Bas-relief sculpture on a rock lump coming from the Laussel rock shelter (Dordogne, France) now preserved in the Musée d’Aquitaine in Bordeaux. This artifact is attributed to the Gravettian period (about 25,000 years B.P.).
The female figure is known as the “Venus with the horn”, because of the bison horn that she holds in her right hand. In her female body the attributes which are most related to the reproductive function and fecundity are emphasized. The presence of the horn suggests a connection between the woman fertility and the animal world. In later times, the symbolism of the animal horn shall appear again in the form of the “cornucopia” as emblem of fertility ad abundance extended to the entire realm of nature. Divinities like Silvanus or Flora are represented with the “horn of abundance”, from which all the fruits of the earth spring forth.


[Image: http://www.musee-aquitaine-bordeaux.fr/en/laussel-venus]