Venus of Dolní Věstonice

Venus of Dolní Věstonice is a terracotta female figurine dated to between 29,000 and 25,000 BC, from the Gravettian period. It was found at the Paleolithic archaeological site of Dolní Věstonice, in the village of the same name south of Brno in the Czech Republic. The figure is 111 millimeters high and 43 mm wide, though part of the lower extremities is missing. Its head is featureless except for two possible eye incisions, while the breasts, navel, and inguinal line are carefully detailed. Studies have also identified a fingerprint in the clay, apparently made by a boy between seven and fifteen years old before firing.

Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine with a narrow head, prominent breasts, and a tapered body — The Venus of Dolní Věstonice, a small dark female figurine with a slender form and emphasized breasts.
2008 © Don Hitchcock · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dark Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine with prominent breasts and a rounded abdomen on a black base. — Venus of Dolní Věstonice, shown as a dark figurine on a black base.
2009 © Kozuch · CC BY-SA 3.0

Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine with pronounced breasts and belly, shown with visible cracks and no facial features. — The Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine, with its dark cracked surface and incised head details, on display at the National Museum in Prague.
September 2007 © che · CC BY-SA 2.5

Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine with prominent breasts and a rounded belly, displayed beside a multilingual label. — The Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine is shown with its cracked dark surface beside an informational museum label.
August 2012 © Daderot · CC0

Identification
Title	Venus of Dolní Věstonice
Original name	Věstonická Venuše
Alternative name	Venus of Wisternitz; Vestonice Venus; Věstonice Venus
Type	Paleolithic Venus figurine; nude female figurine
Historical context
Date	between 29,000 and 25,000 BCE
Cultural period	Gravettian culture, or its regional variant Pavlovian
Creation context	Paleolithic find
Creator
Maker	unknown
Discovery and provenance
Possible production context	the excavations may have revealed the workshop of a Paleolithic artist
Associated finds	stone tools, animal bones, animal figures (bear, lion, mammoth, horse, fox, rhinoceros, and owl), other female figures, and more than 2,000 fired or baked clay balls
Finders	worker Josef Seidl and technical supervisor Emanuel Dania; Karel Absolon was not present and was in France at the time, though he was traditionally credited as discoverer
Excavation history	found during systematic archaeological research at the site, led by Karel Absolon, carried out from 1924 to 1938
Discovery context	found in an ash layer in the remains of a prehistoric hearth about 10 meters in diameter, broken into two pieces about 10 cm apart
Discovery site	Dolní Věstonice archaeological site, Dolní Věstonice, south of Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic
Discovery date	13 July 1925
Physical characteristics
Height	111 mm
Width	43 mm at the widest point
Condition	lower extremities and feet are partly missing; the figurine was broken into two pieces when found
Head	no details except two incisions that may represent the eyes; four small holes at the top may indicate former feather decoration
Arms	only schematically indicated
Body	large breasts, navel, and inguinal line rendered in great detail
Lower end	appears to have had a pointed lower end
Style	naturalistic, fully plastic representation
Materials
Material	fired clay terracotta (ceramic)

Venus of Dolní Věstonice

Identification

Historical context

Creator

Discovery and provenance

Physical characteristics

Materials