Correct: The answer is d. Venus figures are small statues with enlarged breasts and buttocks. There is considerable debate about their purpose and meaning in Paleolithic society.

Incorrect: The answer is d. Venus figures are small statues with enlarged breasts and buttocks. They were created in the later Paleolithic period and have been found in many parts of Europe.

1. What are “Venus figures”?

Correct: The answer is c. While scholars have proposed many theories about Venus figures, they lack sufficient evidence to reach definitive conclusions.

Incorrect: The answer is c. While scholars have proposed many theories about Venus figures, they lack sufficient evidence to reach definitive conclusions.

2. According to most scholars, what purpose did Venus figures serve?

Correct: The answer is c. For most of human history, writing did not exist. Thus, scholars must rely on objects and other material evidence to reconstruct the Paleolithic past.

Incorrect: The answer is c. For most of human history, writing did not exist. Thus, scholars must rely on objects and other material evidence to reconstruct the Paleolithic past.

3. Which of these do scholars rely on in their efforts to reconstruct the Paleolithic past?

Correct: The answer is a. Nineteenth-century archaeologists thought the statues represented Paleolithic standards of beauty, just as the goddess Venus represented classical standards.

Incorrect: The answer is a. Nineteenth-century archaeologists thought the statues represented Paleolithic standards of beauty, just as the goddess Venus represented classical standards.

4. Why did nineteenth-century archaeologists refer to small stone statues of women from the Paleolithic period as “Venus figures”?

Correct: The answer is b. Like so much Paleolithic evidence, Venus figurines provide tantalizing evidence about early human cultures, but evidence that is not easy to interpret.

Incorrect: The answer is b. Like so much Paleolithic evidence, Venus figurines provide tantalizing evidence about early human cultures, but evidence that is not easy to interpret.

5. Which of these best states the current scholarly consensus on the meaning of Venus figures?