Holzgerlingen figure

The Holzgerlingen figure is a two-faced anthropomorphic statue of the early to middle La Tène culture.

The statue depicts a human figure from the belt up, each side carved with a mirror image of the other, wearing a horn-like headdress which is probably an example of the Celtic leaf-crown motif.

On opposite sides, identical faces are carved into the stone (hence the metonymic reference to the figure as "Janus-faced").

The twin horns of the figure have been identified with a Celtic leaf-crown, a common La Tène motif.

[1]: 279  J. V. S. Megaw calls it the "most archaic in aspect" of the La Tène sculptures known, citing such features as the T-shaped eyebrows and nose.

[1]: 279  However, some, such as Pieter Lambrechts, have classified it within the middle La Tène culture on the basis of stylistic similarities with contemporaneous southern French and Spanish sculptures.

[4] Archaeologist Josef Röder has noted marks of both pointed and flat chisels on the stone, which he claims was not possible before the Hellenistic period (that is, before the 4th century BC).

[1]: 279 As stylistic analogues of the Holzgerlingen figure within the La Tène culture, the Hirschlanden warrior, Glauberg prince, and the Waldenbuch pillar have been especially cited.

[4][9]: 145 [10]: 18–19  Kurt Bittel suggested that the figure represents a deity, its Janus face a symbol of power and omniscience.