German 'Venus' dates back 35,000 yrs

PARIS: She's just 6-cm tall, with breasts that make Dolly Parton look flat-chested - and, at more than 35,000 years of age, she could be the oldest piece of figurative art in the world.

The tiny figure, carved by Stone Age tool on a piece of mammoth tusk, may sweep away our understanding of the origins of art, according to a paper released yesterday.

Dubbed the "Venus of the Hohle Fels," after a cave at Schelklingen in the Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany where it was found, the carving is around 32,000 years old, according to carbon-dating measurements.