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SCALA, FLORENCE
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The mystery of ‘Stone Age Venuses’: For a century, researchers have been stumped by more than 200 Paleolithic female figurines that have been found across Europe and western Asia. All of the pint-size clay, bone, or rock sculptures are of women. (Pictured above, one of 13 Grimaldi Venuses found in caves in northern Italy.) The work dates as far back as 35,000 years ago and represents the beginnings of portraying the feminine form in art, the February issue of National Geographic reports. Subscribers can see the figurines and read more here.
A new Barbie: She was a journalist, educator, and civil rights icon. Now Ida B. Wells joins the lineup of women honored by Mattel with a Barbie doll. NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, singer Ella Fitzgerald, and Maya Angelou, NPR reports.
Speaking of Maya Angelou ... The U.S. Mint has begun rolling out quarters with the image of the writer and poet. Coins are also planned this year for Sally Ride, the first female U.S. astronaut; Wilma Mankiller, a campaigner for Indigenous rights; and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, the BBC reports.
A Native champion: Clyde Bellecourt co-founded the American Indian Movement more than a half-century ago and fought for civil rights, legal aid, and fair housing and lobbied against cultural appropriation. He died on Tuesday, NPR reports. “"His life's work was always about his people,” said Bellecourt's oldest son, Little Crow.
4,000-year-old game board discovered: Thousands of years before Minecraft, settlers passed the time playing games on stone. Archaeologists have unearthed a stone board game with marked fields and cup holes for holding game pieces. According to the Oman Observer, the game design is similar to ones found in India, Mesopotamia, and the Eastern Mediterranean basin.
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