Our Lady of the Mammoths

She's one of Stone Age Eurasia's lesser-known “Venus” figurines.

But she has an extremely interesting story to tell.

Carved from mammoth ivory, the Lady of Yeliseyevich—named for the place in Siberia where she was found—stands 15 cm. (5.9 inches) tall.

You could call her Our Lady of the Mammoths.

Some 15,000 years ago, she was buried in the Siberian permafrost, with a pile of bones and partially-worked tusks heaped over her. Arranged on the ground in a circle around her were 27 mammoth skulls.

In other words, heap big magic.

Of course, we don't know why Ice-Age Siberians would have gone to the trouble of carving the Lady of Yeliseyevich and burying her in the center of a circle of 27 mammoth skulls.

But I can tell you why I would have done it.