A 30,000-year-old statue of a full-figured woman unearthed in Austria may have originated nearly 600 miles away in Italy, reported Alex Greenberger of ARTnews early this month. Scientists made this discovery after studying 3-D scans of the carved rock to determine its source.
Known as Venus of Willendorf, the 4.3-inch-tall statuette—considered one of the oldest-known examples of figurative sculpture—was found in 1908 on the banks of the Danube River in Austria, according to Mindy Weisberger of Live Science. Archaeologists say an ancient sculptor carved the ochre-colored figurine from oolitic limestone during the Ice Age.
