On the morning of 12 June 2023 we had the chance to introduce speaker Alice Leplongeon to the Venus of Willendorf. The curator Dr. Caroline Posch kindly organised a tour of the NHM Vienna from cellar to roof for this week's HEAS Human Evolution and the Palaeolithic seminar speaker Dr. Alice Leplongeon, Dr. Marjolein Bosch and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Philip R. Nigst. We had a great tour starting several floors below ground in the depot of the NHM where we had the chance to look at lithics, organic technology and faunal remains from Middle and Upper Palaeolithic collections but also had a glance at some of the precious Hallstatt textiles, organic tools and wood remains. 

The next step of our tour was the exhibition with the prime finds from Austrian Prehistory, including of course the Venus of Willendorf as highlight. We also saw materials from Gudenushöhle, Aggsbach, Grub-Kranawetberg, and - of course - Willendorf II.

The last part of the tour brought us to the roof of the Museum - spectacular views over the inner districts of Vienna on a sunny morning. Wonderful view of the city centre from an unusual perspective.