The Lion-Man figurine (29.6 cm/11.7in height, 5.6cm wide, 5.9cm thick) was found in the Hohlen-Stein-Stadel at the Southern rim of the Lonetal (Lone Valley) in the Swabian Alps in what is now Germany. The name of the Cliff is derived from a combination of Hohlen-Stein meaning "Hollow Rock" and Stadel meaning "Barn." The Cliffs are made of limestone which was hollowed out by natural causes to create Caves. The Sea receded 50 million years ago. Three layers of different lime-stones were stacked over each other. Some was soluble in water. Rain seeped through the cracks everywhere and formed subterranean rivers which flowed through a large system of Caves until they emerged. Thus there are hardly any rivers, lakes or other forms of surface water on the Plateau.
The Stadel (Barn) is one of the three Caves that are of important significance. The other two are Die-Kleine-Scheuer (Small Barn), and the Baren-Hohle (Bear's Cave).
The Swabian Alps is a low Mountain Range, extending 220km (140mi) from SouthEast to NorthEast and 40 to 70km (25 to 43mi) in width. It is named after the Region of Swabia. It is bounded by the Danube in the SouthEast and the upper Neck-Ar in the NorthWest. In the SouthWest it rises to the higher Mountains of the Black Forest. The highest Mountain of the Region is the Lem-Berg (1015m/3330ft). The area's profile ressembles a High Plateau, which slowly falls away to the SouthEast.
The 1st excavations were made by Oskar Fraas in 1861, who was searching for Bear Bones. The finding of the Lion-Man sculpture came on a later expedition in 1939 by archaeologist Robert Wetzel. It was forced to stop abruptly due to the outbreak of World-War II, so the artifacts were collected and donated to the Museum of Ulm in Ulm. Decades later, an employee of the museum noticed the artifacts and assembled the pieces that formed the Lion-Man. The significance of the ivory sculpture were not realized until 1969. After the artifact was identified, a similar iconography but smaller sculpture was found, along with other animal figurines and several flutes, in another Cave in the same region. Robert Wetzel returned to the Cave in 1954 and continued excavating there until his death in 1961. Following these discoveries, female figurines from approximately the same prehistoric period, such as the Venus of Hohle Fels, have been discovered in the same Mountainous area. By 2015, the ancient figurine was renamed as a Lion-Headed figurine.
The figurine was determined to be about 40,000 years old, by carbon dating of the material from the same layer in which the figurine was found. It was carved out of woolly mammoth ivory using a flint stone knife. Seven parallel, carved gouges are on the left arm. Initially, the sculpture was classified as male. From examination of some additional parts, it was determined that the sculpture was of a woman with the head of a female European Cave Lion. The neutral name currently used now to identified the entity is "Lion-Human," relevant if proved one or the other.
The sculpture shares certain similarities with French Cave Wall Paintings, which also show Hybrid Entities. The Lion-Human, however, is several thousand years older than the French Paintings.
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