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Researchers Offer New Theory on 'Venus' Figurines

A woman looks at the Venus of Willendorf sculpture on October 5, 2005, at the State Museum of Prehistory in Dresden, Germany, Photo: Norbert Milauer/AFP/Getty Images.
A woman looks at the Venus of Willendorf sculpture on October 5, 2005, at the State Museum of Prehistory in Dresden, Germany, Photo: Norbert Milauer/AFP/Getty Images.
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Researchers Offer New Theory on 'Venus' Figurines

A woman looks at the Venus of Willendorf sculpture on October 5, 2005, at the State Museum of Prehistory in Dresden, Germany, Photo: Norbert Milauer/AFP/Getty Images.
A woman looks at the Venus of Willendorf sculpture on October 5, 2005, at the State Museum of Prehistory in Dresden, Germany, Photo: Norbert Milauer/AFP/Getty Images.

One of world's earliest examples of art, the "fat sculptures" carved some 30,000 years ago, have intrigued and puzzled scientists for nearly two centuries.

Now a researcher from the University of Colorado Medical Campus believes he's gathered enough evidence to solve the mystery behind these curious totems.

These sculptures, which appear in most art history books, were long seen as symbols of fertility or beauty. But according to Richard Johnson, lead author of the study published in the journal Obesity, the key to understanding the statues lays in climate change and diet.

"Some of the earliest art in the world are these mysterious figurines of overweight women from the time of hunter gatherers in Ice Age Europe where you would not expect to see obesity at all. We show that these figurines correlate to times of extreme nutritional stress," said Johnson in a report published on the university's website.

Early modern humans entered Europe during a warming period about 48,000 years ago. They hunted reindeer, horses and mammoths with bone-tipped spears. In summer they dined on berries, fish, nuts and plants. But then, as now, the climate did not remain static.

"As temperatures dropped, ice sheets advanced and disaster set in," he said explaining the meaning of nutritional stress.

During the coldest months, temperatures plunged to 10-15 degrees Celsius.

"Some bands of hunter gatherers died out, others moved south, some sought refuge in forests," he explained.

It was during these desperate times that the obese figurines appeared. They ranged between 6 and 16 centimeters in length and were made of stone, ivory, horn or occasionally clay. Some were threaded and worn as amulets. Researchers believe the figurines represented an idealized body type for these difficult living conditions.

"Obesity became a desired condition. An obese female in times of scarcity could carry a child through pregnancy better than one who suffers malnutrition. So the figurines may have been imbued with a spiritual meaning that could protect a woman through pregnancy, birth and nursing," noted Johnson, who in addition to being a physician has an undergraduate degree in anthropology.

"Increased fat would provide a source of energy during gestation and times of climatic challenges. Therefore, the figurines emerged as an ideological tool to help improve fertility and survival of the mother and newborns," he concluded.

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Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
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Horse Therapy Program in Namibia Brings Joy to Children with Learning Disabilities

Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)
Merci who participates in the "Enabling Through the Horse," therapy program outside Windhoek, Namibia, pets a horse on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP)

Susan de Meyer's horses have different effects on different children. Hyperactive kids learn to be a little quieter around them while nonverbal children are moved to communicate and to bond with them.

De Meyer runs a program in the southern African country of Namibia that harnesses the power but also the gentleness of horses to help children with learning disabilities and conditions like ADHD and autism.

Each weekday morning, de Meyer's dusty paddock just outside the capital, Windhoek, is enlivened by a group of eight to 10 children from one of the special schools she helps. The children ride the horses, groom them, stroke them and often, de Meyer says, talk to them.

De Meyer grew up on a farm surrounded by horses and they've always been part of her life. She said they have a quality that is invaluable: They don't judge the children, no matter how different they are.

"The horse is the hero in this whole situation because these kids don’t want to be around a lot of people," de Meyer said.

De Meyer's program, "Enabling Through the Horse," is supported by the Namibian Equestrian Federation and won an award last year from the International Equestrian Federation because it "underlines the wonderful characteristics of the horse in exuding sensitivity and intuition."

Horse therapy has been promoted by autism groups and those that work with children with learning disabilities as having a positive impact. And animal therapy in general has been found to be useful in many instances, like dogs that help military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and therapy cats that are taken to hospitals and nursing homes.

Some survivors of the devastating 2023 Hawaii wildfires found relief in horse therapy while grieving loved ones they had lost.

De Meyer jokes she has "two-and-a-half horses." These include two Arabians — a white mare named Faranah and a brown gelding, Lansha — while the "half" is a miniature horse called Bonzi, who is about head-high for a 5-year-old.

The Arabians are often the most useful for the children's therapy because of their size, de Meyer said.

"It gives them self-esteem. When they stroke the horse, the therapy starts because this is a very big animal compared to their height, and they are not scared to stroke the horse ... and then to ride it and tell the horse what they want," she said.

De Meyer works with children with a range of conditions or disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Down syndrome, those who are nonverbal or touch sensitive, and some who were born with fetal alcohol syndrome and have developmental problems.

She has received interest from other countries in Africa and Asia to start similar programs there.

"The changes that I’ve seen with the learners are significant," said Chriszell Louw, a teacher at Dagbreek School, which says it is one of just two government schools in Namibia for children with intellectual disabilities. "We have a learner that likes to talk a lot. When we come here, she knows she has to keep quiet. She sits in her place."

"Some of them you see they are more open, they are happy. Some of them were very scared when they started with the horse riding but now they are very excited. When they hear we’re going to the horses they are very excited and just want to go by themselves," Louw said.

De Meyer said her program helps with fine-motor skills, gross-motor skills, muscle strengthening, coordination, balance and posture, all important for kids who struggle to sit at a desk at school and learn.

One simple exercise de Meyer has children do when they ride is to let go of the reins and stretch their arms out straight and to the sides, using only their torso and lower body to balance as a groom leads the horse around the paddock.

Some of the kids break out in smiles when they let go and look like they're soaring.

"We make the world different for these kids," de Meyer said.