Sculpture of a woman "with a hood"

The sculpture represents the image of a woman with uneven proportions: the head and torso are almost equal in size, the legs are about three times longer than the body. Despite the completeness of the statuette, the face, which is separated from the rest of the head, is not fully detailed. Headdress, highlighted in high relief, frames the face not in the form of an oval bead, as usual, but in the form of a rectangle. On the contrary, a rounded line goes down the shoulders and the back of the headdress. All of these gives the impression of fluffy hair, which is cut straight in the forehead in the form of a bang, and on the back side they are laid in a curved grid. The head in its parietal part is smooth, and below it is completely covered with deep wavy lines. The small breasts of the usual, slightly pendulous form, are indicated with shallow carved lines and are given a weak relief. The hands are on the tummy. On a flat tummy from waist to foot, two carved lines are drawn, denoting something like an apron. The sciatic part is raised, but the pelvis is narrow. Long legs taper downwards and end with rounding. The legs in their lower part are separated by an elongated, oval-shaped hole.



Manufacturing technique

Three tools were used while creating this sculpture: a cutting tool, a burin, and a planing knife. The main forms are given with the help of a planning knife. The perineum between the legs, shoulders, the contour of the head and the upper part of the pelvis are also made with a knife. The same tool flattened the back side of the legs and chest. A burin made the contours of the vulva, the contours of the chest, chin and hands. The contour of the breast, the top and the back of the hood-hairstyle were finished with a burin. On the back a sub-square image is made with a cutting tool (?).


Use-wear traces

Use-wear traces are not found.


Storage location

The State Hermitage Museum

Inventory number

370/747

The Museum KAMIS

https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/25.+archaeological+artifacts/1401510

Size

(mm)
  General parameters of the item Head Body A lower part of thighs The same on the back side Face part Womb Thighs Shins
Length 134.78 29.22 23.31 90.84 93.25 20.24 No 45.81 Not distinguished
Thickness   23.17 18.04 19.15       14.13 8.5
Width Max. 25.75 20.76 25.34 24.64 21.22 15.01   24.92 13.9

Material

Ivory

Dating

19-23 th years BP

Culture

Mal'ta-Buret' archaeological culture

The author of the excavations

Gerasimov M.M.
1929

Publications

Abramova Z. A. Paleoliticheskoe iskusstvo na territorii SSSR. – M.-L.: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1962.  – S. 45, tabl. XLV, 6 and XLVI, 1

Abramova Z. A. Izobrazhenie cheloveka v paleoliticheskom iskusstve Evrazii / AN SSSR. IA. - L.: Nauka, 1966, S. 196, tabl. VII, 9

Gerasimov M.M. Malta. Paleoliticheskaya stoyanka (predvaritelnye dannie): rezultaty rabot 1928/29 g. - Ircutsk: Vlast' truda, 1931. - S. 22

Lbova L.V. Simvolicheskiy interraktsionizm maltinskoy antropomorfnoy paleoliticheskoy skulpturi // Iskusstvo Evrazii. - 2018. - №2(9). - S. 18-32