Although we have all assumed that the Venus of Willendorf symbolizes fertility, a new interpretation suggests that we are actually seeing something else.
The Venus of Willedorf, and other Venuses, would be a sign of the fear or hope of hunter-gatherers due to the sudden drop in temperatures and the lack of food associated with them. The Venus, then, It would be a symbol of caloric opolence.
Climate change and diet
This is what a researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus suggests, Richard Johnson, in A study published in the magazine Obesity.
The first modern humans entered Europe during a warming period about 48,000 years ago; as he explains:
We demonstrate that these figures correlate with moments of extreme nutritional stress.
Known as Aurignacians, they hunted reindeer, horses and mammoths with bone-tipped spears. As temperatures dropped, the ice sheets advanced and disaster struck. During the colder months, temperatures dropped to 10-15ºC.
It was during these desperate times that obese figurines appeared. They were between 6 and 16 centimeters long and made of stone, ivory, horn or occasionally clay. Johnson and his team measured the statues' waist-hip and waist-shoulder ratios. They found that those closest to the glaciers were the most obese compared to those further away. Obesity, according to researchers, became a desired condition.
We found that body size ratios were higher when glaciers advanced, while obesity decreased as the climate warmed and glaciers retreated.
The figurines may also have been imbued with spiritual meaning: a kind of fetish or magical charm that could protect a woman during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.
The increased fat would provide a source of energy during pregnancy through weaning the baby and also as much-needed insulation.
–
The news
The Venuses would not be a symbol of fertility, but rather a consequence of an extreme climate and associated famines.
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.