Pásztor Emília (szerk.): Sámánizmus és természethit régen és ma - Bajai dolgozatok 23. (Baja, 2019)
Peter Toth: Rituális tevékenység Szlovákiában a neolitikum és rézkor idején
Ritual practices in the Neolithic and Eneolithic in Slovakia _____к—___________________________________i________________L______________,_____I_____________________________________________________________________ Introduction Cuit practices go through almost ail aspects and activities of human life in Prehistory. Therefore it is almost impossible to separate everyday life from ritual practices. Nearly all artifacts preserved up-today are in some way connected with spiritual belief. The terms 'ritual find' and sacred belief (and their derivatives) will be used to characterize artifacts and phenomena, which are unique or unusual and probably fell outside everyday life, as well as finds related to Prehistoric art (Kalicz - Raczky 1987, 22). Changing climate conditions after the last ice age slowly paved the way for new subsistence strategies in the Neolithic - agriculture. However, these significant changes were preceded by the most fundamental one. It was the radical change of thinking, which enabled the spread of a new ideology that connected Central Europe with the Balkans and further with the Near East. In the center of sacred belief was fertility, regular rhythm of natural cycles and an infinite alteration of life and death closely connected with it. Ritual practices changed in the Eneolithic. This transformation reflected new situation in society and economy, in which man becomes a central element. Maternity cults are gradually pushed into the background as new components emerge (Podborskÿ 2006, 201; Neustupnÿ 2008, 11). Individual examples of ritual practices were chosen in order to illustrate a very diverse and manifold belief system of a man 7 500-4 300 years ago (fig. 1). The presented text will mainly focus on finds and find circumstances with possible ritual context from settlement areas. A chronological and geographical framework The Neolithic (5 500-4 300 BC) represents a significant milestone in human Prehistory. For the first time appear archaeologically well-documented settlement and burial areas with characteristic traces of human activity. It reflects the existence of communities with agricultural way of life (cultivation of crops, breeding domestic animals). Another important trait is a sedentary way of life, building houses from clay and wood, making ceramic vessels, production of polished and perforated stone tools and further progress in clothing culture. However, in comparison to previous hunters-gatherers, the most fundamental change occurred in the ideology, including the revolution of symbols (Pavlù - Zápotocká 2007, 9). 15
