The Lion Man

If you thought the Sphinx of ancient Egypt was cool, get a load of this: Lion Man is a
carving made out of a mammoth tusk that dates back to an amazing 35,000 to 40,000
years old, making it an extremely ancient example of human art and likely a glimpse
into the world of humanity’s first religions. The statue is of a person with a lion’s
head, much like the Egyptian Sphinx (albeit in reverse), only from many thousands of
years prior.[4]The sculpture stands 31.1 centimeters (12.2 in) in height and was
carved with a simple flint sculpting tool back in ancient prehistory. In fact, it’s so old
that its dating places it square in an ice age. Discovered in 1939 with a slew of other
artifacts from the same people and period of history, Lion Man stands out from the
rest as a truly fascinating work of prehistoric human art from the Paleolithic period.
It proves that humans did not need to harness a writing system before their
imaginations could dream up supernatural things, possibly even gods. Ivory carvings
were prominent in the period, showing humankind’s tenacity to weather the
crushing cold and still create art that fascinates and inspires us today.