Overview
- The discovery, reported July 29–31, 2026, concerns two mammoth‑ivory bird figurines recovered in 2025 from an Aurignacian layer at Hohle Fels that is dated to about 40,000 years ago.
- Each carving measures roughly 2 cm and weighs about 1.3 grams and 0.7 grams, making them among the smallest and most finely worked Ice Age figurines found in Europe.
- The two pieces lay about 1.5 meters apart in the same archaeological horizon, and one shows a brooding pose thought to resemble a ptarmigan while the other has outstretched wings and may represent a grouse, ptarmigan or bird of prey.
- Excavators and analysts say the objects demonstrate precise, high‑skill ivory carving at very small scale and add to Hohle Fels’ long record of early symbolic artifacts; a full technical report by the excavation team will appear in Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden‑Württemberg.
- Both figurines are on public view at the Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art in Blaubeuren through April 4, 2027, and researchers say the finds will prompt further study of their function, local bird use, and related sediment DNA and contextual analyses.