ORF-E
English
1 x 52 min
Worldwide except for Germany and France

After being banned by Facebook as “dangerous pornography”, the Venus of Willendorf has been a worldwide star. Rather than flesh and blood, the “Mona Lisa of the Stone Age” is comprised of stone, only 11 centimetres tall and 29,500 years old—a groundbreaking scientific reinterpretation of the coexistence of men and women in the Stone Age. While numerous current gender-specific role ascriptions are justified with alleged behaviour from the Stone Age, research into Venus put an end to many related clichés; for example, the division of labour within Stone Age societies was apparently not based only on gender. Investigations of muscle markers on the humerus of skeletons showed that young women handled spears just as much as did men. Older women thus fulfilled an important task within the community, for which they were recognised and adored as protective and wise: the grandmother. And a Stone Age fingerprint found on another figurine from Europe proves that these statuettes were also made by women. This film offers the unique opportunity to combine historical context with a topic of contemporary social discussion: gender equality. The re-enactments show everyday life in the ancient Stone Age settlement of Willendorf 30,000 years ago and are a visual representation of the latest scientific and archaeological research. They cast new light on the lives and gender roles of one of the earliest cultures of Homo sapiens, from hunting and life in the settlement to death and burial.