VENUS OF LESPUGUE, ANCIENT PALEOLITHIC FEMALE FIGURINE

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The Venus of Lespugue figurine was unearthed in 1922 within the Rideaux cave of Lespugue, nestled at the foot of the Pyrenees by René de Saint-Périer (1877-1950). Approximately six inches tall, it is crafted from tusk ivory and sustained damage during excavation. Among all steatopygous Venus figurines discovered from the upper Paleolithic period, the Venus of Lespugue stands out for its depiction of exaggerated female secondary sexual characteristics, particularly its exceptionally large, pendulous breasts. It also showcases the earliest known example of spun thread, as she wears a twisted fiber skirt around her waist. This precise replication of the original, unreconstructed figurine is complete with damage and dates back to 26,000 to 24,000 BCE, placing it firmly in upper Paleolithic times. The Venus of Lespugue resides at the Musée de l'Homme in France. This STL was created from a high-resolution scan of the original cast while it was being exhibited in the Czech Republic during the 1980s. Two years were spent tracking down these casts and making scans using the latest high-resolution scanners, which can detect details as small as 25 microns, resulting in an extremely accurate and virtually only museum-quality exact recreation of the original Venus figurine available today.