Gravettian Anthropomorphic Figurines : The Sample
I am concerned here with anthropomorphic representations, especially sculpted figurines, traditionally attributed to the Gravettian culture 28-22,000 B.P. In contrast to recent American writers on the subject (Rice 1981; Nelson 1990), I do not consider it acceptable to treat all of Upper Paleolithic female imagery as if it were a coherent whole. It is not! The Magdalenian and the Gravettian are worlds apart in terms of the diversity, form and context of female representations (However, Bisson, Tisnerat and White (1996) indicate that so-called Gravettian figurines from Grimaldi cover a much longer chronological range. Dating problems notwithstanding, the proportion of decidedly pregnant female images differs dramatically between these two cultures (Duhard 1993).
My geographic scope over the past few years has been from the Atlantic seabord of France to the Don Valley of European Russia. I have examined, with varying degrees of precision, approximately 100 of these figurines, including those from Grimaldi, Savignano, Sireuil, Tursac, Abri Pataud, Trou Magrite, Willendorf, Brassempouy, Lespugue, Dolni Vestonice, Predmosti, Avdeevo, Kostienki 1, and Gagarino.
Lying behind the previous lack of recognition of differences between the Gravettian and the Magdalenian are serious terminological problems that mask significant differences in the technology of representation between the two cultures. In particular, the term "Venus," which is interpretive rather than descriptive, has been used in such an all encompassing way as to give the illusion that the repertoire of female images in the Magdalenian is simply a continuation of that of the Gravettian. Nothing could be further from the truth.
My position is that descriptive terminology should be based in representational techniques, rather than in presumed but undemonstrated function, meaning or viewing context. Even the terms statuette and figurine probably presume too much. Terms such as female bas-relief in limestone, or sculpted female in ivory or woman molded and fired in loess are preferable, in that they provide an understanding of raw material, technique and subject, without embedding meaning in description.
