Neolithic Venus figurines from Hluboké Mašůvky and Těštice-Kyjovice in the Znojmo region

During the Neolithic period, which was the period of farmers, there existed a culture called the Moravian Painted Ware Culture which was characterized by the creation of a large number of Venus figurines. This culture lasted from 6,850 to 5,650 years before present.

Over 2,000 fragments of female figurines have been found in South and Central Moravia, with some Venus figurines preserved almost intact. Some of these Venus figurines are significantly larger than the Venus figurines dating from the Palaeolithic, hunter-gatherer period.

The large Venus figurines probably represented the central sacred symbol of the community.

The most famous sites where these Venus figurines have been found are Hluboké Mašůvky and the area between Těšetice and Kyjovice, both in the Znojmo region.

Hluboké Mašůvky

Two Venus figurines from Hluboké Mašůvky probably belong to the most iconic Venus figurines of the Neolithic period in the Czech Republic. One of them features a Venus with its arms stretched towards the sky in a gesture of adoration, the other one - with its hands stretched in a gesture of blessing. In addition to these two figurines, there is also a headless Venus figurine in a seated position.

In Hluboké Mašůvky, during the above-mentioned period, there used to be a fortified settlement of about 4.5 hectares with entrance gates, some of which had towers. It is very likely that a roundel (Neolithic circular enclosure) was also part of the community.

The village is located about 8 km to the north of Znojmo, on the road between Znojmo and Jevišovice leading to Třebíč. The Venus site is situated on the western edge of the village.

The finds from Hluboké Mašůvky are exhibited as part of the František Vildomec collection at the Jevišovice Old Chateau. 

Těšetice-Kyjovice

The archaeological site of Těšetice – Kyjovice, Sutny location, is famous for the fact that between 1968 and 1978, a roundel was comprehensively explored there for the first time in Central Europe. Rondels were monumental circular structures, apparently with spiritual significance.

The site is located about 8 km to the north-east of Znojmo, above the Únanovka Stream, with the Těšetice dam nearby. It is located about 2.5 km from the western edge of Těšetice.

A large number of ceramics of various types was found at the Těšetice-Kyjovice site, Sutny location. There were three interesting Venus figurines among the finds. One of them is a torso without a head and legs glued together from three parts, the second one is an almost complete statuette and the third one, very specific, is actually a vessel in the shape of a woman (a gynaecomorphous vessel) with hands in an adoring gesture, which, based on similar finds in southern Slovakia, is called a vessel of the Svodín type.

All three Venus figurines belong to the Moravian Painted Pottery culture.

The originals are kept at the Institute of Archaeology and Museology of the Faculty of Philosophy, Masaryk University, Brno and are occasionally exhibited. Copies and information can be seen at the Jihomoravské muzeum (the South Moravian Museum) in Znojmo.

Literature:

1.

Zdeněk Čižmář (editor):

Život a smrt v mladší době kamenné. Katalog výstavy. Life and Death in the New Stone Age.

Vydal Ústav archeologické památkové péče Brno ve spolupráci s Jihomoravským muzeem ve Znojmě a Moravským Zemským muzeem, 2008

2.

Alena Humpolová, Vladimír Podborský:

To nejlepší z archeologické sbírky Františka Vildomce. The Best of the Archaeological Collection of František Vildomec.

Archeologický ústav Moravského zemského Muzea, Brno, 2013