A sculpted piece of mammoth ivory may be the earliest representation of a bird in the archaeological record.

The 30,000-year-old figurine, found at Hohle Fels Cave in Germany's Ach Valley, depicts what looks to be a diving cormorant with swept-back wings.

It was found with carvings of a similar style - one shaped like a horse's head; the other is half-animal, half-human.

Experts have told the journal Nature that the figurines are among the most exquisite examples of early human art.

It is not possible to say for sure which particular hominid species made the objects.

However, Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Tubingen University, who reports their discovery, says the sculptors were probably modern humans (Homo sapiens).

Deep lines

"We assume so because these Upper Palaeolithic layers in which the figurines were found are associated with modern humans - and not with Neanderthals, for example," he told BBC News Online.

The figurines themselves are really quite small. The bird is the longest item, being 4.7 centimetres from the tip of the beak to the rear tail feathers.

It was found in two pieces at the cave complex - near the town of Schelklingen, 20 kilometres southwest of Ulm - last year.

"A cormorant has a little hook on the beak which this doesn't have but the general shape is certainly like a cormorant," Professor Conard said. "It's clearly a water bird of some kind."

It has legs but no indication of feet. The back of the bird shows a series of distinct lines that apparently represents feathers.


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