Romanian Venus figurine stirs controversy

[Eldorado]

"The alleged discovery of a 17,000-year-old Venus figurine in an archaeological site near Piatra Neamt, in North-Eastern Romania, has stirred controversy after local journalists reported that the figurine was found by two amateurs, not professional archaeologists, raising questions about its authenticity."

"The circumstances in which the statue was found, the impossibility to date the material from which the statue is made, its nearly perfect state, and the style that doesn’t match the period when it was supposedly created point rather to a fake than to an authentic discovery, according to specialists."

Full monty at the ANN: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/01/discovery-of-17000-year-old-venus.html

Press release in Romanian: http://www.rador.ro/2019/12/11/prima-statueta-de-tip-venus-din-romania-veche-de-17-000-de-ani/

 

"The team of archeologists who was in charge of the site staged the discovery and made photos suggesting that they were on site when the figurine was found, thus aiming to make the discovery more credible."

Full report at Romania Insider: https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-venus-paleolithic-statue-controversy

Edited January 11, 2020 by Eldorado

[XenoFish]

Dat Venus is Thicc.

[+ouija ouija]

Looks fake to me.

[freetoroam]

What the * is that! It looks like a naked jabba the hutt.

[Orphalesion]

2 hours ago, freetoroam said:

What the * is that! It looks like a naked jabba the hutt.

Those are called "Venus" Figurines, they are prehistoric stone figurines that are commonly believed to represent fertility symbols/deities. As to why they look that way...well, consider that the oldest one is fromaround 30000 BCE, they probably sucked at making human shapes and it's speculated that for a hunter-gatherer society the exaggerated....well....let's call it "curvy"..shape might have symbolized abundance.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines

Or do you mean because this one looks poorly made? (and is probably fake)

[Kenemet]

7 hours ago, Eldorado said:

"The alleged discovery of a 17,000-year-old Venus figurine in an archaeological site near Piatra Neamt, in North-Eastern Romania, has stirred controversy after local journalists reported that the figurine was found by two amateurs, not professional archaeologists, raising questions about its authenticity."

"The circumstances in which the statue was found, the impossibility to date the material from which the statue is made, its nearly perfect state, and the style that doesn’t match the period when it was supposedly created point rather to a fake than to an authentic discovery, according to specialists."

Full monty at the ANN: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/01/discovery-of-17000-year-old-venus.html

Press release in Romanian: http://www.rador.ro/2019/12/11/prima-statueta-de-tip-venus-din-romania-veche-de-17-000-de-ani/

 

"The team of archeologists who was in charge of the site staged the discovery and made photos suggesting that they were on site when the figurine was found, thus aiming to make the discovery more credible."

Full report at Romania Insider: https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-venus-paleolithic-statue-controversy

It looks like a knock-off of the Venus of Willendorf, which is suspicious in itself.  There have been a number of these "venus" figurines found and they are each very individualistic.

Yeah, I think it's a modern fake. 

[Piney]

9 hours ago, Kenemet said:

Yeah, I think it's a modern fake. 

So do I. The in-situ picture looks like a salt job too. 

[Kenemet]

8 hours ago, Piney said:

So do I. The in-situ picture looks like a salt job too. 

Yeah.  It does.  And there's no surface staining on the thing, either (which I'd expect after being buried in the soil for tens of thousands of years.)

[Piney]

16 minutes ago, Kenemet said:

Yeah.  It does.  And there's no surface staining on the thing, either (which I'd expect after being buried in the soil for tens of thousands of years.)

That's what really got me. No iron oxide transfer common with red-yellow sandy clays.

[Carnoferox]

All of the real Venus figurines I've seen are three-dimensional "in the round" carvings, while this one looks much flatter in comparison. The suspicious backstory makes me even more inclined to believe it's a fake.

[+Hammerclaw]

Suspiciously fresh and clean looking for something that's been in the round, that long. Staging it's discovery is deeply disturbing.