Groß Pampau, GR, c. 500,000 BP, Female Figurines

One of the major elements in Early Paleolithic symbols systems is the female figure, or--what may be designated as--'the goddess.' (Free-standing figures that may be identified as male are virtually absent in the worldwide corpus, although for Pampau examples of male heads see next gallery.)

For details about site and dating see Groß Pampau Gallery 1.

Photo © Ursel Benekendorff; collection Ursel Benekendorff unless otherwise noted. The site is documented in Benekendorff, U. (1990). From the information recorder stone to a picture book of the stone age. Archaeologische Berichten 20:14-28 and 43-65 (Elst, NL).