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WonderPrehistoric art fact

The Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel, a figure with a human body and a cave lion's head carved from mammoth ivory, is one of the oldest known sculptures. It was made in what is now Germany some 35,000 to 41,000 years ago.

Swabian Jura, Germany, c. 40,000 years ago

ArchaeologyArtCultureHistory

The story behind the card

The geologist Otto Völzing found the first fragments on 25 August 1939 in the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in southern Germany. The Second World War broke out a week later, and the pieces lay forgotten in the Museum Ulm for about thirty years, until the archaeologist Joachim Hahn sorted more than 200 fragments and saw a figure with human and animal features emerge. New pieces found in the cave in later decades, including tiny fragments sifted from its soil in 2008, were added in later restorations. The last, finished in 2013, brought the figure to 31.1 centimetres. Carbon dating of the layer where it lay gives an age of 35,000 to 41,000 years. It was carved with flint tools and is on show in the Museum Ulm.

Türkçe oku
Hohlenstein-Stadel Aslan Adamı, mamut dişinden oyulmuş, insan gövdeli ve mağara aslanı başlı bir heykelciktir. Yaklaşık 35.000–41.000 yıl önce bugünkü Almanya topraklarında yapılan figür, bilinen en eski heykellerden biridir.
Svabya Alpleri, Almanya, yaklaşık 40.000 yıl önce

Jeolog Otto Völzing ilk parçaları 25 Ağustos 1939'da Almanya'nın güneyindeki Hohlenstein-Stadel Mağarası'nda buldu. Bir hafta sonra İkinci Dünya Savaşı başladı ve parçalar yaklaşık otuz yıl Ulm Müzesi'nde unutulup kaldı. Sonunda arkeolog Joachim Hahn 200'den fazla parçayı ayıklayıp birleştirmeye başlayınca insan ve hayvan özellikleri taşıyan bir figür belirdi. Mağarada sonraki yıllarda bulunan yeni parçalar, 2008'de toprağın elenmesiyle çıkan küçük kırıntılar da dahil, sonraki restorasyonlarda eklendi. 2013'te biten son çalışmayla figürün boyu 31,1 santimetreye ulaştı. Bulunduğu katmanın karbon tarihlemesi 35.000–41.000 yıllık bir yaş veriyor. Çakmaktaşı aletlerle oyulan heykel Ulm Müzesi'nde sergileniyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel
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