Female Figurine. Steatite, painted. Anatolian. From Hacilar, Turkey. Neolithic, 5,600-5,300 BCE.

Photo: Zdeněk Kratochvíl.

Nude female figurine. Baked clay. Isin-Larsa period. From Tell Asmar, Iraq. 2000-1800 BCE.

Photo: Daderot.

Tell Halaf Figurine. Terracotta, painted. Product of the Halaf culture of Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia. From Tell Halaf, Syria. Chalcolithic, 6th millennium BCE.

Photo: Walters Art Museum.

Venus of Hohle Fels. Carved figurine of mammoth ivory. May have been worn as an amulet. Earliest known undisputed example of a depiction of a human being. From Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Aurignacian, 38,000-33,000 BCE.

Photo: Thilo Parg.

Venus of Chiozza. Carved brown sandstone (feldspar and mica). From Scandiano, Italy. Indeterminate age, but thought to be either Paleolithic or Eneolithic.

Photo: Chiara Ferretti.

Venus of Savignano (three-quarters view, side view). Carved green serpentine. Assumed a product of the Gravettian culture. From Savignano sul Panaro, Italy. Upper Paleolithic, 24,000 BCE.

Photo: Vincent Mourre.

Venus of Galgenberg. Carved green serpentine. From Stratzing, Austria. Aurignacian, 34,000 BCE.

Photo: Aiwok.

Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük. Baked-clay figure (head restored). From Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Neolithic, 6,000 BCE.

Photo: Nevit Dilmen.

Female Idol. Clay figurine. Amlash culture. From Greater Iran. Early 1st millennium BCE.

Steatopygous Goddess. Terracotta figurine. From Pano Chorio, Crete. Neolithic, 5,800–4,800 BCE.

Photo: Zdeněk Kratochvíl.

Venus of Brassempouy. Fragmentary figurine carved from ivory. From Brassempouy, France. Upper Paleolithic, c. 23,000 BCE.

Photo: Jean-Gilles Berizzi.

Venus of Monruz. Figurine carved from jet. From Canton of Neuchâtel. Magdalenian, c. 9,000-13,000 BCE.

Photo: Y. André.