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intricate stone figures of women date back to at least 30000 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine#Notable_figurines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

intricate stone figures of women date back to at least 30000 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine#Notable_figurines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine#Notable_figurin...

Mistletoe 2y ago
I’ve always wondered how ancient man made these. Were any of the women this fat and he had a reference image? Or was he just extrapolating? If extrapolating and fantasizing they seem extremely accurate in modeling how actual obese human women look. It seems odd for anyone to have that many extra calories back then to store that much fat. Unless it was some sort of ancient religion that worshipped a fertility leader that received much more food than the rest? I’ve asked this question on Reddit before but didn’t really get any quality answers.
- stvltvs 2y ago
  That's assuming the goal was realism. I fully believe our prehistoric forebears were capable of thinking abstractly and creating art that exaggerated reality. These figurines look to me like women with the dial turned up a few notches on characteristics of pregnancy like enlarged bellies and breasts.
  - pantalaimon 2y ago
    They look very much like SSBBW models existing today. Maybe each community selected a woman that would be worshipped as prosperity token and receive extra food. Or maybe those figures were just pornography. What’s interesting is that they appear to be widespread across such a large geographic and temporal period though.
  - Mistletoe 2y ago
    These aren't enlarged like pregnancy though. https://imgur.com/a/jRnbO3Y https://imgur.com/a/jRnbO3Y Pregnant is quite easy to recognize in sculpture. https://tribal-art-antiques.gallery/products/antique-tribal-fecondity-pregnant-woman-with-scarifications https://tribal-art-antiques.gallery/products/antique-tribal-...
    - stvltvs 2y ago
      Most of the first set look pregnant to me?
- seanhunter 2y ago
  There isn't agreement about this topic, but one interesting theory is that the obesity of the images increases during periods of starvation and that the objects themselves represent resilience and fecundity during hard times. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240307-the-160-year-mystery-of-the-stone-age-venus-figurines https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240307-the-160-year-mys...

intricate stone figures of women date back to at least 30000 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine#Notable_figurines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurine#Notable_figurin...

Mistletoe 2y ago

I’ve always wondered how ancient man made these. Were any of the women this fat and he had a reference image? Or was he just extrapolating? If extrapolating and fantasizing they seem extremely accurate in modeling how actual obese human women look. It seems odd for anyone to have that many extra calories back then to store that much fat. Unless it was some sort of ancient religion that worshipped a fertility leader that received much more food than the rest? I’ve asked this question on Reddit before but didn’t really get any quality answers.

stvltvs 2y ago
That's assuming the goal was realism. I fully believe our prehistoric forebears were capable of thinking abstractly and creating art that exaggerated reality. These figurines look to me like women with the dial turned up a few notches on characteristics of pregnancy like enlarged bellies and breasts.
- pantalaimon 2y ago
  They look very much like SSBBW models existing today. Maybe each community selected a woman that would be worshipped as prosperity token and receive extra food. Or maybe those figures were just pornography. What’s interesting is that they appear to be widespread across such a large geographic and temporal period though.
- Mistletoe 2y ago
  These aren't enlarged like pregnancy though. https://imgur.com/a/jRnbO3Y https://imgur.com/a/jRnbO3Y Pregnant is quite easy to recognize in sculpture. https://tribal-art-antiques.gallery/products/antique-tribal-fecondity-pregnant-woman-with-scarifications https://tribal-art-antiques.gallery/products/antique-tribal-...
  - stvltvs 2y ago
    Most of the first set look pregnant to me?
seanhunter 2y ago
There isn't agreement about this topic, but one interesting theory is that the obesity of the images increases during periods of starvation and that the objects themselves represent resilience and fecundity during hard times. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240307-the-160-year-mystery-of-the-stone-age-venus-figurines https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240307-the-160-year-mys...