RUSSIA: An extraordinary 23,000-year-old figurine was unearthed in the Bryansk region of western Russia alongside stone tools, painted mammoth bones, and bison remains. The tiny two-inch statuette is carved from mammoth tusk and represents a possibly pregnant woman, rendered with exaggerated proportions. She is one of only a few existing small Paleolithic sculptures known as Venus figurines, thought to embody an ancient, idealized concept of femininity. Experts believe they may have served ritual or ceremonial purposes, perhaps associated with fertility. —Jason Urbanus