Ice Age artworks to go on show at the British Museum

Ancient works of Ice Age art are going on show in a new exhibition.

Among the exhibits at the British Museum are a 23,000-year old mammoth ivory sculpture found in France and a baked clay figure of a woman from the Czech Republic which is believed to date back 26,000 years.

They will be exhibited at the central London museum from Thursday alongside work by modern masters including Henry Moore and Matisse in the show called Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind.

Curator Jill Cook said: "All art is the product of the remarkable structure and organisation of the modern brain. By looking at the oldest European sculptures and drawings we are looking at the deep history of how our brains began to store, transform and communicate ideas as visual images. The exhibition will show that we can recognise and appreciate these images. Even if their messages and intentions are lost to us the skill and artistry will still astonish the viewer."

PA