The archaeologists discovered the fragments of a statuette in a kiln whose clay roof had collapsed. They were able to refit the fragments to reconstruct the whole statuette. It is 21 cm long and modeled from a rectangular plaque of clay. The wide, accentuated hips and the exaggerated buttocks emphasize create an imbalance between the lower part of the body and the waist, which is thin and narrow. The arms are suggested by two proturberances at the shoulders, but are not fully formed, nor are the hands. The genitals are not represented, but the breasts are formed by the addition of small, slightly stretched clay balls. The head, which is composed of a simple cone, is very stylized and has no face. This female statuette has pure, but asymmetric lines, like those of the breasts and legs, for example.
It is a highly abstract representation of the female body, as we see in the wide hips and breast. The statuette of Villers-Carbonnel, like those discovered previously, is stylized and characterizes a period during which there is a dissolution of figuration.
This discovery is exceptional both because of the integrity of the statuette and the rarity of such female representations in Middle Neolithic contexts (sites of Noyen-sur-Seine in Seine-et-Marne, Maisy in Aisne, Jonquière and Catenoy in Oise and Bercy in Paris). This type of statuette is not unique to the Chassean culture since they have been found in other cultures as well.
The stylistic unity of these female representations, despite multiple differences between them, suggests a common ideological foundation with a Mediterranean origin.
Archaeologists have often interpreted these statuettes as symbolic representations of fertility that could have associated with ritual activities. From the Near East to the borders of Western Europe, much archaeological literature has been devoted to "mother goddess” cults, a concept that is now increasingly contested.
