An accidental technology
On July 13, 1925, archaeologists led by Karel Absolon discovered a small female figurine in a layer of ash at a Paleolithic site in South Moravia. The figure, now known as the Dolní Věstonice Venus, is 11.1 centimeters tall and 4.3 centimeters at its widest point. Dated to approximately 29,000–25,000 BCE, it is the oldest known ceramic artifact in the world. Its creation predates the invention of pottery for vessels by about 15,000 years.
The figurine is made from local loess, a fine-grained soil, mixed with water and powdered mammoth bone, which acted as a tempering agent. Analysis shows it was fired at a relatively low temperature, between 500 and 800 degrees Celsius. This process created a hard, durable ceramic. The discovery took place at a Gravettian mammoth-hunter settlement that has yielded thousands of other ceramic fragments. Archaeologists also found figures of bears, lions, mammoths, and rhinos, along with over 2,000 clay pellets. The sheer number of broken artifacts suggests the firing process itself may have been a form of ritual. Many figurines were likely been intentionally made to explode from thermal shock in the kiln, perhaps as a form of performance art or shamanistic practice.
A child's touch
The Venus itself was found broken in two pieces within a central fireplace. It has several distinctive features, including a featureless face with two slanted slits for eyes and four small holes on the top of its head, possibly for feathers or plants. It follows the general pattern of other Paleolithic "Venus" figures, with large breasts, hips, and stomach.
In 2004, a detailed tomograph scan revealed a preserved fingerprint on the surface, fired into the clay. Analysis of the epidermal ridge breadth concluded the print belonged to a child between the ages of 7 and 15. While the child is considered an unlikely candidate for the figurine's creator, their touch provides a direct link to the communal environment of this Ice Age settlement. The Dolní Věstonice site has also revealed other remarkable finds, including complex burials. One grave contains three individuals, approximately 17 to 20 years old, arranged in a specific ritual manner and adorned with red ochre and necklaces of ivory and canine teeth.