Reflections on an Ice Age Woman

"The Woman of Cussac" - Aquitaine, France
Photo: CNP, Ministère de la Culture. Source

They saw mammoths and giant cave bears. At some point, they carved her on a cave wall in what would one day become France. Her people lived and loved and died during the last great ice age.

This is a carving of a woman in profile from Grotte de Cussac (or Cussac Cave), discovered in 2000. Its walls are etched with overlapping, interlaced art of bison, mammoths, bovines, horses, and humans dating to around 29,000 BCE during the upper paleolithic period. It is one of the very few Paleolithic caves to contain human remains. Her people were part of what anthropologists call the Gravettian, a nomadic hunter-gatherer group that ranged across much of Europe.

This carving shares much stylistically with other examples of Gravettian art such as the Woman of Laussel (pictured below) and the famous figurine Woman of Willendorf. Dozens of these images, often referred to anachronistically as "Venus" images, have been discovered at Gravettian sites crafted in various media.

Various Gravettian Statuettes - Blaubeuren Prehistory Museum Blaubeuren, Germany
Image: Wikipedia)

Whether carved into totems or into the walls of caves, these ice-age women almost always feature prominent breasts, tummies (possibly indicating pregnancy), buttocks, and thighs. They rarely portray facial features and their arms, hands, and feet are de-emphasized.

"The Woman of Laussel" c. 25,000 BCE - Museum of Aquitaine Bordeaux, France
Image: Museum of Aquitaine. Source

The meaning of these images is lost to time, though many archaeologists speculate that, given the prominent primary and secondary sex charictaristics, they were symbolic representations related to fertility. In the bitter cold at the end of the last great ice age, these artifacts express a quiet hope for the future when food will be abundant and their descendants prolific.

"Woman of Kostyonki" c. 23000 - 18000 BCE - Hermitage Museum Petersburg, Russia
Image: Wikipedia

Compared to contemporary female figures, relatively little has been written about the woman of Cussac. She is one of several carvings in Cussac cave depicting humans, all women. Beyond the figural depictions, the cave also contains carvings of male and female genitals (a common motif in Paleolithic art). The cave walls are marked with claw-marks from ancient gigantic cave-bears who inhabited the cave long before it became a prehistoric canvas (note the scratches along the thighs of both women in the images below).

Carving of two women at Cussac Cave. - Aquitaine, France
Photo: N. Aujoulat, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Source.

It’s important to note that the function of these ancient nudes is unknown. It's possible that they expressed an ideal of beauty and sexuality to their original viewers. However, to my eyes, the contrast between Paleolithic nudes and more contemporary images is striking. Art, especially cheap nude art, can be used to obfuscate the ordinary and promote an over-sexed ideal. It can treat people as objects for consumption.

The woman of Cussac does not appear sexualized or comodified. There is a deep vulnerability in her nakedness. Like an Edward Degas or Edward Hopper nude, the woman of Cussac gives the impression of looking in from the outside on a private moment. She stands there, exposed to our gaze, folds and tummy on display for all to see. Her humanity in all its messiness is on the cave wall.

We are invited to see our ancestors caught in a snapshot completely exposed to our gaze. Her barest impression of a face denies our curiosity about what she is thinking or feeling. Yet, there is great dignity behind this carving and the images that surround her.

Carving of a woman at Cussac cave - Aquitaine, France
Photo: CNP, Ministère de la Culture. Source

Her people braved the ice and snow of the slowly receding glaciers. They had a distinct culture with customs and traditions and beliefs. They thought about who they were and the animals key to their survival. They carved their images into sacred caves. They outlived the mammoths they hunted and the cave bears whose claw-marks are etched alongside their art. The woman of Cussac is a survivor and her image bears witness to her people's wisdom and ingenuity.

Wooly rhinoceros carving at Cussac Cave - Aquitaine, France Photo: Aujoulat et al. (2002). Source

Paleolithic art contains beautifully honest reflections on the human condition. Themes that were avoided in later millennia such as childbirth and female sexuality, at least to the eyes of this modern viewer, number among their carvings and paintings. It is bold and provocative even to today's secular eyes.

Vulvae carvings at Cussac Cave - Aquitaine, France
Photo: N.Aujoulat, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Source

Paleolithic art displays a deep interest in and keen observation of the natural world. To me, they are a celebration and exploration of the ordinary, often messy parts of the human condition. It pulls back the curtain ever so slightly on humanity's first impressions of themselves.

Like all great art art, Paleolithic art challenges my presuppositions and mores. It inspires me to be more creative, more curious about the human condition, to value vulnerable exploration of the messy and delicate parts of our lives, and to be bold in my own art. It reminds me that no part of life is off limits to art and there is great beauty to be found in the ordinary.

Thirty millennia later, I am grateful for my distant ancestors' bravery. I am in awe of how they lived and the art they left behind. Their beliefs and ideas completely lost to time, their images carved in stone and bone continue to challenge and inspire.

Large horse and bison carving at Cussac Cave - Aquitaine, France
Photo: CNP, Ministère de la Culture. Source

Sources consulted:
"L’art pariétal gravettien" - Jacques Jaubert and Valérie Feruglio

"Complex mortuary dynamics in the Upper Paleolithic of the decorated Grotte de Cussac, France" - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

"Cussac Cave - Grotte de Cussac" - Don's Maps

"FALL_1.1. Prehistoric Art (Unit I), Lecture 1: Introduction to Paleolithic Art" - Professor Kate Chase

"La grotte de Cussac" - Ministère de la Culture

"Rock art, performance and Palaeolithic cognitive systems. The example of the Grand Panel palimpsest of Cussac Cave, Dordogne, France" - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

"Paleolithic Art and Ritual in the Dordogne" - Alliance Française of the Lake Champlain Region
"The “Venus” Figurines: Textiles, Basketry, Gender, and Status in the Upper Paleolithic" - Current Anthropology