Venus figurines of Balzi Rossi

TypeStone figurines

MaterialSoapstone

HeightBetween 2.4 and 7.5 cm
(1–3 in)

Created24,000 to 19,000 years BP

Venus figurines of Balzi Rossi
Some of the Venus figurines
Type	Stone figurines
Material	Soapstone
Height	Between 2.4 and 7.5 cm (1–3 in)
Created	24,000 to 19,000 years BP
Discovered	c. 1889 Balzi Rossi, Ventimiglia, Liguria, Italy 43°47′02″N 7°32′02″E / 43.784°N 7.534°E / 43.784; 7.534 (Balzi Rossi caves)
Discovered by	Louis Jullien
Present location	Musée d'Archéologie Nationale (Salle Piette) in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

The Venus figurines of Balzi Rossi (also: Venus figurines of Grimaldi, Venus figurines from the Balzi-Rossi-Caves) are thirteen Palaeolithic sculptures of the female body, from the caves near Grimaldi, Ventimiglia, Italy. Additionally, two small depictions of the human head were discovered at the same place. The age of these figurines cannot be determined because of missing archaeological context data. It is usually accepted that these figurines stem from the Gravettian, about 24,000 to 19,000 years old. Most of the sculptures consist of soapstone and are between 2.4 and 7.5 centimetres (1–3 inches) in height.‍^[1]

Between 1883 and 1895, the figurines were discovered by the antique dealer Louis Alexandre Jullien at the cave complex Balzi Rossi ('red rocks') at the Ligurian coast. Eight of these sculptures are housed in the museum Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris.