The oldest known animal shaped sculpture ever found is a half-human half-lion, carved from the tusk of a mammoth during the upper Palaeolithic period in South Germany, 32,000 years ago. It is possibly the eldest of the ancient gods, there being no similar find like it from this period. All other finds in the area were singular representations of animals, with no other morphological combinations of men and animal, suggesting the lion-man was perhaps used for specific ritual purposes.