![Neolithic menhir in the exhibition ‘Humans. Carved in Stone’ at the National Museum Zurich.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/stele-titelbild-300x225.jpg)
Birth of the gods
5,000 years ago, people in Europe began erecting stone stelae in the shape of humans. These monuments were likenesses of ancestors that served to unify and nourish the village community through rituals, and legitimised land ownership.
![The ‘Venus of Willendorf’ is 29,500 years old and comes from Lower Austria.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/venus-von-willendorf-282x300.jpg)
![The stele in the middle bears the name ‘Moncigoli I’; it comes from the Tuscan region of Italy and is approximately 5,000 years old. It has a head in the form of a crescent-shaped dagger pommel, arms held against the sides of the body and comparatively naturalistic breasts.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/moncigoli-i-300x194.jpg)
![‘Tau-tau’ figures of the Toraja people on Sulawesi.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/tau-tau-300x153.jpg)
![The stele in the foreground comes from southern France and is 4,400 to 5,200 years old. The arm position is usually interpreted as a gesture of veneration or reverence.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/maison-aube-227x300.jpg)