About 12 years ago, I blogged about the Lion-man of Hohlenstein-Stadel. So I knew exactly what I was looking at when I saw the figure at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City recently. The original is still in Germany, but the museum had a recreation on display. The single image I posted back in 2013 was, frankly, crappy, so I thought I would revisit the old fellow with photos of my own taking.
The text in the museum says, "
Europe's Oldest Art - HYBRID - Human and animal features are combined in this figure from southwestern Germany, carved of mammoth ivory some 32,000 years ago. In 2002, archaeologists found a second, smaller statuette nearby very similar to this one, suggesting a human-lion being may have been part of local myth."
Well, it makes me happy to think that 32,000 years ago, people were (also) obsessed with lion-human hybrids!
And while we are on the topic of ancient lion-headed sculpture, check out this buff spring chickie, the Guennol Lioness, a 5,000-year-old sculpture from ancient Mesopotamia. According to Wikipedia, "The Guennol Lioness is a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian statue allegedly found near Baghdad, Iraq. Depicting a muscular anthropomorphic leonine-human, it sold for $57.2 million at Sotheby's auction house on December 5, 2007. ... The limestone sculpture measures just over 8 cm (3.25 in) tall. It was described by Sotheby's as 'one of the last known masterworks from the dawn of civilization remaining in private hands.' "
14 July 2025 Update: Working at a university has given me a greater respect for and access to academic papers. Here's one on the Lion-Man: What the recent restoration of the Lion Man Figurine of Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave tells us about its treatment in the Early Upper Palaeolithic. Enjoy!
28 July 2025 Update: Check out this thread on Twitter by archeologist Hugh Thomas on the Lion-man.
