Vendelín of Koněšín

Vendelín of Koněšín is a unique ceramic statuette of a nude male figure made of burnt

clay. It comes from early Palaeolithic Age dated to 25 050 – 29 050 BCE. The Vendelín

statuette is considered to be the oldest existing ceramic article of the world. Its discovery

disproved a hypothesis that the oldest ceramic figures are e.g. Venus of Věstonice (found on 13

July 1925 close to Dolní Věstonice and Pavlov), Venus of Landek (or Petřkovice) or Venus of

Willendorf from Austria. It is also probably older than various statuettes from the early Stone

Age found in different parts of Europe (Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Slovakia, Russia).

The Vendelín statuette was found by Mr. Marek Bouše on 29 April 2006 within digging work

when the sport site fence at Borovinka campsite in Koněšín, region Třebíč, was bulit. It was

found in the rests of prehistoric fire ring together with various fragments of stone tools and

animal bones. The other artefacts fell apart into dust a few minutes after uncovering the upper

layer of ground, only the sculpture remained. The dust of other artefacts was scattered by the

wind after a while and created clearly visible word Vendelín. Then famous academicians

agreed about the name of the statuette, in fact it called itself (either as the effect of wind or

divine intervention).

It is about 11.5 cm tall and nearly identically wide at the belly, there are tiny genitals visible

under the belly. Material used is a mixture of various sorts of clay, where similar sculptures

were usually made of stones or bones.

It is said that several teams of experts from many world´s famous universities were sent to

research Vendelín of Koněšín. However the experts always got enchanted by the local

environment, various culinary products of Borovinka Campsite and alcohol and always agreed

about the only fact: Vendelín is authentic, was made by a woman with a sense for real man´s

beauty and balanced proportions. She was probably led by her desire to replace the typical

Stone Age semi-anorectic muscled mammoth hunter with a portrait of a loving sensitive man,

who was open to the needs of women of that time and for whom his own look is not that

important. Herewith the artist surpassed the early Stone Age standards of at least 31 066 years.

The legend says that every woman who gets Vendelín becomes pregnant in a short time and

further she is satisfied with her sexual life – anyway that was confirmed by life stories of

female visitors of the Borovinka Campsite. By contrast, men should not get Vendelín unless he

is a gift to his girlfriend or wife. If a man gives Vendelín to a woman as a present, then the

woman never wants anybody else and is satisfied with just Vendelín and her present partner.

Men who own Vendelín and did not give him to any woman are – according to this legend

–condemned to endless seeking.