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The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in
Don Hitchcock (Don's Maps): "The Tan-Tan Venus"Rock Art Network (Bradshaw Foundation): "Tan-Tan"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venus Of Tan-Tan Archaeological artifacts Archaeology of Morocco Tan-Tan Acheulean 1999 archaeological discoveries
The Venus of Tan-Tan (supposedly, 500,000-300,000 BP) is an alleged artifact found in Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...
. It and its contemporary, the Venus of Berekhat Ram, have been claimed as the earliest representations of the human form.
Description
The Venus of Tan-Tan was described by Robert G. Bednarik. The object is a 6 cm long, 2.6 cm wide, and 1.2 cm thick, 10 gramquartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...
. It was discovered in 1999 during an archaeological survey by Lutz Fiedler, state archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
of Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, in a river terrace deposit on the north bank of the Draa River
:''Dra is also the abbreviation for the constellation Draco.''
The Draa ( ber, Asif en Dra, ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⴻⵏ ⴷⵔⴰ, ary, واد درعة, wad dərʿa; also spelled Dra or Drâa, in older sources mostly Darha or Dara) is Morocco's longest ...
, near the bridge of the N1 national route over the Draa, about 10 km to the northeast of the Moroccan town of Tan-Tan.
No dating of the artifact nor of the deposit as a whole has been performed. Both are attributed to the Middle Acheulean, which occurs between 500,000 and 300,000 BP in this region.
The object, including its "arms" and "legs", was created by natural geological processes. The horizontal grooves on both sides of the object seem to be formed partly naturally partly artificially (by percussion). The object also contains traces of pigment, which seems to be iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
and manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
according to preliminary study.
Interpretation
According to Bednarik, the object has a general human-like shape. It is assumed that this shape was recognized by early humans and the object was taken as a manuport. Then its horizontal grooves were accentuated by carving with a stone tool, emphasizing the artifact's anthropomorphous character. Possibly, a pigment was applied to further accentuate the human-like form.Controversy
To date, the findings of Bednarik have not been re-examined by other scholars and, thus, his statements have been neither confirmed nor rejected. Professor Stanley Ambrose,University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...
, Urbana-Champaign, has expressed an opinion (based on Bednarik's work and without studying the object directly) that the rock's shape was a result of natural weathering.
See also
* Venus of Berekhat Ram *Venus of Hohle Fels
The Venus of Hohle Fels (also known as the Venus of Schelklingen; in German variously ') is an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine made of mammoth ivory that was unearthed in 2008 in Hohle Fels, a cave near Schelklingen, Germany. It is dated to be ...
* Prehistoric art
In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of re ...
* Art of the Middle Paleolithic
References
External links
Don Hitchcock (Don's Maps): "The Tan-Tan Venus"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venus Of Tan-Tan Archaeological artifacts Archaeology of Morocco Tan-Tan Acheulean 1999 archaeological discoveries