Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pornography in Clay
DER SPIEGEL ^ | 14/2005 - April 4, 2005 | Matthias Schulz

Posted on 04/15/2005 8:42:19 PM PDT by tbird5

New pornographic figurines from the Stone Age have been discovered in Germany. But researchers can't agree on what the 7,000-year-old sculptures mean. Were our ancestors uninhibited sex fiends, or was reproduction strictly controlled to improve mobility? An increasing number of finds seem to indicate the Stone Age was an orgy of sexual imagination.

The project itself was far from extraordinary. Workers near the Eastern German city of Leipzig were digging a ditch for a new gas line. Hum drum. But what they discovered was far from routine. A backhoe unearthed a 7,200-year-old, Stone Age garbage pit -- and it was filled with refuse from some of the first farmers on the European continent. Moreover, upon rushing to the site, archeologists discovered an 8.2 centimeter (3.2 inches) clay torso buried underground. The legs, abdomen and head were missing, but, according to the lucky archeologists, the figure still had its most important features intact: a "well-shaped behind" and a "short, but impressive" penis.

Since its discovery on August 19, 2003, the partially intact "Adonis from Chernitz" -- as it has been dubbed -- has been creating quite a stir at the state office of archeology in Dresden. Sculptors have carefully recreated the curve of the figure's buttocks and other anatomical minutiae are also clearly visible. Archeologist Harald Staeuble is amazed at the detail.

He's not the only one. The find is clearly a remarkable one -- and is the oldest clay figure ever found anywhere in the world.

(Excerpt) Read more at service.spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: adonisfromchernit; archaeology; germany; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; leipzig
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last
To: Fiddlstix; wildbill; blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; SunkenCiv; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; ...
Thanks Fiddlstix for the ping. Thanks wildbill for the analogy. Could have been a colony of narcissists; mounting behavior is common among some primates, and among humans has been expressed in ways such as the enforced pederasty of ancient Sparta.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest
-- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

41 posted on 04/15/2005 11:21:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Monday, April 11, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Ireland and the Phallic Continuum
Some of these Celtic phallic stones even had a glans stone resting on top, and these were used as headache remedies (magical ones, IOW, they only worked through the placebo effect) and infertility remedies (ditto). Interesting pictures at the link.

FR Lexicon·Posting Guidelines·Excerpt, or Link only?·Ultimate Sidebar Management·Headlines
Donate Here By Secure Server·Eating our own -- Time to make a new start in Free Republic
PDF to HTML translation·Translation page·Wayback Machine·My Links·FreeMail Me
Gods, Graves, Glyphs topic·and group·Books, Magazines, Movies, Music


42 posted on 04/15/2005 11:32:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Monday, April 11, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Squantos

*L* Those old rocks look like typical artwork for MS magazine.


43 posted on 04/15/2005 11:33:41 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide

Ironically, I was listening to "Trogolodyte" yesterday. I also refer to Hillary as "Bertha Butt."


44 posted on 04/15/2005 11:38:57 PM PDT by Clemenza (Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms: The Other Holy Trinity)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Detailed phallic representation throughout a culture signifies a male obsession, not a female fixation. Women did not erect these stones of manhood in the countryside, men did.
Men who are devoted to the penis are not likely to find actual reproductive practices all that appealing, so population replenishment is a concern for such a society.


45 posted on 04/15/2005 11:51:24 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: oceanperch
Good grief!

Nooooooooooooo, such statuary, such as the Venus of Willendorf ( the fat one pictured on the left, with the skinny arms crossed over her breasts ), are a goddesses of FECUNDITY and is PREGNANT; not a "granny" ! The Neolithic representation of women, who you might suppose are just fat, are PREGNANT; filled with life.

What happens to a "skinny woman" when she engages in unprotected sexual intercourse ? SHE GETS "FAT"/ PREGNANT !

