10.2 Venus of Petřkovice

The Petřkovice Venus (a.k.a. in Czech as the “Landecká venuše” or “Red Venus”) was discovered in 1953 by Bohuslav Klíma beneath a mammoth molar beside a hearth a surface covered in red pigment. 

 

Material: hematite

Dimensions (height): 48 mm

Exhibit type: copy of original (plaster)

Archaeological site: Petřkovice near Ostrava, Silesia

Collection: Institute of Archaeology of the CAS, Brno v.v.i., Czech Republic

 

The three original fragments create a small, 4.8 cm high torso, with a missing right breast. It represents a young slim woman, whose small belly perhaps shows us the earliest signs of pregnancy. With its slender and almost “cubist” shape, it differs from the other Palaeolithic Venus figures.