35,000 year old Stone Age Venus
Throughout most of prehistory, fat people were rare. Only in relatively recent times—from an evolutionary standpoint—did our ancestors’ skill at hunting and knowledge of which plants were edible enable them to gather such an abundance of food that a select few could enjoy the luxury of a sedentary life. When they did, the same thing happened in the Stone Age as happens now, they became obese. Some of the best evidence for this comes from primitive statues carved in stone from as long as 35,000 years ago depicting very fat, presumably fertile, and desirable females—the so-called Venus sculptures. The most recent of these was recently discovered in Germany (see link below).
Early in the Stone Age, when most people had to find their own food, life was a tale of feast or famine. In good times everyone put on a little fat, but they had to work for it.
By the late Stone Age, their skills developed to the point where a small group of hunters could support a larger tribe. This allowed them to divide up the work. Those with with special talents—chiefs, shamans, hunters, tool makers, hide workers, and maybe even mothers–were able to pursue them and still be fed. Suplus food was the origin of the division of labor. A powerful leader who led a large enough band might even want to keep a very healthy, well fed, fertile female or two close to home where they could engage in what they did most naturally, making healthy children.
Thus, obesity showed up in humans even before they began farming. Among the oldest carved images are figurines of very fat women dating to 35,000 years ago. The most famous of these figures, discovered in Germany and known as the Venus of Willendorf, is a tiny limestone carving of an obese young woman. The most recent is the figure above, the venus of Hohle Fels.
Why did these late Stone Age people make art depicting someone who we might now consider a candidate for stomach stapling? Because fat was beautiful. To get fat, she had to be well fed. Such a beloved wife or beautiful daughter would have led a life of comparative ease, spending her time making jewelry, ornamenting herself with flowers, bones, stones and tattoos—and eating.
Maybe these Venus figurines are representations of the first overindulged teenager or a particularly revered fertile woman. The OctoMom or Jon and Kate of the Stone Age. Her size was a cause of delight because fat in the Stone Age was like health insurance—energy stored for hard times. The fatter she grew, the more desirable she became. A fat woman could have many babies and breast-feed them well. As a coveted partner, she would be sought after, giving her a choice of mates. This would spread her genes and increase the number of those like her in the next generation—at least until her obesity caused health problems.
Of course, obesity was the rare exception in the Stone Age, hardly the rule. Nevertheless, hefty women were healthy women and remained attractive in most of the world until recent centuries. Witness paintings and sculptures of the Renaissance and even of the last century. Some traditional Pacific islanders, Africans, Asians and Native Americans still consider fat to be a sign of health–and admire a successful man as he grows older and fatter.
While this might not seem to square with the Western desire to be thin, remember that skinny as beautiful represents a new standard, a modern cultural phenomenon overriding an ancient biological one. Perhaps once it became easy to get fat, being thin represented hard work—from dieting and exercise. Being thin has come to embody self-discipline, determination and even wealth. You can’t be too thin or too rich, we say. Thinness also connotes youth and vigor, strong sexual attractors. As we live longer and age more slowly, we have come to value a more youthful appearance.
Yet, despite the general idea that “thin is in,” our evolutionary imperative to be fatter still seems to be winning out.
Tags: fat, fat is beautiful, fat people, figure, figurine, food, health insurance, jon and kate, jon and kate plus 8, octomom, protection, skinny, venus, weight loss