awkward moments

Awkward moments when reading 2: Paul Mellars pulls the old "blame the dirty thoughts on the undergraduates" gambit.

Interestingly, this sexual-symbolism aspect of the art is effectively symmetrical, as the same sites have yielded equally explicit phallic representations, carved out of bone, ivory or (in one case) the horn core of a bison (Fig. 2c). The possibility that these could represent 'girls' toys' (as one first-year student once hesitantly expressed it) should perhaps not be dismissed.

Awkward moments when reading: John Noble Wilford's attempt to tastefully describe the "explicit" nature of a Venus figurine.

The short, squat torso is dominated by oversize breasts and broad buttocks. The split between the two halves of the buttocks is deep and continuous without interruption to the front of the figurine.