The Löwenmensch figurine is the oldest known piece of figurative art in the world. It is an ivory sculpture of a lion headed human that is between 35,000 – 40,000 years old. The sculpture was first discovered in 1939 by geologist Otto Völzing at the Hohlenstein-Stadel cave, but the start of World War II lead to cave’s research being shelved.
The fragments of the sculpture were forgotten for over 30 years in the Museum of Ulm, until archaeologist Joachim Hahn began piecing them together. More pieces of the figure were uncovered in 1962 and they were added Hahn’s reconstruction in 1982. In 2009, further excavations were conducted and more minute fragments were discovered. Today, the figurine is almost completely restored and is displayed at the Ulm Museum.
