Why is the name “Venus” no longer used to describe Paleolithic sculptures like the Woman from Willendorf?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks why the name “Venus” is no longer used to describe Paleolithic sculptures like the Woman from Willendorf.
Option: 'because Venus was a Roman goddess and the Romans lived thousands of years later.' This reasoning captures the core idea: the label Venus was a later, anachronistic naming choice because the sculpture predates Roman culture by many millennia, so assigning the name of a Roman goddess is historically inaccurate for Paleolithic artifacts.
Why this explanation is persuasive: the designation 'Venus' originated in 19th-century archaeology when many prehistoricfemale figurines were given names tied to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, regardless of any direct link to her or to Roman culture. As scholars recognized the temporal mismatch, they moved toward more neutral, descriptive, or site-specific names like 'Venus of Willendorf.' The core lesson is that the name reflects a later cultural attribution rather than an intentional connection to the artifact’s actual origin.
Why this option might be questioned: some may argue that the use of 'Venus' persisted for conventional or stylistic reasons, but the question focuses on why the practice fell out of favor—namely, the anachronistic association with a Roman deity rather than with the real Paleolithic context. It is not about whether the sculpture depicts a goddess, but about the appropriateness of the naming origin given the artifact’s age.
In short, the statement correctly identifies the mismatch between the artifact’s ancient Paleolithic origins and the later, Roman-based naming convention, which is precisely why the term 'Venus' is no longer preferred for describing these sculptures.

Art History Prehistoric-Gothic To Do: Quiz 1 (Prehistoric)

Why is the name “Venus” no longer used to describe Paleolithic sculptures like the Woman from Willendorf?

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