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SCULPTING
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found in Austria. The tiny Venus is 25,000 years old and carved out of
limestone. The sculpture is of a round woman, who represents
fertility
and life. She is an example of an early religious piece of art. The Venus
of Willendorf is just one of many fertility sculptures people have found
around the world.
Other prehistoric sculptures have been found carved into figures of
horses, rhinoceroses, lions, birds, and other animals. Most are made out
of stones, while some are carved from wooly mammoth ivory.
All prehistoric sculptures that have been found so far are small. Peo-
ple moved from place to place, following the animals they hunted. They
had to be able to carry everything, including their art works, with them.
Olmec sculptures of enormous heads like this were created more than three thousand
years ago.