In 1892 the site was pillaged and disturbed almost beyond reconstruction by a field visit of amateurs from the Association française pour l’avancement de la science.

On the head is a checkerboard-like pattern formed by two series of shallow incisions at right angles to each other; it has been interpreted as a wig, a hood with geometric decoration,[6] or simply a representation of hair styled in cornrows.

[7] Randall White observed in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (December 2006), "The figurines emerged from the ground into a colonial intellectual and socio-political context nearly obsessed with matters of race.

[8] Although the head was discovered so early that its context could not be studied thoroughly, scholars agree that the Venus of Brassempouy belonged to an Upper Palaeolithic material culture, the Gravettian (29,000–22,000 BP).

The Venus of Brassempouy is preserved in the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris[12] Since ivory is very susceptible to damage from factors such as temperature change, moisture, and light, the figure is not part of the Palaeolithic department, but is exhibited in the Salle Piette of the Museum, opened only by reservation.

At Brassempouy, a variety of objects excavated in the Grotte du Pape are on display at the Maison de la Dame.

This exhibition space, devoted primarily to regional archaeology, also displays a fine set of casts of palaeolithic sculptures.