Archaeologists working in the Hohle Fels cave in southwestern Germany have uncovered two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, dating back roughly 40,000 years. The find adds to the rich record of Ice Age art emerging from the Swabian Jura, a region already celebrated for some of humanity's oldest known sculptures.
The team from the University of Tübingen discovered the carvings in the cave's lower layers, which are associated with the Aurignacian culture—a group of early Homo sapiens who inhabited Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic. The better-preserved figurine depicts a bird at rest, possibly brooding, while the second shows a bird with outstretched wings, though its left wing has broken off. The two pieces were found just a metre and a half apart.
Miniature masterpieces
Both sculptures are remarkably small—each would fit on a fingernail—and weigh only 1.3 and 0.7 grams respectively. One of them, a bird with spread wings measuring just two centimetres in length, is now considered the smallest known Ice Age artwork ever found in the region.
Nicholas Conard, the archaeologist leading the excavations, emphasised the skill involved: "Mammoth ivory was not simply used here to create a simplified form of a bird's body," he said in a statement. "Detailed observations of nature were translated into figurines whose richness of detail even allows us to investigate which bird species is depicted and what it is doing."
The resting bird, shown stretched out and lying flat, may represent a bird brooding or sitting on a nest of eggs. The second, with its wings spread and neck extended, could depict a bird in courtship display, taking off, or landing on water.
Ptarmigan or capercaillie?
Researchers are still uncertain about the exact species portrayed. One possibility is the ptarmigan, a cold-adapted bird whose bones are frequently found at prehistoric sites in the region. Alternatively, the carvings might depict larger, pheasant-like birds such as the capercaillie, a woodland species known for its striking appearance and elaborate courtship rituals. The detailed carvings allow comparisons of body shape, posture, and plumage, but the tiny dimensions and stylised execution make a definitive identification difficult. What is clear is that both species were present in Europe during the Ice Age.
The Hohle Fels cave, also known as Hohler Fels, was inhabited during the Aurignacian period (around 43,000 to 28,000 years ago) by early Homo sapiens, at a time when Neanderthals had already disappeared from Europe. This era witnessed a remarkable cultural and artistic flowering, producing some of the oldest known musical instruments, jewellery, and figurative artworks. Among the cave's most famous finds is the "Venus of Hohle Fels," a roughly 41,000-year-old ivory figure of a woman with accentuated breasts and hips, regarded as one of the oldest examples of figurative art in Europe.
Hohle Fels is one of six caves in the Swabian Jura that enjoy special protection as part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. The region is considered one of the most important archaeological landscapes for studying the beginnings of human art in Europe. Since excavations began there in the 1860s, numerous finds dating from between 33,000 and 43,000 years ago have been uncovered, including some of the earliest known musical instruments.
The newly discovered bird figurines will remain on display at the Museum of Prehistory and Ice Age Art in Blaubeuren until 4 April 2027. For those interested in broader European archaeological discoveries, the recent mammoth skeleton found in the Danube offers a striking parallel, while the Roman library discovered in Puente Genil highlights the continent's deep historical layers.
