Figurine of a woman with "braid"

The image of an adult woman with quite massive lower part. The head is covered with quite deep ornament in the form of serpentine lines. The ornament is in the neck area and can represent a special structure, probably, a hairdo. Gerasimov M.M. considered the line from neck to chest as an element of a hairdo (braid). 

The chest is convex and symmetrical. The arms are complexly bound and folded on the tummy under the chest. On the tummy there is a row of indentations (9 pcs). On the shoulders we can see some parallel lines (probably, shoulder bracelets). On the head, in the parietal part, there is a platform which is purposely flattened. On the head there are some traces and pieces of green and pink pigment. 



Manufacturing technique

When shaping arms, legs, chest, and other deep reliefs, a cutting tool was used. The face is treated and flattened with a burin. The contour is made with a cutting tool. The part of the braid on the back of the head and on the chest is made in one way and with the same tool. Shoulder bracelets are made with a burin. The hole in a lower part af the legs is made with a reamer. Some indentations under the tummy are made with a burin-reamer. 


Use-wear traces

Use-wear traces are not found because of polishing. 


Storage location

The State Historical museum of Russia

Inventory number

1820/208

The Museum KAMIS

http://catalog.shm.ru/entity/OBJECT/3190334?query=%D0%9C%D0%90%D0%9B%D0%AC%D0%A2%D0%90&index=0

Size

Length - 100,48 mm

Width - 40,6 mm (thighs), 39,72 mm (shoulders), 24,3 mm (head)

Thickness - 27,62 mm (thighs), 19,28 mm (head)

Details:

The diametr of the hole: 6,17 mm (outer), 2,43 mm (inner)

Ornamentation of the back of the head: 16,23 mm +13.28 mm +26.12 mm


Material

Ivory

Dating

19-23 th years BP

Culture

Mal'ta-Buret' archaeological culture

The author of the excavations

Gerasimov M.M.
1956

Publications

Lbova L.V. Volkov P.V. Pigment Decoration of Paleolithic Anthropomorphic Figurines from Siberia, In: Rock Art Research, 2017, Vol.34, 2, 169–178.

Abramova Z. A. Paleoliticheskoe iskusstvo na territorii SSSR. – M.-L.: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1962. – 85 s. C. 46, tabl. XLVI, 8

Gerasimov M. M. Paleoliticheskaya stoyanka Mal'ta (raskopki 1956–1957 gg.)// SE. – 1958. -  № 3. – S. 28-52. S. 39, tabl. 13,a

Lbova L.V., Volkov P.V., Bocharova E.N., Kovalev V.S., Hajkunova N.A. Osnovnye priemy modelirovaniya i dekorirovaniya paleoliticheskoj antropomorfnoj skul'ptury s pamyatnika Mal'ta (Vostochnaya Sibir'). // Arheologiya, etnografiya i antropologiya
Evrazii, tom 45 № 3, 2017. S. 48-55  DOI: 10.17746/1563-0102.2017.45.3.048-055