Two tiny ivory figurines representing birds have been found in a German cave listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, archaeologists in south-western Germany reported on Wednesday.
The discovery in the Hohle Fels (Hollow Rock) cave in the Swabian Alps near the city of Ulm was announced by excavation director Nicholas Conard of the University of Tübingen's Department of Prehistory and Early History.
Conard described the carvings as the "find of the year."
According to the researchers, one figurine is an almost complete depiction of a resting, possibly nesting, bird. The second represents a bird with outstretched wings, although its left wing is broken and cannot be reconstructed because the missing fragment has not been found.
The carvings were recovered from the lower archaeological layers of the Aurignacian culture, which date back approximately 40,000 years.
Measuring just 2 centimetres long, 1 centimetre wide and 0.5 centimetres high, the bird with outstretched wings is the smallest Ice Age artwork ever discovered in the UNESCO World Heritage region.
The two carvings are also exceptionally light, weighing only 1.3 grams and 0.7 grams respectively.
The purpose of the figurines is unknown, with speculation centring on personal talismans or symbols of group identity. Around 25 years ago, archaeologists uncovered another bird carving depicting a waterbird in the same cave.