The Venus of Předmostí

The Venus of Předmostí is a schematic engraving of a woman on a broken tip of a mammoth tusk. It shows a high degree of abstraction ability of the people of that time. Its height is 28 cm and the age is about 30,000 years.

It was found in 1895. It is kept in the Moravské zemské muzeum (the Moravian Museum) in Brno and is not exhibited on a permanent basis. It is exhibited from time to time as part of specialized exhibitions on prehistory.

Předmostí, a municipal district of the city of Přerov, is or was a very important archaeological site that met a sad fate. In the past, there were two limestone cliffs there, Hradisko and Skalka. Skalka offered an expansive view of the countryside. Near Hradisko, there were resurgence mineral springs that did not freeze, so they were a source of water for people and animals even in wintertime. Between these rocks, there was a loess ridge, about 20 m high.

In the second half of the 19th century, Skalka was completely destroyed as a source of limestone. Along the loess hill, 3 brickyards were built and the hill was practically destroyed for brick production.

In 1571, Jan Blahoslav (a Czech humanist scholar) mentioned bones of giants, which were actually mammoth bones. During the exploitation of the area, for about 150 years, entire wagons of these bones were transported, ground and used as fertilizer, or burned in a furnace. It is estimated that the site originally contained the remains of about one thousand mammoths. There is no doubt that a huge amount of archaeological material of all kinds was destroyed.

After this devastation, archaeological research only began at the end of the 19th century.

In 1894, a mass grave of mammoth hunters was discovered there, yielding a collection of several dozen skeletal remains from the Palaeolithic period in Europe, the largest find of human remains of its kind ever.

In 1895, the Venus of Předmostí was found.

Interestingly, a collector found a supposedly similar Venus figurine in the USA, allegedly also from Předmostí. Preliminary examination did not refute the possible authenticity of the Venus and its prehistoric origin, nor did it confirm it, stating that further investigation was necessary.

The largest set of skeletons of prehistoric people from Předmostí met a similarly sad fate, as the entire locality. At the end of World War II, in April 1945, they were destroyed by fire in the Mikulov Chateau where they were kept. According to various sources, there were different reasons for the fire. Some claim that the chateau was set on fire during the battle for Mikulov. According to others, the chateau was deliberately set on fire by retreating German Nazis. At least photographic documentation has been preserved. Although it is no longer possible to physically examine the bones of these prehistoric people, it is at least possible to study them from photographs.

On the site of the Palaeolithic mammoth hunter settlement, there is a (high rise) housing estate nowadays. All that has remained is a large stone with the information that a mammoth hunter settlement used to be there.

Besides several information panels another place that commemorates mammoth hunters is the Památník lovců mamutů ("Memorial to Mammoth Hunters"), featuring animal bones in the original position as they were found.

Besides, there is a monument called Sonda do pravěku ("Probe into Prehistory") that combines an image of the Venus of Předmostí with images of mammoth bones.

Literature:

1. Od lovců mamutů k cihle. Osud světoznámé archeologické lokality Předmostí a příběh hrobu, který ji proslavil. Vydalo statutární město Přerov, 2015, ISBN: 978-80-906145-2-9.

2. MORAVSKÉ ZEMSKÉ MUZEUM – MEZINÁRODNÍ SPOLUPRÁCE, NOVÉ OBJEVY

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