Petřkovice

The Gravettian / Willendorf-Kostenkian Culture

The archaeological site of Petřkovice is renowned for its Venus of Petřkovice, also called the Venus of Landek. The tiny figurine is a torso, only 4.6 centimetres high. It belongs to the culture called Willendorf-Kostenkian, which is part of the later Gravettian culture.

There is a memorial statue of the Venus of Předmostí standing close to the spot where it was found. This spot is also signposted with an information board (in disrepair at the time of my last visit in August 2014).

Petřkovice is a quarter of the city of Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic (about 300,000 inhabitants), situated in the north-east of the country. The site of the finding is located on a forested hill called Landek. In Petřkovice, there is also a mining museum called Landek Park, because the area has a long tradition of bituminous coal mining. It has been proved that the people who created the Venus of Petřkovice also burnt bituminous coal in their hearths. It was the first documented use of bituminous coal in human (pre-)history.