Archaeologists recently found two bird figurines carved from ivory at the famous prehistoric cave site of Hohle Fels in Germany.Image credit: Ralf Ehmann / University of Tübingen
Posted on 07/30/2026 10:59:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists excavating in the famous prehistoric Hohle Fels cave in Germany have uncovered two bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory. The thumbnail-size carvings add to the existing evidence that ice age humans had a sophisticated artistic sense 40,000 years ago...
When the birds were found in 2025, they were lying just 5 feet (1.5 meters) from each other in a layer dating back 40,000 years, according to the statement. The sculptures bring the total number of bird figurines from Hohle Fels up to three; a small water bird was found there in 2001.
Hohle Fels was occupied by early Homo sapiens during the Aurignacian period of prehistory (43,000 to 28,000 years ago), following the decline and disappearance of Neanderthals from Europe. At that time, humans launched a creative explosion, creating the world's first musical instruments, jewelry and small sculptures. The Venus of Hohle Fels, a 41,000-year-old statuette of a woman with exaggerated breasts and buttocks discovered in the cave in 2008, is generally considered the oldest figurative sculpture in Europe. Archaeologists have also found figurines of animals and an ivory rope-making tool at Hohle Fels, a German name that means "hollow rock" in English...
One bird appears to be lying on the ground, possibly brooding over its eggs. This position suggests the bird is a ptarmigan, a game bird that is related to chickens and grouse and whose bones have been discovered in the prehistoric layers at Hohle Fels. The second bird has spread wings that are suggestive of flight or posturing in courtship, according to the statement. This bird may also be a ptarmigan, or possibly a bird of prey.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
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Archaeologists recently found two bird figurines carved from ivory at the famous prehistoric cave site of Hohle Fels in Germany.Image credit: Ralf Ehmann / University of Tübingen
Then what happened?
Chicago’s Flak Tower...
Game pieces.........................
😆
They didn’t have thimbles yet, so...
***Choking Hazard Alert***
They were originally at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jack.
I have been reading lately while the neanderthal gene pool had been relatively robust in 150,000 BC, by 40,000 bc that gene pool had become pretty thin for reasons not really understood. However about 40,000 years ago there was a big eruption in Italy that blanketed much of Europe and wiped out the last of the neanderthals. (and likely most of the homo sapiens who were by replaced the Aurignacians.
Is that roughly he narrative you’re getting these days?
There are two schools of thought — one is, Neandertal got wiped out / vanished for some reason; the other is, Neandertal genes are in each of us, so they are just part of our ancestry. The hypotheses that grow out of the former are baseless (and pointless) because they have a false assumption as their basis.
I know we have a topic or two about that eruption though. Still looking for that, but I found this:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4026649/posts
🍿🥜
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