Venus of Dolni Vestonice
Czech Prehistoric Ceramic Figurine: Characteristics,
Photograph.
|
Venus of Dolni Vestonice |
|
|
Venus of Dolni Vestonice (26,000 - 24,000 BCE)Contents • Introduction Note: to see how the Venus of Dolni Vestonice
fits into the evolution |
|
ORIGINS OF VISUAL
ART |
The Czech prehistoric sculpture known as the Dolní Vestonice (Vestonická Venuše) is the oldest known work of terracotta sculpture in the world. Belonging to the genre of Venus figurines carved predominantly during the Gravettian culture (c.26,000-20,000 BCE) of the Upper Paleolithic, this astounding item of prehistoric art was found at a Stone Age settlement in the Moravian basin south of Brno, in the Czech Republic. Like the famous Venus of Willendorf (c.25,000 BCE), the Venus of Dolni Vestonice now resides in the Vienna Natural History Museum. Although recently exhibited in the Mammoth Hunters Exhibition (2006-7) at the National Museum in Prague, and at the Prehistoric Art in Central Europe show in Brno, the sculpture is rarely displayed in public, and whenever it leaves Vienna, it is usually accompanied by an armed escort. |
|
|
|
|
The Venus of Dolni Vestonice was found in two pieces in late July 1925, buried in a layer of ash at a paleolithic encampment in Moravia, formerly a region of Czechoslovakia. At the time of the discovery, the site had been been under close archeological investigation for nearly a year under the direction of Karel Absolon. Since then, further extensive digs have unearthed numerous items of ceramic art dating back to Paleolithic culture, including more than 700 animal figurines, all fired in the primitive kilns at Dolni Vestonice. Other Gravettian sites in the vicinity have yielded thousands more terracotta figurines and clay balls. In 1986, the skeletons of two young men and a woman, marked by ritualistic injuries and annointments, were excavated from a shallow burial pit at Dolni Vestonice, underlining the ceremonial significance of the site. Description and Characteristics Measuring 4.4 inches in height and 1.7 inches in width, (111 mm x 43 mm) the Venus of Dolni Vestonice is made from local clay mixed with powdered bone and fired in an earthen oven at a relatively low temperature about 1300 F, or 700 C. Her characteristics are consistent with those found in most other ivory or stone Venus figurines from the same period. For instance, she has a featureless face, devoid of any detail, enormous pendulous breasts, and wide hips and buttocks. An uneven crack runs along her right hip, while there are four holes in the top of her head, possibly fixture points for herbs or flowers. In 2004, a scan of the figurine's surface revealed the fingerprint of a child aged 7-15 years, although he/she is not thought to have been the ceramicist involved. |
|
|
|
|
The Dolni Vestonice venus is the earliest art ever created using fired clay. By comparison, the earliest ceramic pottery - made during the Japanese Jomon culture - has been carbon-dated to between 14,540 and 13,320 BCE. Ancient pottery from the Mediterranean area did not appear until the Neolithic Stone Age (c.7,000 - 3,500 BCE), while the Chinese Terracotta Army was sculpted at late as 230 BCE, during the era of Qin Dynasty art (221-206 BCE). She is also among the earliest representations of a female figure, preceded only by the likes of the Swabian Venus of Hohle Fels (35,000-40,000 BCE), the Russian Venus of Kostenky (c.30,000 BCE) and the French Venus of Monpazier (c.30,000 BCE). Other Stone Age Venus Figurines Small portable female statuettes, known as "Venuses", have been excavated by archeologists and paleontologists across Europe, from the Pyrenees to Siberia. Carved from mammoth ivory tusks, reindeer antlers or soft rocks such as limestone, steatite, serpentine and jet, most were created during the Gravettian tool culture, although a handful were produced during the preceding Aurignacian period (c.40,000-26,000 BCE). Other famous venus figurines not cited above include the Venus of Savignano (c.25,000 BCE), the Venus of Moravany (c.24,000-22,000 BCE), the bas-relief Venus of Laussel (c.23,000-20,000 BCE), the Venus of Brassempouy (c.23,000 BCE), the Venus of Lespugue (c.23,000 BCE), the Venus of Mal'ta (c.21,000 BCE) and the Venus of Monruz (c.10,000 BCE). In contrast, note the two earlier effigies - misleadingly called venus figurines - namely the Venus of Berekhat Ram (230,000-700,000 BCE), and the Venus of Tan-Tan (200,000-500,000 BCE) - neither of which belongs to the category of Upper Paleolithic venus sculpture. |
|
• For more about prehistoric artifacts,
see: Stone Age Art.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART |
