Primitive society in the mirror of art: a new view on the interpretation of the Neolithic anthropomorphic sculpture
Abstract
The problem of interpretation of anthropomorphic statuettes is of current interest in the studies on the European Neolithic Art (7000–3000 BC). The failure of speculative hypotheses initiated the search for new areas of research, particularly, in the studies on the figurines iconography and their place in the social and
cultural context. From this perspective, the ‘closed’ assemblages that are represented by sets of figurines proved to be the most informative. The article focuses on two of such sets, that were found in the settlements of the early period of Cucuteni-Tripolye culture: Poduri and Isaia in Romania. Both sets were found in the vessels, and included 21 seated statuettes of different size, shape and decorations, and 13 miniature chairs. The analysis of the statuettes iconography shows that the kits includes 6 male and 7 female figurines, seated on 13 chairs, and 8 figures without chairs (female and of uncertain sex). They designated one group of personages that organized on the hierarchical principle, similar to the hierarchy of social groups. Such sets were also used in other settlements of this period. Such figurine sets were regularly reproduced during 200–300 years when the followers of Tripolye-Cucuteni tradition settled on a large area to the East of the Carpathians. The analysis of Early Tripolye — Precucuteni materials shows that during this period, namely in conditions of differentiation of groups and development of new territories, figurine sets might represent a group of ancestors, common to the whole population. Functions of the sets can be defined in the field of ancestor worship, and their application in the initiations and/or in mantic practices. Discontinuation of such sets is associated with changes in ideology on the next stage of culture development.
Keywords:
Neolithic, Eneolithic, the Art of early farmers, anthropomorphic figurines, Cucuteni-Tripolye culture
Downloads
References
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.