Paleolithic art

Figure of Magdalenian man at Ribeira de Piscos

The above figure is discussed in an article by J. Angulo Cuesta and M. García Diez entitled ‘Diversity and meaning of Palaeolithic phallic male representations in Western Europe‘. (See also article ‘Cave paintings show aspects of sex beyond the reproductive‘.) The figure is said to be ejaculating.

In his book The Nature of Paleolithic Art Dale Guthrie discusses rock drawings of this kind (though not necessarily this drawing) as a kind of graffiti. An article at livescience, ‘Ancient Cave Art Full of Teenage Graffiti‘, provides a brief introduction to Guthrie’s book.

The art of ejaculation continues to be celebrated at Garmskiss, and, in an entry at the blog {feuilleton}, John Coulthart has gathered together some great pictures of art, both old and new, that depict ejaculation in all its glory.

In the meantime graffiti has moved on. The new graffiti can be seen at the site Wooster Collective.

On cave art more generally, Matthias Schulz observes in ‘Pornography in Clay‘ at Spiegel Online:

The walls of the La Marche cave in western France are literally blanketed with erotic images, 14,000-year-old drawings reminiscent of the Kamasutra. One image of a head plunging between a woman’s thighs seems to portray oral sex. Another shows a standing couple, their bodies entwined, while the man’s penis penetrates his partner.

Nowadays we are more likely to find such depictions in books, films and on the internet than on the secret walls of our cities - with the notable exception of the backs of toilet doors!

For more prehistoric erotic art fun see also Adonis from Chernitz / Lake Constance. Also see Historia del arte erotico.