Preface
One of the assignments I give my humanities students is a Landmark Journal – short free-writing exercises about seven landmarks from the various historical periods or cultural themes we explore as a group. I’ve decided – based on a conversation with Stephen – to create my own online version of the entries I have my students write about in class. Here is my offering of what a professor does when the tables are turned.
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The Venus of Willendorf is a Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) statuette about 11.1 cm (4 3/8 inches) high. It was discovered by archaeologist Josef Szombathy in Willendorf, Austria, in 1908. It was carved from non-native limestone and tinted with ochre 22,000 to 24,000 years ago. It is currently housed at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Fertility charm? Good-luck fetish? Child’s toy? We do not know what purpose the Venus had, if any, to the people who carved her. Her swollen belly, breasts, and vulva as well as her huge ass suggest a sympathetic magic ritual for abundance. Her face is hidden by rows of braids; her tiny arms fold over her breasts. Her small feet do not allow her to stand upright on her own. Earth goddess? Mother to us all? When we understand her, we will understand ourselves. |