Janus Pannonius Múzeum Évkönyve 13 (1968) (Pécs, 1971)

Régészet - Makkay, János: The Chalcolithic Male Relief from Villánykövesd and the Earliest Male Figurines in South-Eastern Europa

CHALCOLITHIC MALE RELIEF 41 ently of the East in the Neolithic period of Greece, or South-Eastern Europe, respectively, as the specific products of the local development. This is contrary to the Near Eastern or Anatolian origin, priority or influence, generally apparent in numerous types of the idol plastics. One may suppose the existence of other self-standing »European« types among the human representations and idol groups of the Neolithic too. On the other hand, we may be sure that the origin of the small reliefs, so frequent in the Vinca (Vinca-Tordos and Vinca-Plocnik) culture, goes back to the preceding Körös-Starcevo culture, both as to the evidently religious character of their production and the special features of their execution. This view is supported by the recent suggestions as regards the origin of the Vinca culture.

13 Therefore the investigation of the parallels of the Villánykövesd relief has to embrace the Vinca circle, spreading over a large area, or other cultures, contemporary and related to it, respectively. It is the simplest way to begin the survey of the Vinca culture, dated to the Vinca-Tordos period, with the finds of Tordos, since their dating is unequivocal there. Some of the Tordos small reliefs were defined by M. Roska as male representations (PI. 2 nos 5—7). Should we accept this view, these pieces would be the earliest ones, corresponding both as to their character as small reliefs and as to their sex to the Villánykövesd find. However, judged by fragment no. 5. of PI. 2 in the first place, it is by no means certain that the human figures, visible on the three small reliefs, are males. In our view they are more probably women giving birth, shown in labour; just as it is presented by a clay statuette of the »Mistress of animals«, found at Chatal Hüyük: »giving birth to a probably male child whose head is clearly shown between her thighs«."' The mother places her feet on the figures of human skulls, so we may justly suppose that she is also the »Mistress of life and death« in the last analysis. The ancient ideas as to the person and one of the main functions of the goddess are well il13 D. Srejovié, Versuch einer historischen Wertung der Vinca-Gruppe. Archaelogia Iugoslavica 4 (Beograd, 1963.) pp. 5—17; J. Makkay, Orientalia 37:3 (Roma, 1968.) pp. 272—289; Id., Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve (Bulletin of the M. F. Museum) 1966—1967 (Szeged, 1968.) pp. 21—25. 14 J. Mellaart, Catal Hüyük. A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. (London, 1967.) p. 156, PI. IX; Id., Deities and Shrines of Neolithic Anatolia. Excavations at Catal Hüyük, 1962. Archaeology 16 (1963) p. 31; cp. those little clay idols of the Halafian period from Arpachiyah which present mainly women immediately before childbirth, according to thorough scientific investigation: M. E. L. Mallowan — J. Cruikshank Rose, Iraq 2 (1935) pp. 81 seqq. lustrated by the fact that her figure has come to light from a grain-bin in shrine A. II. 1. An iconographically quite simple variety of this delivery, taken in the strictest religious sense here, may be represented by the three Tordos reliefs too. They may be brought in coincidence also with the fact that the statuette of the »Mistress of animals and of life and death« in childbirth was placed in a pit for storing grain; we have only to suppose that our Tordos reliefs are the fragments of large-size tankards. Many reasons commend this suggestion, one of them being that the mentioned small reliefs of the Koros culture, representing females, are evidently placed on the sides of large-size, grain-storing tankards. Consequently the purpose and the role of our early female-shaped reliefs may be identical with the »Goddess« of Chatal Hüyük, at least in some cases, since only a part of them is presenting the moment of the difficult labour. In Mellaart's view this role, falling under the head of sympathetic magic, was the securing of better crops.

15 One may also imagine, especially as regards the finds of the Körös culture, and of Vinca-Tordos,, that their immediate purpose was the defence, the rendering of the fertility and the preservation of the seed-grain, stored in the great jars, through the winter, and only indirectly the ensuring of a better harvest. These are but two suggestions chosen from the numerous possibilities. Further three Tordos small reliefs are representing women equally, diverging from the former in several, though insignificant, details, e.g. in the hand-hold (PI. 2, nos 8—10). Essentially, however, they are similar to the female figures in relief found at Vinca. Three of them (PL 3, nos 1, 6, Pl. 6, no 4) have been found at a depth which allows their dating to the Starcevo culture too. The fact that one of them (PI. 3, no. 6) wears a jewel (imitating possibly a bracelet on the left hand?) may refute this thesis. A further piece is quite late (PI. 3, no. 4), then a fourth specimen is decorated with incisions marking the dress or a belt (Fig. 3 no. 8) similarly to one of the mentioned Tordos pieces (PI. 2, no. 10). A further small relief shows the well known cross ornament, representing a cross belt, being an attribute of a goddess as early as in the Neolithic.

16 15 Archaeology 16 (1963) p. 30; Id., Catal Hüyük, op. cit. p. 183; cp. the definition of M. PetrescuDimbovita regarding the female-shaped reliefs of the Cucuteni culture, see note 17. and SCIV 19:3 (1968) 387—393. 16 J. Makkay, Adatok a péceli (badeni) kultúra vallásos elképzeléseihez. [Data to the religious beliefs of the Pécel (Baden) culture.] Arch. Ért. 1963. pp. 6—13 and Figs 1—2; G. F. Dales, Necklaces, Bands and Belts on Mesopotamian Figurines. Revue d'Assyriologie 57 (1963) pp. 21—40.