The Venus of Willendorf was discovered in a small village in Austria in 1908, but is estimated to have been created over 25,000 years ago during the paleolithic period. The diminutive sculpture depicts a voluptuous female figure with no visible face, her head covered either by a braided hairstyle or patterned headdress. Due to a visual emphasis of the hips, waist, and breasts (suggesting the importance of childbearing), it was given the title Venus with the belief that it was intended as a fertility sculpture. Its survival over centuries and mysterious origins have made it a canonical object for art historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists around the world.

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