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From about 25,000 b.c., this image of the
Venus of Lespugue was found in 1922 by Saint Perrier in the cave of Les Rideaux
in the foothills of the Pyrennes. The sculpture is made out of mammoth ivory and
measures 5.75 inches high.
According to textile expert Elizabeth Wayland Barber, the ancient Goddess statue
displays the earliest representation found of spun thread, as the carving shows
a skirt hanging from below the hips, made of twisted fibers, frayed at the end.
This Mother Goddess of the tiny island of Malta represents the fertility of
Earth and female, of abundance and overflowing nurture. Wide-hips and ready
breasts signal an honoring of female pulchritude and sustenance.
Upper Paleolithic female figures such as this one are found from the Pyrenees
mountains to Siberia, indicating that East and West were once united in honoring
the Goddess.
The vast majority (over 90%) of human images from 30,000 to 5,000 b.c. are
female. Women were recognized as the life-givers and sustainers and they were
revered as priestesses. |
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