ABSTRACT
With the exception of stone tools and stone blocks used in buildings, the oldest artefacts manufactured by humans are female figurines. These figurines survive in small numbers yet have been found in widely separated parts of the world. The most notable examples are well rounded with pendulous breasts, large stomachs and buttocks and project the essence of physical femininity. More rarely other figurines are found, skinny or evidently pregnant or menstruating, since traces of red ochre occur near their genitalia. In general, most of these figurines have little or no head. But occasionally one is discovered with an evident hair-style. So what overall meaning can be attached to these relics of the remotest past?
