Dolní Vĕstonice

Useful Information

photography — Map showing the finding places around Dolní Vĕstonice.

Location:
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Museum Mesolithic Period Neolithic Period
Light:	Electric Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:
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History

Description

Dolní Vĕstonice is a Stone Age site of international fame. The most important finding is the Venus of Dolni Vestonice, which is one of about two dozen venus figures found all over Europe. Also, exceptional is the fact that the remains were discovered on a field, not in a cave. It is extremely unlikely that remains survived thousands of years of agriculture and so such sites are extremely rare. The reason why Stone Age remains are found in caves is not at all that Stone Age man lived in caves. Actually it’s the opposite: the caves were visited rarely and so the remains were undisturbed, especially during historic times. In this case the remains were deep enough, so they were not destroyed by ploughing, and when the ploughs became bigger the site was discovered and excavated. Many others were destroyed in this time, either because of ignorance or probably even intentional, because the farmer knew he would lose the field to the archaeologists, so he destroyed the evidence.