Jindřich Wankel (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: Heinrich Wankel; July 15, 1821,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

– April 5, 1897,

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

) was a Bohemian

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and archaeologist. Wankel was born to Damian Wankel, a clerk, and his wife Magdalena, née Schwarz, in a bilingual environment. He attended German schools in Prague and later studied Medicine at the University of Prague as a student of Josef Hyrtl. He came to work in the area of the Moravský kras (''Moravian Karst'', today's

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

) in 1847, and from 1849 lived in

Blansko Blansko (; german: Blanz) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Svitava River on the border of the Moravian Karst. It is mainly an industrial town. Administrative parts Vil ...

as a medical doctor. He started geological exploration of the area and later carried out

palaeontological Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, archaeological, and anthropological research. In 1850, in Blansko, he set up the first ever laboratory to research fossil bones from the

Cenozoic Era The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

where he assembled a complete skeleton of a

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

(until then, such bones were used for

spodium Spodium, (Latin for ''ashes'' or ''soot'') refers to burned bone (usually used for medical purposes), or the act of divination with ash. Spodium may also refer to other types of ash, such as the scrapings from the inside of a furnace. Spodium has ...

in the nearby sugar refiner

. His most famous discovery (1872) was the burial site of a nobleman from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

at the ''

Býčí skála cave Býčí skála Cave (in Czech ''Býčí skála'', in German ''Stierfelsen'', in English The Bull Rock Cave) is part of the second longest cave system in Moravia, Czech Republic. It is also famous for archaeological discoveries. Except for the e ...

'', with skeletons of 40 ritually killed young women

. His grandson

Karel Absolon Karel Absolon (16 June 1877 – 6 October 1960) was a Czech archaeologist, geographer, paleontologist, and speleologist. He was born in Boskovice. Absolon was the grandchild of paleontologist Jindřich Wankel. During his studies at Charles ...

was also a famous archaeologist and worked in the same area.

Works (selection)

* ''Der Menschenknochenfund in der Býčískálahöhle'' ("The human bones found in the Býčí skála Cave") (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

1871) * ''Prähistorische Eisenschmelz- und Schmiedestätten in Mähren'' ("Prehistoric iron smelting and forging facilities in Moravia") (Vienna 1879) * ''Bilder aus der Mährischen Schweiz und ihrer Vergangenheit'' ("Images from the Moravian Switzerland and their past") (Vienna 1882) * ''Beitrag zur Geschichte der Slaven in Europa'' ("Contribution to the history of the Slavs in Europe") (Olomouc 1885)

External links

Short biography (in Czech)
Czech paleontologists Czech archaeologists 1821 births 1897 deaths {{CzechRepublic-scientist-stub