2008
Source: Facsimile, Voronezh Museum.
Black and white photos of the original of the venus above.
This is catalogued as Venus figure number 5 by Abramova (1962)
Photo: Abramova (1962)
Venus figure from Kostenki 1, and a fragment of a venus figure, both facsimiles.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2008
Source: Facsimile, Voronezh Museum.
Apparently the original of the venus on the left, above.
Catalogued as Kostenki 1 Venus figure number 1 by Abramova (1962)
Photo: Abramova (1962)
Venus figure, another version of the one on the left, above.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2008
Source: Facsimile, Voronezh Museum.
Venus figure, another version of the one on the left, above. The venus is from Kostenki 1 and is 9 cm high.
This is apparently of the original. Note the cross hatching across the top of the breasts, possibly a decorative band of some kind.
Photo: http://www.istmira.com/foto-i-video-pervobytnoe-obschestvo/3924-iskusstvo-predystorii-pervobytnost-2.html
Venus figure from Kostenki.
A figure of a naked woman. Her head is covered with rows of shallow teeth cuts, depicting, according to Z. A. Abramova, hair or a closely fitting head-dress. Engraved and relief lines on the chest and on the back. Mammoth's tusk. Height 114 mm. Found in 1936, excavation made by P.P. Efimenko, who thought it to be 'one of the best creations of that period, known to us'.
Photo: Cohen (2003)
Text: http://vm.kemsu.ru/en/palaeolith/plastic/costenki.html
Another photo of the venus above.
From:
http://vm.kemsu.ru/en/palaeolith/plastic/costenki.html
This image shows both front and back views.
Photo: Rau et al. (2009)
The upper horizon of Kostenki 4 yielded some interesting finds.
1 and 2 are venus figures, 3 and 4 are fragments of anthropomorphic pieces, and 5 and 6 are engraved plaques of marl (clayey limestone).
Photo: Abramova (1962)
Venus figure from Kostenki 1.
Photo: (left) N.D. Praslov
Photo: (right) Cohen (2003)
Female figurine carved from mammoth tusk. Kostenki 1, layer 1
22 000 BP
Plaster cast.
This is a pregnant woman, with hands on the abdomen, head tilted, as if she is listening to the new life inside her, the whole figure produces a feeling of peace and tranquility.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2011
Venus figure, same as above, plaster cast.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2006
Female figurine carved from marl. Kostenki 1, layer 1
22 000 BP
Plaster cast.
The legs and head appear to have been deliberately broken off in the Paleolithic. Perhaps this was a ritual whose meaning is now unclear.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2011
Another version of the venus figure above.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2006
Kostenki 1 venus figures.
1 - A rod with a globular head.
2 - a point with a hat like head.
3 - Rod with a rounded head.
Photo: Abramova (1962)
This is described as a male venus from Kostenki.
Photo: Abramova (1995)
A photograph of the male venus figure above.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2007
Source: The Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
Vulve sculptée de Kostienki 1. Collection MAE. Photo L. Iakovleva.
Vulva sculpture from Kostienki 1. Collection MAE.
Photo and French text: "les mammouths - Dossiers
Archéologie - n° 291 - Mars 2004"
Photograph L Iakovleva.
My thanks to Anya for access to this resource.
23 000 - 21 000 BC Limestone
H 10.2 cm
This figurine represents the Palaeolithic 'Venus', with overlarge breasts and belly. The faceless head bends towards the chest while the arms are pressed to the body with hands on the belly. Covering the surface of the head are rows of incisions indicating a hair style or cap. Relief work in the form of a tight plait convey a breast ornament tied up at the back. There are bracelets on the arms.
(right images) http://exn.ca/stories/2000/02/03/53.asp
Venus figure above, but minus the head.
This has the classic and famous beaded decoration around the neck and above the breasts.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski, 2006
This is a much better photograph of the original in the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg, Russia.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2007
Facsimile of the venus figure above.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2008
Source: Vienna Natural History Museum
Venus figurines from Kostenki
Photo: http://vantit.ru/antiquities/908-venera-iz-kostenok.html
Venus figurine from Kostenki
Photo: http://vantit.ru/antiquities/908-venera-iz-kostenok.html
Venus figurine from Kostenki
Photo: Cohen (2003)
Kostenki Venus figure, with a good view of the back of the venus.
Photo: http://shamans-storytellers.wikispaces.com/9E+Look,+Ma,+No+Feet!++Paleolithic+Goddess+Figures
Venus figurine made of marl from Kostenki 1, apparently a facsimile.
Photo: Soffer et al. (2000)
Venus figurine from Kostenki
Photo: http://vantit.ru/antiquities/908-venera-iz-kostenok.html
Venus figurine from Kostenki 1.
Abramova (1962) identifies this as Number 6 from Kostenki 1.
Photo: Abramova (1962)
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Head of a venus known popularly as the golf ball. From the Kostenki I site in Russia. The real basket headware was made of plaited starts and coiled basketry, copied here in stone.
Photo: http://www.unl.edu/rhames/212/venus/venus_string.html
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Dr. Olga Soffer examining the "golf ball" head of the Venus of the Kostenki I site in Russia.
"Because they have emotionally charged thingies like breasts and buttocks, the Venus figurines have been the subject of more spilled ink than anything I know of," Dr. Soffer said.
"There are as many opinions on them as there are people in field."
Text and Photo: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture02/r_2-1.html
These are photographs of the original in the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg, Russia.
Photo: Vladimir Gorodnjanski 2007
Large head made of marl from Kostenki I.
Left, right profile; centre, left profile; right, superior view.
Photo: Soffer et al. (2000)
Animal head (possibly a cave lion head), and two bison figurines from Kostenki 4.
Photo: Abramova (1995)
References
- Abramova Z., 1962: Paleolitičeskoe iskusstvo na territorii SSSR, Moskva : Akad. Nauk SSSR, Inst. Archeologii, 1962
- Abramova Z., 1995: L'Art paléolithique d'Europe orientale et de Sibérie., Grenoble: Jérôme Millon.
- Cohen C., 2003: La femme des origines. Images de la femme dans la préhistoire occidentale,, Paris, Belin-Herscher, 2003, 191 pages.
- Soffer O., Adovasio J., Hyland D., 2000: The 'Venus' Figurines - Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper Paleolithic, Current Anthropology Volume 41, Number 4, August–October 2000
- Rau, S., Naumann D., Barth M., Mühleis Y., Bleckmann C., 2009: Eiszeit: Kunst und Kultur, Thorbecke, 2009, 396p. ISBN: 978-3-7995-0833-9