It is dated to between 42,000 and 40,000 years ago,[1][2] belonging to the early Aurignacian, at the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, which is associated with the earliest presence of Cro-Magnons in Europe.

This concentration of evidence of full behavioral modernity, including figurative art and instrumental music among humans in the period of 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, is unique worldwide and its discoverer, archaeologist Nicholas Conard, speculates that the bearers of the Aurignacian culture in the Swabian Alb may be credited with the invention, not just of figurative art and music, but possibly, the earliest religious practices as well.

The discovery of the Venus of Hohle Fels by the archaeological team led by Nicholas J. Conard of Universität Tübingen Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie pushed back the date of the oldest known human figurative art,[a] by several millennia,[b] establishing that works of art were being produced throughout the Aurignacian Period.

[8] The remarkably early figurine was discovered in September 2008 in a cave called Hohle Fels (Swabian German for "hollow rock") near Schelklingen, some 15 km (9 mi) west of Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany, by a team from the University of Tübingen led by archaeology professor Nicholas Conard, who reported their find in Nature.

[4] In 2015, the team presented two further pieces of carved mammoth ivory discovered at the site that have been identified as parts of a second female figurine.