'Venus' figurines vie with cave paintings as the best known remains of the most recent Palaeolithic people. While decorated caves are abundant in France and Spain, Central Europeans concentrated instead on the production of a rich range of small portable objects, of stone, ivory and baked soil. These were also found in the west.
The 'Venus' figurines are the most striking, small figures of obese women with pronounced breasts and buttocks. Not all female figures are of this type, however: one of the most beautiful pieces of Palaeolithic art is the sensitively modelled head of a young girl found at Brassempouy.
Other pieces included carvings of animals, some decorating utilitarian objects like spearthrowers. In addition several sites, such as La Marche, have yielded carved slabs with human or animal subjects depicted on them.
Frequently a number of engravings have been superimposed, suggesting that the act of carving was more important than the finished result. These have, probably fancifully, been interpreted as marriage contracts, sealing the union of two individuals.
Although some of the portable art appears purely decorative, most pieces are probably not ; rather, it is probable that some additional significance was attached to the representation of animals and people, perhaps related to religious beliefs. Their decorative qualities, therefore, would be a bonus.
