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'Farbstein R, Nowell A, 2026: Building a Context for an Icon: the technological, material, and social life histories of Pavlovian ceramic figurines. Anthropologie (Brno) 64, 3: 189-200'. |
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| Abstract | | The so-called "Venus" of Dolní Věstonice I (DV I) is an iconic example of Palaeolithic portable art. In the
century since her discovery, she has been studied and celebrated by both scholars and the general public, and is
immediately recognisable as an iconic example of the mid-Upper Palaeolithic style of depicting women. Beyond her
aesthetic style and appearance, she also offers insight into the emergence of one of the earliest ceramic technologies in
the world. In this paper, we discuss the social contexts that might have supported the production not just of the celebrated
figurine, but also of the thousands of other ceramics excavated from Gravettian sites across Moravia. Past research on
the "Venus" uncovered at least one fingerprint which was determined to be associated with a sub-adult individual
(Králík et al. 2002, Králík, Novotný 2005). This finding introduced the possibility that this artefact was made by, or in
the presence of, a child. Building upon this, our own previous research demonstrated the involvement of children in the
making of many other Pavlovian ceramic artefacts. In this paper, we consider if the "Venus" of DV I may be included
in this collection of artefacts made by children or if she is better conceived of as a co-creation of adult and child, expert
and novice, linking enskilment (sensu Ingold 2000) and knowledge transfer between material types and across
generations. | | | | Keywords | | Ceramics – Children – Figurines – Gravettian – Palaeolithic | | | | DOI | | https://doi.org/10.26720/anthro.26.08.26.1 | | |
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