They were discovered at Mal'ta, at the Angara River, near Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia by the archeologists Sergey Zamyatnin, Georgy Sosnovsky, and Mikhail Gerasimov.

Around 30 female statuettes of varying shapes were discovered at Mal'ta, at the Angara River, and near Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast in Siberia.

The wide variety of forms, combined with the realism of the sculptures and the lack of repetitiveness in detail, are definite signs of developed, albeit early, art.

[6] On the other hand, one can argue that as a group the Mal'ta Venus figures are rather different from the female figurines of Western and Central Europe.

More conclusively, nearly half of them show some facial details (flat nose, deep-set narrow eyes, and a mouth), something which is lacking on the so-called Venus figures of Europe.