Discovered Irkutsk Oblast | Material Serpentinite | |
Created c. the end of the 21,000 B.C.E - beginning of the 20,000 B.C.E (Upper paleolithic) | ||
Venus of Buret' (or Bouret') may refer to any of the five Venus figurines found from archeological site of Buret' in Siberia near Irkutsk and Angara's river valley.
Four of them are made of ivory and one of them is made of serpentine. One of the figurines (pictured) made of ivory depicts a shrouded person. A similar shrouded figurine has been found from Mal'ta. Carvings on the figurine might represent decorated clothes. The figurine is partially sexually ambiguous due to lack of breasts, but it has an emphasized pubic triangle and vaginal area.
Venus figurines by Mal'ta-Buret' culture of the area are considered to be geographically isolated. They have features that differ from other Venuses of the Paleolithic era, as they have clothes, instead of being nude, and they also have elaborately carved faces. Ivory figurines found from Buret' and Mal'ta have revealed that the Upper Paleolithic culture stretched from Western Europe to Baikal 20,000 years ago. It is believed that Mal'ta was the main settlement and the Buret's site was a campsite for winters, as the figurines are similar.