Stone Age art in Germany tells of our ancestors' creativity

Does the cradle of modern European humanity lie in southwestern Germany's Swabian Jura? That's the conclusion drawn by archaeologists in light of discoveries made there of several 40,000-year-old figurines carved from mammoth ivory.

Now, a further discovery in the Hohle Fels cave near Blaubeuren has confirmed this hypothesis about early humans.

During excavations, a Danish student found an animal figurine. It's only 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long and has no head, but researchers are certain it's a representation of an otter. For archaeology professor Nicholas Conard from the University of Tübingen, the small animal is the "find of the year."

Archaeological sensation

It was not the first such discovery. More than 20 years ago, in December 2003, the team from the University of Tübingen announced they had found the oldest known works of art known in the Swabian Jura — three small figures carved from mammoth tusks.

It was an archaeological sensation, a milestone in the study of human history. According to the scientists, the age of the figures — 35,000 to 40,000 years — marks the most important threshold in human development: the ability to create pictorial and figurative representations.

These figurines also provided important new insights into the distribution and lifestyles of Stone Age people in Europe. Scientists had originally assumed that Homo sapiens was more active in what is now France, as evidenced by numerous discoveries of cave paintings there.

But excavations in the Swabian Jura made it clear that some 45,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, Homo sapiens arrived in the Danube region from the east, initially living alongside the Neanderthals who were already there.

Nazis were also interested

Archaeologists first explored the caves of the Swabian Jura between the rivers Danube, Ach and Lone in the middle of the 19th century. Those excavations uncovered tools made from stone and bone, as well as jewelry and art objects at numerous sites, documenting the lives of both Neanderthals and early humans.

Later, Nazis were also very interested in the caves and began excavations in 1937. The Nazi organization Ahnenerbe, an institution whose task was to "research the space, spirit, deeds and heritage of North Germanic Indo-Europeanism," was one of the organizations behind the digs. The Nazis wanted to use the finds from the Stone Age to prove that the "Aryan race" could be traced back to that time.

At the end of August 1939, Nazi archaeologists found hundreds of pieces of ivory in a cave, but had to leave them behind — World War II had begun and archaeologists were also called to the front.

It wasn't until 30 years later that specialists were able to reconstruct a figure from the fragments: a hybrid lion-human, about 31 centimeters high. It may represent a shaman — a reference to possible shamanistic practices during the Stone Age.

Lions and mammoths

The excavations really took off again in 1995 with Conard and his team. After eight years, the team made a sensational discovery, unearthing three figurines: a horse head, a waterfowl and another lion-man, only about 2 centimeters tall. Most of the figurines are around 5 to 6 centimeters tall, many of them have an eyelet — for hanging or as decoration. The animal figurines, including bears, horses, cave lions and mammoths, allow conclusions to be drawn about the animal world of Stone Age Europe.

Another interesting discovery was the "Venus of Hohle Fels," an approximately 6-centimeter-tall female figure with large breasts and a prominent vulva. Instead of a head, it has an eyelet that might have allowed it to be worn as a amulet symbolizing femininity or fertility.

Other Venus figurines, estimated to be around 10,000 years younger, have been found throughout Europe, and some researchers suspect people used them to worship mother goddesses.

Other finds, such as pieces of jewelry and a flute made from swan neck bones, which is considered to be the oldest musical instrument in the world, testify to the high culture of the Stone Age people. So now we know that our ancestors were far from being simple cavemen, but were hunter-gatherers with a high level of spirituality and the ability to express themselves through art and music.

Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The meaning of the recently discovered small otter is open to interpretation. Conard hesitates to ascribe to it any specific symbolism, but suggested it could be evidence of people's admiration for the otter's ability to catch fish.

"People ate a lot of fish back then," said Conard. There is no doubt the otter shows "that people back then were much more involved with aquatic animals than we previously thought," he added when presenting the find.

Since 2017, the caves in the Danube and Lone valleys have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura. While tourists are guided through the caves, the excavations continue. Each new discovery brings us closer to the lives of our Stone Age ancestors.

This article was originally written in German.