Paleolithic Bone Fragment with the Depiction of a Bear

Culture: Südwestfrankreich

Period: Magdalenian, 14000-12000 B.C.

Material: Bone

Dimensions: 8.7 cm long

Price: Reserved

Ref: 5277

Provenance: From the collection of the French entrepreneur and pre-historian Claude Douce (born 1937). Accompanied by a French antiquities passport.

Condition: A small piece outside of the image area in the upper right corner reattached.

Description: Important bone fragment with the depiction of an engraved bear from the cave of Gourdan-Polignan in the Département Haute-Garonne in southwestern France. The animal aligned to the left with a big head with almond-shaped eyes, the mouth is closed. The strong back is characterized by a distinct fur drawing. The bear turns slightly towards something which is not clearly recognizable anymore. The depiction strongly reminds of a brown bear head in connection with human (male and female) private parts from La Madeleine, today in the collection of St. Germain. It depicts a penis coming from a vulva approaching a bear head. See for the sketch: Othenio Abel and Wilhelm Koppers “Eiszeitliche Bärendarstellungen und Bärenkulte in Paläobiologischer und prähistorisch-ethnologischer Beleuchtung”, part 1, Vienna 1933, “Darstellungen des Höhlenbären durch den paläolithischen Menschen”, fig. 7, p. 32. Abel assumes that the Paleolithic human had an erotic-religious association with bears. In the inside of the long bone two old collection numbers. A small piece outside of the image area in the upper right corner reattached.