Paleolithic carved petrified wood Venus, Old Europe (?) 120,000-20,000 BC. Our ancestors lived in matriarchate and used to have different canons of beauty: more abstract and inclining for female fertility. Abstract head with featured nose. Abnormally small hands under the exaggerated breasts (Cycladic type). Microscopic photos with x50 magnification show application of ancient tools and natural erosion. Height: 2.5 inches = 6.35 cm; = 63.5 mm; Base: 17 mm x 19 mm; Base area: A= πr2 = π·1.82 ≈ 2.544 cm2 Moh’s hardness: 6.5 (petrified wood 6.5-7.5); Weight: 24.96 g; Density = Mass /Volume = 24.96 g / (2.544 cm2 x 4.4 cm) = 24.96 g / 11.193 cm3 = 2.30 g/cm³, Density of petrified wood: Typically 2.3–2.6 g/cm³, depending on mineral content. Microscopic examination under x50 magnification: Petrified wood is found worldwide in sedimentary beds ranging in age from the Devonian (about 390 million years ago), when woody plants first appeared on dry land, to nearly the present. Concentric annual growing rings at the base (characteristic for growing trees (x50 magnification) Vertical cracks, which happened with drying wood (x 50 magnification) Provenance: We obtained this Paleolithic artwork from a private collection of an archaeologist in New York. Origin is unknown. Market value and availability: Low Estimate (fair market value): $40,000 US; High Estimate (replacement value): $450,000 US; Auction results for Neolithic Idols: Christie’s, New York, 2007, Lot 52, AN ANATOLIAN MARBLE IDOL, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA EARLY 6TH MILLENNIUM B.C. Price realized $457,000 USD. The schematic corpulent figure with a globular body, the limbs not delineated, the short, thick neck with a pronounced double chin merging with the oblong head, the round face with a wide chin below the small, straight mouth, the cheeks full and fleshy, the eyes large and almond-shaped, with thick lids beneath modelled arching brows that merge with the bridge of the straight, triangular nose, the ears indicated by vertical raised ovals protruding from either side of the head, each notched, a peaked cap worn high above the large forehead, 7 in. (18.2 cm.) high. https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/an-anatolian-marble-idol-neolithic-period-circa-5004829-details.aspx 1) Sotheby’s Auction. A Stone Figure of a Goddess, Neolithic, circa 6th Millennium B.C. Estimate: 15,000 — 25,000 USD . LOT SOLD. $118,750 USD, http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.65.html/2015/antiquities-n09362 119,000 USD DEN ++++++++++ 8 cm Okänt Ursprung 2) Lot 76 IDOLE NÉOLITHIQUE. Sold for 68,000 Euro, Pierre Berge & Associes Auction, Paris, France. https://www.pba-auctions.com/lot/21852/5018724# IDOLE NÉOLITHIQUE. Rare statuette représentant une femme nue stéatopyge. Elle est debout, posée sur des jambes massives, les cuisses et les hanches larges. Elle porte les bras sur l'abdomen, la main droite surmontant la gauche. La tête, reposant sur un cou puissant, est petite et à peine détaillée. De fortes incisions marquent les bras, les hanches, les cuisses et les jambes. Marbre blanc. Lacunes. Anatolie, IVe millénaire av. J.-C. H_14 cm Dorotheum, Vienne, 6 juin2000, n° 45. Durant la période néolithique, les différentes sociétés agricoles assimilent la fécondité féminine à la fertilité chthonienne. Ainsi les corps généreux et les cuisses adipeuses évoquent la terre grasse nécessaire aux cultures. Les idoles féminines stéatopyges, à l'accentuation des formes primordiales, symbolisent ainsi la terre nourricière, la maternité et l'allaitement. 3) Art Ancient, Neolithic Marble Idol from Thessaly - 5500 BC, $57,000.00. http://www.artancient.com/antiquities-for-sale/cultures/prehistoric-stone-age-antiquities-sale/ancient-greek-neolithic-marble-idol-thessaly.html A Neolithic “idol” from Thessaly, dating to the 6th - 5th Millennium BC. Made of coarse grained marble, the female figure is shown in abstract form, standing with arms under her breasts. The eyes incised with horizontal slits, the nose pointed. Her abdomen is prominent and swollen, her pubic triangle is clearly defined. The figure is clearly steatopygous in type, and is typical of Neolithic sculptures from mainland Greece. The pointed nose and slit eyes find parallels in figures from Thessaly (cf. Gimbutas, The goddesses and gods of old Europe, no. 138), though the form of the torso also bears similarities to figures thought to be from Sparta and Attica (ibid. no. 141 and Ortiz 046). Neolithic figures such as this have variously been called idols and mother goddesses, though their precise function is not well understood. The female figures, often shown with rolls of fat and a swollen abdomen, have been interpreted as primordial “mother goddesses”. These are some of the earliest manifestations of human creativity known, dating to a time when human beings had recently moved from a hunter gatherer existence to farm-based communities that would eventually lead to the rise of civilization. They predate the famous Cycladic idols of the Bronze Age Aegean and in some ways represent the beginning of our western artistic heritage. Lot 326: Stone Age Upper Palaeolithic 'Venus' Idol. Est: £4,000 GBP - £6,000 GBP; Sold: £90,000 GBP; TimeLine Auctions Mayfair, London, United Kingdom November 30, 2021 https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/stone-age-upper-palaeolithic-venus-idol-326-c-3e0447e9cc?srsltid=AfmBOoq0TdypO5foNtQIRD6OwmtiQ5ifk-Q8QXIcYUMfHtqUMrZF4j6m. Literature: 1) The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 6500-3500 BC, Myths and cult images, by Marija Gimbutas, University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1974, 1982; 299 pages; 2) The great goddess, by Jean Markale, Rochester, Vermont, 1997, 266 pages; 3) Cycladic Art, by J. Leslie Fitton, British Museum, 72 pages; 4) Early Cycladic Art in North American Collections, by Pat Getz-Preziosi, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1987, 345 pages; 5) Technology in the Ancient World, by Henry Hodges, 1970, published by Alfred Knopf, New York; 287 pages; 6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamangia_culture 7) https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/stone-age-upper-palaeolithic-venus-idol-326-c-3e0447e9cc?srsltid=AfmBOoq0TdypO5foNtQIRD6OwmtiQ5ifk-Q8QXIcYUMfHtqUMrZF4j6m