Fig. 26.—Drawing (of the actual size of the original) of an ivory carving (fully rounded) of a female head. The specimen was found in the cavern of Brassempouy, in the Landes. It is of the earliest Reindeer period, and the arrangement of the hair or cap is remarkable.
The representations of men are rare among these earliest works of art, and less successfully carried out than those of animals. But several small statuettes of women in bone, ivory, and stone of the early Aurignacian horizon are known. They suggest, by their form of body, affinity with the Bushmen race of to-day (Fig. 25). The all-round carving of a female head (Fig. 26) also suggests Ethiopian affinities in the dressing of the hair. Some regard this hair-like head-dress as a cap. Here and there badly executed outline engravings of men, some apparently wearing masks, have been discovered.
The fact that the "Reindeer men" were skilful in devising decorative design—not representing actual natural objects—is shown by the carving drawn in Fig. 29 and in many others like it.
Fig. 27.—Seated figure of a woman holding a bovine horn in the right hand; high relief carved on a limestone rock; about 18 inches high. Discovered at Laussel (Dordogne) in a rock-shelter in 1911, by M. Lalanne.
Fig. 28.—Male figure represented in the act of drawing a bow or throwing a spear. Carved on limestone rock; about 16 inches high. Discovered by M. Lalanne with that drawn in Fig. 27.