Venus of Pekárna

Guide to the Lands of Venuses

Coming back to our deep roots

Places of Pre-Christian, Pagan cultures at the heart of Europe connected with female figurines

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The Pekárna Cave

The Magdalenian Culture

The Venus from the Pekárna cave has a typical shape of the Venuses, as depicted by the culture named Magdalenian. (Compare the Venus of Pekárna with Magdalenian the female engravings from Gönnersdorf, Germany below, or see the information on Gönnersdorf Venus figurines in Wikipedia here.) The Venus is about 15,000-15,500 years old.

Engravings of animals (bison, horses, reindeer) and other artefacts have also been found on the archaeological site of the Pekárna cave.

Although the Pekárna cave is located just several kilometres north-east of the outskirts of Brno , (the largest Moravian city with 380,000 inhabitants), it lies in the area of the nature reserve of Moravský kras (the Moravian Karst).

The Moravian Karst is a splendid, heavily forested area of caves and cave systems (many of them full of spectacular dripstones), chasms, rocks, subterranean rivers and streams and their streamsinks and resurgences, crisscrossed with marked paths.

The Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
The Pekárna cave
The Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
The Pekárna cave
The Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
The Pekárna cave
The Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
The Pekárna cave
The Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
The Pekárna cave
A view from the Pekárna cave. Click to enlarge.
A view from Pekárna
The estavelle not far from the Pekárna cave. (Estavelle is a hole which may function as a streamsink or resurgence, according to ground-water conditions. The picture was taken when it was a streamsink. Click to enlarge.
estavelle
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). A sink of the Punkva river. Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). A resurgence of the Punkva river. Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). The Punkva river. Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
A scene of the Moravian Karst. Pustý žleb ("The Barren Gorge"). The Punkva river. Click to enlarge.
A scene from the Moravian Karst
An engraving of women from Gönnersdorf, Germany. A copy. The depiction of women here is typical of the Magdalenian culture. The photo was taken in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Click to enlarge.
Engraving of women from Gönnersdorf
The Venus of Pekárna. A copy on display in "Archeologická expozice" (the Archeological Museum) in Dolní Věstonice. Photographed and published here with permission. Click to enlarge.
Venus of Pekárna
The Venus of Pekárna. A copy on display in "Archeologická expozice" (the Archeological Museum) in Dolní Věstonice. Photographed and published here with permission. Click to enlarge.
Venus of Pekárna
The Venus of Pekárna. A copy on display in "Archeologická expozice" (the Archeological Museum) in Dolní Věstonice. Photographed and published here with permission. Click to enlarge.
Venus of Pekárna
The Venus of Pekárna. A copy on display in "Archeologická expozice" (the Archeological Museum) in Dolní Věstonice. Photographed and published here with permission. Click to enlarge.
Venus of Pekárna
The Venus of Pekárna. A copy on display in "Archeologická expozice" (the Archeological Museum) in Dolní Věstonice. Photographed and published here with permission. Click to enlarge.
Venus of Pekárna

The Venus of Pekárna - basic information

Material Mammoth ivory
Height 45 mm
Width 17 mm
Thickness 14 mm
Age 15,000-15,500 years
Discovered 1927
Deposited Anthropos, Moravské zemské muzeum, Brno