This museum showcases some of the oldest artifacts from human activity in Europe, most of which are about 40,000 years old. Set in a medieval building in the center of Blaubeuren, a town between Stuttgart and Munich, the artifacts are nicely presented in dim, quiet rooms. You can see the oldest flutes ever found, one made from bird bone and another from mammoth ivory that both date to around 40,000 years old. The mammoth flute is a masterpiece of workmanship. Ivory is not hollow like bird bones, so the creator of this flute had to slice the ivory in half, carve out the inside to the desired diameter, carve the finger holes, then glue the two halves together with some sort of resin to make an airtight seal. The edges of the two halves were even roughened to make the glue stick better. Amazing!
The museum also features a nice collection of reproductions of paleolithic female figurines from all over Europe. The most famous piece in the museum is the Venus of Höhle Fels, a 35-40,000 year old figurine carved from mammoth ivory.
This 40,000 year old flute from Geißenklösterle is made from mammoth ivory
Homepage (in German)
Address: Kirchplatz 10, 89143 Blaubeuren, Germany
Services: Gift shop, toilets, wheelchair accessible