46 posted on 04/15/2005 11:52:41 PM PDT by nopardons
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Eros in Pompeii: The Erotic Art Collection of the Museum of Naples The Sweetness of Honey and the Sting of Bees: A Book of Love from the Ancient Mediterranean
Eros in Pompeii:
The Erotic Art Collection
of the Museum of Naples

by Michael Grant
photos by Antonia Mulas
The Sweetness of Honey
and the Sting of Bees:
A Book of Love from
the Ancient Mediterranean

by Michelle Louvric and
Nikiforos Doxiadis Mardas


47 posted on 04/15/2005 11:53:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (FR profiled updated Monday, April 11, 2005. Fewer graphics, faster loading.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wildbill
I think they were more likely "sex-education" tools..
In the case of the Earth Mother statuettes, I tend to agree with one view expressed in the article..
The figures are representations of pregnancy and the birth process..

It's only logical.. hunter gatherer societies could not abide with anyone that obese on the trail.. they would hold up the entire tribe's travel regimen..
In the case of a more advanced, farming society, obesity would only be tolerated as long as it did not interfere with planting, crop/field maintenance, and harvest..
Only those that contributed in some way would be tolerated for very long..

Likewise, for the pairing couple, it is a representation of one manner of coupling, and would be used (like dolls) to demonstrate the actions necessary for mutual "gratification"..
Note that the article points out that the other figure appears to be female..

This would more logically explain many of the other cave drawings, etc.. They were simply illustrations for the education of the younger members of the tribe, coming into adulthood...
It would seem to me that privacy was a common practice during sex even in prehistoric times...
Survival for one, is a good reason for a tradition of privacy during sex.. (bad time to be discovered by a cave bear..)
Therefore, unlike the portrayals in most cave man movies, sex didn't take place in public, before the entire tribe, next to the communal campfire.. ( except, perhaps, for certain religious ceremonies )
One found someplace safe, secure, secluded, away from the kids, and the tribal jokester...

There will probably be other depictions found as time goes on, including different positions of union, and possibly even illustrations / depictions of various animals "in the act"...

48 posted on 04/16/2005 12:40:57 AM PDT by Drammach (Freedom; not just a job, it's an adventure..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: sierrahome
''Long and thin goes way in'

'But nary pleases the ladies'

'Short and thick does the trick'

'And makes much better babies.'

Robert Burns

49 posted on 04/16/2005 12:53:29 AM PDT by BIGLOOK (I once opposed keelhauling but recently have come to my senses.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: tbird5

My ancient ancestors tried this, but they got tired of looking for more clay. :)


50 posted on 04/16/2005 12:56:36 AM PDT by The Duke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

In other words, they're GUESSING about the meaning of the statuettes based on a couple broken pieces of clay that might not even be assembled correctly.
51 posted on 04/16/2005 7:13:56 AM PDT by adam_az (Support the Minute Man Project - http://www.minutemanproject.com/Donations.html)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: TheMom
Fat thighs and fat boobs were all the rage among stone age women. These were symbols of health, of good body fat, of fertility.

I told you that we were rich!!

52 posted on 04/16/2005 8:37:59 AM PDT by Eaker (America, where the scepters of kings are broken up for kindling.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: sierrahome
LOL!

You beat me to it.

53 posted on 04/16/2005 8:41:09 AM PDT by iconoclast (Conservative, not partisan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Squantos
LAUGH!!!
54 posted on 04/16/2005 8:45:36 AM PDT by Eaker (America, where the scepters of kings are broken up for kindling.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: tbird5
But researchers can't agree on what the 7,000-year-old sculptures mean.

I thought the meaning of porn was explicitly clear.

55 posted on 04/16/2005 8:46:21 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Mesocons for Rice '08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pookyhead
i think, but maybe I'm mistaken, i don't know

That's OK, neither does anyone else!

56 posted on 04/16/2005 9:03:27 AM PDT by El Gato (Activist Judges can twist the Constitution into anything they want ... or so they think.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Drammach

Stone age sex education classes, eh? I wonder if they had to get permission from the parents to enroll.


57 posted on 04/16/2005 9:34:40 AM PDT by wildbill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: afraidfortherepublic

Those figurines are actually very beautiful, don't you think? Simply Gor-jus!


58 posted on 04/16/2005 9:36:29 AM PDT by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: adam_az

And if you assemble them another way, they become a car or a space-fighter.


59 posted on 04/16/2005 9:38:55 AM PDT by SmithL (Proud Submariner)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: SmithL

Lego blocks of the Stone Age.


60 posted on 04/16/2005 9:40:54 AM PDT by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson