Female Baked-Clay Figurine
Ritual or religious use
Dolní Věstonice type, Czech Republic
Central European Gravettian or Pavlovian
Around 25 000 years
Commentary :
The site of Dolni Vestonice, in Moravia, yield a collection of portable art objects and body ornaments made with exceptional materials and techniques. Around fifteen human and animal figurines were discovered in the hearths around which the Gravettian settlements were organized. They are modelled in clay extracted from loess formations composed of eolian silts deposited in northern Europe during glacial periods. The best preserved female statuette is a small sculpture made from clay mixed with bone or ivory powder and baked at around 500° centigrade.
The “Venus of Vestonice” is significantly older than the first pottery from China or Japan. Dated to around 25,000 years ago, it is the oldest baked-clay object currently known in the world.