The Venus of Hohle Fels figurine is the oldest sculpture depicting the human figure. It is the oldest “Venus figurine” — any Upper Paleolithic sculpture of a woman — and dates back to about 35,000 – 40,000 years ago. It was discovered in 2008 in the Hohle Fels cave by an archaeological team led by Nicholas J. Conard.

There are several caves in a mountain range in southern Germany called the Swabian Jura that contains evidence of occupation by Ice Age Homo sapiens around 40,000 years ago—there are remains of campfires, tools, weapons, and jewelry, as well as figurines carved from mammoth ivory with stone tools.

After 20 years of slow, careful excavation, the world's most complete skeleton of an ancient human ancestor has just been unveiled. It belongs to the genus Australopithecus, and it's 3.67 million years old.