Best thing learned in college so far: I took an archaeology course to fill a hole in my schedule, and the professor spent rather a lot of time talking about his research re: stone-age figures such as the so-called Willendorf Venus (4.38", 11cm). It's his contention that these figurines had absolutely nothing to do with "fertility" in the traditional crop-bearing sense, or with conceptions   about female beauty being linked to weight ... In fact, he contends that these figurines were pregnancy talismans, stating that they were always found at specific locations within archaeological sites, buried with other talismans and with certain quasi-sacrificial materials. The best part? He said that if you show such figurines to gynecologists, they can conclusively state that the women represented are dilated and in the process of birth. Science is fun. CC

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