VENUS OF LESPUGUE, RECONSTRUCTED PALEOLITHIC FEMALE FIGURINE

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The Venus of Lespugue figurine was unearthed in 1922 within the Rideaux cave at Lespugue, situated at the foothills of the Pyrenees by René de Saint-Périer (1877-1950). Measuring approximately 6 inches tall, it is carved from tusk ivory and suffered damage during excavation. Among all steatopygous Venus figurines discovered from the upper Paleolithic period, the Venus of Lespugue appears to display the most exaggerated female secondary sexual characteristics if the reconstruction is sound, particularly extremely large pendulous breasts. It also showcases the first known example of spun thread as she has a twisted fiber skirt around her waist. This replication of the original figurine displays repaired breasts and buttocks from excavation damage, originally dated to 26,000 to 24,000 BCE which places it in upper Paleolithic times. This is the figurine most often displayed in museums. The Venus of Lespugue resides in France at the Musée de l'Homme. This STL was created from a high-resolution scan of the original cast of this ancient figurine during its exhibition in the Czech Republic in the 1980's. I spent two years tracking down these casts and making these scans using the latest high-resolution scanner, resulting in a virtually exact museum-quality recreation of the original Venus figurine.