Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel: Earliest Figurative Sculpture

Between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago, early humans carved a 31-centimeter tall figurine from mammoth ivory in the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave in Germany's Swabian Alps. The Lion Man depicts a human figure with a lion's head, requiring approximately 400 hours of work using stone tools. Archaeologists found the sculpture in a chamber 30 meters from the cave entrance alongside ritual objects. The Aurignacian culture creation represents the earliest known zoomorphic sculpture, demonstrating symbolic thought through its human-animal hybrid form that does not exist naturally. Evidence suggests the figurine served religious or shamanic purposes.