Venus Figurines - Classification

Classification

A number of attempts to subdivide or classify the figurines have been made. One of the less controversial is that by Henri Delporte, simply based on geographic provenance. He distinguishes:

• the Venus figurines of the Pyrenees-Aquitaine group (Venus of Lespugue, of Laussel and of Brassempouy)
• the Venus figurines of the Italian group (Venus of Savignano and of Balzi Rossi)
• the Venus figurines of the Rhine-Danube group (Venus of Willendorf and of Dolní Věstonice)
• the Venus figurines of the Russian group (Kostienki and Zaraysk in Russia and Gagarino in Ukraine)
• the Venus figurines of the Siberian group (Mal'ta Venus, Bouret' Venus).

Venus figurines are also found elsewhere in the world, for example Japan. China.

According to André Leroi-Gourhan, there are cultural connections between all these groups. He states that certain anatomical details suggest a shared Oriental origin, followed by a westward diffusion.

The absence of such figurines from the Iberian peninsula is curious. Only few and rather dubious examples have been reported, especially at El Pendo and La Pileta. The so-called Venus of Las Caldas from a cave near Oviedo is a Magdalenian antler carving. Although some scholars see it as a stylised female body with an animal head, it is probably a decorated atlatl-type device.