Knowra Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel The Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel is an Upper Paleolithic ivory figurine from Germany, carved about 40,000 years ago as a human figure with a lion’s head. It is among the earliest known sculptures combining human and animal features.
Aurignacian : An Upper Paleolithic archaeological culture associated with early modern humans in Europe and western Asia. The figurine belongs to the Aurignacian cultural period.
Carving : The removal of material with tools to create a three-dimensional form or surface design. The figure was shaped by carving ivory rather than modeling soft material.
Swabian Jura : A limestone upland in southwestern Germany containing caves with important Paleolithic archaeological finds. The Lion-man comes from one of this region’s Aurignacian caves.
Animal-human hybrid : A represented being that combines human and animal characteristics. The Lion-man is a prominent prehistoric example of this visual form.
Mammoth ivory : The dense ivory from mammoth tusks, used to make tools, ornaments, and sculptures. Its tusk supplied the material from which the figurine was carved.
Paleolithic art : Visual works made by human communities during the Paleolithic, including portable objects and cave imagery. The figurine is a portable work within the wider record of Ice Age art.
Lonetal : A valley in the Swabian Jura containing caves with Paleolithic occupations and art. The discovery cave lies in the Lonetal, a major landscape of early figurative art.
Venus of Hohle Fels : An ivory female figurine from the Swabian Jura, dated to the Aurignacian period. Its human body contrasts with the Lion-man’s deliberately hybrid anatomy.
Upper Paleolithic : The later phase of the Paleolithic, marked by diverse stone tools and flourishing symbolic material culture. This broad period situates the figurine in Ice Age prehistory.
Stone tool : A tool made by shaping or using stone, including implements for cutting and scraping. Stone implements could cut, scrape, and refine the ivory surface.
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