Löwenmensch figurine

The Löwenmensch figurine or Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel is a prehistoric ivory sculpture that was discovered in the Hohlenstein-Stadel, a German cave in 1939. The name currently used in German, Löwenmensch, means "lion-human".

The lion-headed figurine is the oldest-known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world, and the oldest-known uncontested example of figurative art. It has been determined to be between 35,000 and 40,000 years old by carbon dating of material from the layer in which it was found, and is thus associated with the archaeological Aurignacian culture. It was carved out of woolly mammoth ivory using a flint stone knife. Seven parallel, transverse, carved gouges are on the left arm.

After several reconstructions which have incorporated newly found fragments, the figurine stands 31.1 centimetres (12.2 in) tall, 5.6 cm wide, and 5.9 cm thick. It is currently displayed in the Ulm Museum, Germany.

Systematic excavations at Hohlenstein-Stadel cave began in 1937 under the direction of prehistoric historian . The discovery of a fragmented mammoth-ivory figurine was made on 25 August 1939 by geologist . The start of World War II just one week later meant that the fieldwork was left incomplete and analysis of the finds was not undertaken. The excavation trenches were backfilled with the same soil in which the ivory had been found.

For around thirty years the fragments lay forgotten at the nearby . It was not until archaeologist Joachim Hahn started an inventory and assembly of over 200 fragments that a figure with animal and human features began to emerge.

Wetzel continued to spend summers digging at the site until 1961, and further finds of ivory were made on the cave floor in the 1970s. In 1982 paleontologist Elisabeth Schmid combined the new fragments with Hahn's reconstruction, correcting some errors and adding pieces of nose and mouth which emphasized the figure's feline characteristics.

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