Female figure engraved on a stone block block
Gare de Couze, Dordogne, France
Limestone
Length: 42 cms
Musée National de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies
MNP 92.4.1
This engraved female figure is seen in profile as a silhouette. The outline is drawn with confidence, the outline of the back, buttocks and thigh being drawn as one line from the nape of the neck to the knee. Above a narrow, pendulous breast, a line from the shoulder seems to represent an outstretched arm. The stomach is slightly rounded and the pudenda are implied by convergence of the torso into the top of the thigh. The left leg is suggested by a line curving out from below the top of the right leg. The angle of the torso and the hang of the breast suggest some movement in the body perhaps indicative of dancing. The frequency of this style of female silhouette figure in France and western Germany between about 14,000 and 12,000 years ago may reflect the importance of women’s roles within a social group and/or the significance of dancing and socialising. Alternatively, they may be an erotic reflection on female sexuality implying sexual potential and a readiness to mate.