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Name : Vogelherd buck

What it is : consider the oldest knownhorsesculpture made by anatomically modern human beings ( Homo sapiens ) , this horse - shaped figurine is carve out of mammoth ivory . The palm - sized artifact bar roughly 1 column inch ( 2.5 centimeters ) gamey and 1.9 inches ( 4.8 cm ) long and include details such as a carved mouth , nostril , eyes and head of hair . Although the ivory sawhorse ’s head is arrant , all four of its branch have been break off . Archaeologists think the sculpture depicts a entire , according to theBradshaw Foundation , which asks , " Is this a entire endeavor to impress a mare or a horse arching and kick backwards against a predatory animal ? "

A small sculpture of a horse

The small horse figurine is carved out of mammoth ivory.

Where it was find : Vogelherd Cave in southern Germany

When it was made : close to 32,000 to 35,000 year ago , during the early Upper Paleolithic

What it tells us about the past : The cave where the figurine was discovered was a gather post for the Aurignacian , an Upper Paleolithic group whose the great unwashed lived between 43,000 and 35,000 geezerhood ago . Because their mien briefly overlap with that ofNeanderthalsin this part of Europe , archaeologists remember the two group likely coexisted , according toFrance ’s Ministry of Culture .

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The Aurignacian people were perhaps best known for being adept hunter - accumulator , as evidenced by their power to craft Oliver Stone tools such as blades and points . Hundreds of these particular have been found inside the cave , as well as legion animal bones and ivory pieces , includingbeads paint redwithochre .

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It ’s potential that the group used the space for processing nub , according to thePaleoanthropology Society . For case , investigator who analyzed roughly 32,000 - year - old beast bones in Vogelherd Cave mainly found caribou ( Rangifer tarandus ) and horse ( Equus ferus ) remains , indicating that Aurignacian group hunt and eat up these beast as well as created artwork show them , a study in theJournal of Human Evolutionfound .

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