The
Venus of Dolní Věstonice is a
Venus figurineVenus figurines is an umbrella term for a number of prehistoric statuettes of women portrayed with similar physical attributes from the Upper Palaeolithic, mostly found in Europe, but with finds as far east as Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, extending their distribution to much of Eurasia, from the...
, a
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
statueA statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
tte of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
(
Gravettianthumb|right|Burins similar to these are characteristic diagnostic artifacts typical of the digs attributed to the Gravettian culture.The Gravettian toolmaking culture was a specific archaeological industry of the European Upper Palaeolithic era prevalent before the last glacial epoch...
industryAn archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of assemblages connected with a single product, such as the Langdale axe industry...
), which was found at a
PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic Age, Era, or Period, or Old Stone Age, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
site in the Moravian basin south of
BrnoBrno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. As of August 2009 the population is 404,887...
.
This
figurineA figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity, or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...
, together with a few others from nearby locations, is the oldest known
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
in the world, predating the use of fired clay to make
potteryPottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...
. It has a height of , and a width of at its widest point and is made of a clay body fired at a relatively low temperature.
The palaeolithic settlement of
Dolní VěstoniceDolní Věstonice refers to an archaeological site near village Dolní Věstonice in the Czech Republic. The site is unique in that it has been a particularly abundant source of prehistoric artifacts dating from the Gravettian period, which spanned roughly 27,000 to 20,000 B.C...
in
MoraviaMoravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region.-Geography:...
, a part of
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
at the time organized excavation began, now located in the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
, has been under systematic archaeological research since 1924, initiated by
Karel AbsolonKarel Absolon was Czech archaeologist, geographer, paleontologist, and speleologist. He was born in Boskovice.Absolon was grandchild of paleontologist Jindřich Wankel. During studies at university in Prague he started with speleological research in caves of Moravský kras in the South Moravian...
.
The
Venus of Dolní Věstonice is a
Venus figurineVenus figurines is an umbrella term for a number of prehistoric statuettes of women portrayed with similar physical attributes from the Upper Palaeolithic, mostly found in Europe, but with finds as far east as Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, extending their distribution to much of Eurasia, from the...
, a
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
statueA statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
tte of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
(
Gravettianthumb|right|Burins similar to these are characteristic diagnostic artifacts typical of the digs attributed to the Gravettian culture.The Gravettian toolmaking culture was a specific archaeological industry of the European Upper Palaeolithic era prevalent before the last glacial epoch...
industryAn archaeological industry is the name given to a consistent range of assemblages connected with a single product, such as the Langdale axe industry...
), which was found at a
PaleolithicThe Paleolithic or Palaeolithic Age, Era, or Period, or Old Stone Age, is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools, and covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
site in the Moravian basin south of
BrnoBrno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. As of August 2009 the population is 404,887...
.
Description
This
figurineA figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity, or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...
, together with a few others from nearby locations, is the oldest known
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
in the world, predating the use of fired clay to make
potteryPottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...
. It has a height of , and a width of at its widest point and is made of a clay body fired at a relatively low temperature.
The palaeolithic settlement of
Dolní VěstoniceDolní Věstonice refers to an archaeological site near village Dolní Věstonice in the Czech Republic. The site is unique in that it has been a particularly abundant source of prehistoric artifacts dating from the Gravettian period, which spanned roughly 27,000 to 20,000 B.C...
in
MoraviaMoravia is a historical region in central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region.-Geography:...
, a part of
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
at the time organized excavation began, now located in the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
, has been under systematic archaeological research since 1924, initiated by
Karel AbsolonKarel Absolon was Czech archaeologist, geographer, paleontologist, and speleologist. He was born in Boskovice.Absolon was grandchild of paleontologist Jindřich Wankel. During studies at university in Prague he started with speleological research in caves of Moravský kras in the South Moravian...
. In addition to the Venus figurine, figures of animals –
bearBears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
,
lionThe Lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
,
mammothA mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from...
,
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
,
foxFox is a common name for many species of carnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail ....
,
rhinoRhinoceros , often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia. Three of the five species—the Javan, Sumatran and Black Rhinoceros—are...
and
owlThe Owls are the order Strigiformes, comprising 200 birds of prey, species. Most are solitary, and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, though a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except...
– and more than 2,000 balls of burnt clay have been found at Dolní Věstonice.
The figurine was discovered on 13 July 1925 in a layer of ash, broken into two pieces. Once on display at the
Moravian MuseumMoravské zemské muzeum is second biggest and oldest museum in the Czech Republic.The museum was founded in July 1817 in Brno. Its collections include over 6 millions of objects from many fields of science and culture....
in
BrnoBrno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. As of August 2009 the population is 404,887...
, it is now protected and only rarely accessible to the public. It was exhibited in the
National MuseumThe National museum is a Czech museum institution intended to systematically establish, prepare and publicly exhibit natural scientific and historical collections. It was founded 1818 in Prague by Kašpar Maria Šternberg...
in
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
from 11 October 2006 till 2 September 2007 as a part of the exhibition
Lovci mamutů (
The Mammoth Hunters). Now it is presented in the Moravian Museum in Brno at an expo "Prehistoric Art in Central Europe". It will return back to depository after June 2009. Scientists periodically examine the statuette. A
tomographTomography is imaging by sections or sectioning, through the use of wave of energy. A device used in tomography is called a tomograph, while the image produced is a tomogram. The method is used in medicine, archaeology, biology, geophysics, oceanography, materials science, astrophysics and other...
scan in 2004 found a fingerprint of a child estimated at between 7 and 15 years of age, fired into the surface; the child who handled the figurine before it was fired is considered by Králík, Novotný and Oliva (2002) to be an unlikely candidate for its maker.
External links