Archaeologists excavating Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany have uncovered two miniature bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory, among the smallest and most delicate examples of Ice Age art ever found.
Roughly 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) long and weighing just 1.3 and 0.7 grams, the figurines were found in 2025 in the Aurignacian layers of the cave, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage cluster in the Swabian Jura. Dated to about 40,000 years old, they were discovered about 1.5 meters apart in the same layer, suggesting they may be contemporaneous — and possibly the work of the same artist.
One figurine shows a bird crouched low, perhaps brooding over eggs; the other, incomplete, shows outstretched wings that could depict a bird taking flight, landing or displaying in courtship. The naturalistic detail suggests a ptarmigan as the likely model for the brooding bird.
'The figurines demonstrate that the earliest artists were skilled ivory-carvers, who could depict delicate motifs in miniature form,' said Professor Nicholas Conard of the University of Tübingen, director of the excavations. 'Despite their size, they raise many new questions.' The findings were published in Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden-Württemberg.
