Prehistoric art centered female fertility first, then shifted to phallic imagery
Evidence
It is interesting to note (according to H. Bégouën, Journal of Psychology, 1934) that in the Aurignacian period there were numerous statuettes representing women with overly emphasized sexual attributes: they are noteworthy for their plumpness and the size accorded to their vulvas. Moreover, grossly sketched vulvas on their own were also found in caves. In the Solutrean and Magdalenian epochs, these effigies disappear. In the Aurignacian, masculine statuettes are very rare, and there are never any representations of the male organ. In the Magdalenian epoch, some representations of vulvas are still found, though in small quantities, but a great quantity of phalluses was discovered. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 178
Categorization
- QUESTION: Beauvoir presents this archaeological transition as evidence for a shift in symbolic orientation — worth chasing whether current archaeology still supports this Aurignacian-to-Magdalenian shift narrative.
- XREF: connects to: Ancient cultures conflated the phallus with the plow in language and ritual; The moon and snake symbolize ambivalent fertility tied to womanhood; Religious prostitution originally encoded fertility magic before sliding into venality — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 191 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Ancient cultures conflated the phallus with the plow in language and ritual
#expands(0.85) - The moon and snake symbolize ambivalent fertility tied to womanhood
#expands(0.80) - Pre-agricultural societies attributed to women a mystical power over fertility and crops
#expands(0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 173 - Religious prostitution originally encoded fertility magic before sliding into venality
#expands(0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 191 - Nineteenth-century prosperity shifted white women’s image from temptress to pure goddess
#qualifies(0.72) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 95 - Feminine mythmaking requires leisure and distance from material necessity
#qualifies(0.70) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 666