Statuette from Galgenberg

Also known as “Fanny of Galgenberg”, “the Venus of Galgenberg”. Old Stone Age. 36,000 years. Galgenberg near Stratzing, Krems-Rehberg, Lower Austria.

For long, Fanny was regarded as the world’s oldest human figure. It was not until 2008 that a human figure was discovered at Hohle Fels, a cave in southern Germany, which is probably even older.

MOVING ORIGINS
The history of its discovery is almost as spectacular as the figure itself. In 1985, excavations for construction in Galgenberg between Stratzing and Krems revealed prehistoric bones, at which point Germany’s Historic Monuments Office initiated rescue excavations.
In the following years, 1,100 cubic meters of earth were sieved and investigated. In September 1988 residues of an Ice Age camp fire were discovered, together with several stone fragments, the largest of which resembled a human figure, and which together with seven smaller fragments made a female figure – an amazing find!
The statuette is made of amphibolite, and is only 7.2 centimeters high, but charcoal residues in the same layer made it possible to use radiocarbon techniques to date it definitively as 36,000 years old. At 36,000 years old, the figure is some 7,000 years older than the “Venus of Willendorf”. For just 20 years it was the oldest known human figure, until in 2008 a figure was discovered in southern Germany, which is probably even older, although this is carved from ivory rather than sculpted in stone.
Another feature sets the relief from Krems apart from all comparable finds – the figure’s dynamic upwards motion. With one arm raised and the other hand resting on the upper thigh, it looks as if it is frozen in a pirouette. The excavator spontaneously described the figure as a dancer, which led to the name “Fanny of Galgenberg”, after the famous Viennese artist Fanny Elssler. The pose is reminiscent of the position female shamans assume to receive certain visions in trance.