Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave

The Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave is a 35,000–32,0000 year-old^[1][2] carved section of mammoth ivory, with a depiction of a human figure. It was discovered in the Geißenklösterle cave in the Swabian Jura near Blaubeuren, Germany.

Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave, mammoth ivory, Landesmuseum Württemberg

Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave, reverse side with rows of notches

The object (or 'plate') is an exceptional artwork, demonstrating a highly developed aesthetic ability within early Upper Palaeolithic, Aurignacian culture.

It is one of several figurative works of art of the Upper Palaeolithic discovered in the cave.^[1]

The artefact has been interpreted as containing humanity's oldest known figurative astronomical representation - of the constellation Orion - together with a notched notation system of time-reckoning based on the lunar phases.^[1]

The engraved mammoth tusk is a well-preserved, rectangular piece: 38 mm (1.50 in) tall, 14 mm (0.55 in) wide, and 4.5 mm (0.18 in) thick.^[1]

Traces of manganese and ochre can be found on it by microscope analysis.^[3] The mineral ochre was often used during Palaeolithic rituals.^[1]

Front Face (Side A)

The front face has a human figure (anthropoid) of uncertain sex in relief, with raised arms and outstretched legs, but no hands.

The posture is usually interpreted as an expression of worship, which is why in German the figure is called an 'adorant', a word meaning 'worshipper'.

It has been claimed that a belt and sword can be seen, although these are probably natural features of the ivory.^[4]

There is a resemblance between the anthropoid on side A and the Orion constellation. The nine-month period when Orion was visible in the sky approximately matched the duration of human pregnancy - thereby possibly relating the asterism to fertility. ^[1]

Reverse Face (Side B)

On the plate's reverse are 88 small notches in rows.^[5] The number and grouping of the notches have been interpreted as suggestive of a time-related sequence: 88 is the number of days in three lunations (88.5).^[1]

The number 88 also approximates with the number of days when the star Betelgeuse - in the constellation of Orion - disappeared from view each year (in c. 33,000 BP).^[1]

The object was discovered during an excavation in 1979. Excavations took place at the Geißenklösterle cave between 1973 and 1991, and have continued since 2001.^[1]

It is now in the collection of the Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart. Replicas are used for public display, as the original is accessible only for scientific examination.^[1]

• Art of the Upper Palaeolithic
• Aurignacian
• Lion-man
• List of Stone Age art
• Prehistoric art
• Prehistoric Europe
• Upper Palaeolithic
• Venus figurines
• Venus of Hohle Fels

• Joachim Hahn, 1980: "Eine aurignacienzeitliche Menschendarstellung aus dem Geißenklösterle bei Blaubeuren, Alb-Donau-Kreis". In: Denkmalpflege in Baden-Württemberg – Nachrichtenblatt der Landesdenkmalpflege, Vol. 9, Nr. 2 (1980), S. 56-58.
• Joachim Hahn, 1988: Die Geißenklösterle-Höhle im Achtal bei Blaubeuren, Stuttgart: Karl Theiss Verlag.
• C.–S. Holdermann, Müller-Beck, H. and Simon, U., 2001: Eiszeitkunst im süddeutschschweizerischen Jura: Anfänge der Kunst,, Stuttgart: Karl Theiss Verlag.
• H. Müller-Beck und G. Albrecht (Ed.), 1987: Die Anfänge der Kunst vor 30000 Jahren, Stuttgart: Theiss.

• Don Hitchcock (Don's Maps): "The Adorant - The Worshipper" (with excellent pictures of the Adorant)