The Venus: Mother or Woman?

This paper explores the implications of the various theories surrounding Upper Paleolithic Venus figurines and how they impact conceptualizations of these fascinating arfifacts. I will argue that power relations are present in common understandings of the Venuses and that approaches such as McCoid and McDermott's self-representation hypothesis and Nelson's attention to gendered approaches within archaeology denaturalize reductionist descriptions of the Venus figurines as fecund fertility symbols. In order to begin unearthing the multifaceted nature of the Venuses, a reconceptualization moving away from sexualized objects towards a more inclusive image celebrating womanhood is necesary