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

44 MAKKAY suitable content of a vessel,, in need of magical preservation and multiplication? Possibly our male and female reliefs might allow an interpretation as »epiphany«, the appearance and representation of the god before the small human community.

30 In the first place some finds of the first and second mill. В. С would allow such a suggestion.

31 There are also reliefs on vessels among them.

32 One may imagine that the reliefs on the vessels served the symbolic preservation of the contents.

33 This is just as possible as it is legitimate to suppose that the woven baskets found on Chatal Hüyük were painted red in order to guard the stored food againts evil spirits.

34 However, only a small portion of those finds, alluding to an apotropaeic purpose, is a relief, their majority consists of incised (or painted) representations. Nay in the case of a generally known Mesopotamian form of jar in the beginning of the third millennium, such apotropaeic role may have been allotted to the handles with incised female figures.

35 In those instances the vessels did not contain grain (stored as food or seedgrain) necessarily but rather food and drink meant as sacrifice, the first-fruits, or some valuable cultic objets, e. g. jewels. The existence of such jewels, needed at the ceremonies (in rites representing the mythical original action), in the fourth and the third millennia may be taken as granted on the evidence of the known Sumerian myth, dealing with the journey of the goddess Inanina to the Nether World.

30 To quote also a nearer example, the Copper Age gold hoard found at Hencida (County Bihar) recently may be regarded as such ceremonial equipment in all probability.

37 The sources available today do not allow us to define the purpose of our female-shaped small relifs more exactly than tried above. This statement is even more valid regarding the less numerous male-shaped reliefs, since it is possible ж J. Thiemme, Die religiöse Bedeutung der Кукladenidole. Antike Kunst 8 (Ölten, 1965.) p. 72. 31 Ibid.; ср. E. Kunze, 7. Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Olympia. (Berlin, 1961.) p. 138. 32 J. Thiemme, Antike Kunst 8 (1965) p. 74 note 8. 33 Ср. J. Makkay, A Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve (Bulletin of the J. A. Museum) 3 (Nyíregyháza, 1963) p. 17; E. Mackay, Report on the Excavations of the »A« Cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia. Vol: I. No. 1. (Chicago, 1925) p. 23; K. Grundmann, JDAI 68 (1953) pp. 29—31; St. Alexiou, Kretika Krónika 1958. pp. 179 seqq. y

' J. Mellaart, Catal Hüyük, op. cit. p. 150. 35 See note 33. 36 S. N. Kramer, History begins at Sumer.

2 (London, 1961.) pp. 237—239. 37 See on this problem our manuscript study on the Copper Age gold plates and discs! that their object was not even identical with that of the female-shaped ones. Nevertheless, it is undoubtful that a relief depicting a man is not known in the mentioned area before the quite late Neolithic-Chalcolithic period, i. e. from the time when the figure and the cult of the self-standing, male High God make their appearance in South-Eastern Europe too. The mentioned fact allows the inference that the male figures of our reliefs take over a part of the roles of the earlier female reliefs, just as the chief male god inherited a part of the functions of the preceding goddess. More than this cannot be said until additional representations come to light, especially those depicting scenes, possibly on entire vessels and mainly under circumstances typical of some rite or custom. Let us recall in this connection that some large-size vessels of the Körös culture are uncovered far away from dwellings and rubbish pits, making it evident that they have been hidden in the earth on purpose in this way. It is interesting to note that all three vessels from the surroundings of Hódmezővásárhely, hidden or observed in this manner, have also figures of females and animals (esp. goats) in reliefs, respectively.

3

" Consequently it is probable that the application of reliefs in human (at first in female) form on large-size vessels, food-storing tankards and smaller ritual vessels for ceremonial purposes is typical of Greece and South-Eastern Europe from the Early Neolithic on, as a custom independent of the East both as to origin and form, judged by different sources. Or it may have happened that the place and role of painted representations of human beings (and animals), familiar on the potteries from the Early Chalcolithic in the East, have been filled by the more rustic small reliefs in South-Eastern Europe (though it is remarkable that early animal reliefs are known here only from the material of the Körös culture so far), and painted human portraits are extremely scarce. For the rest the pieces known so far reveal an evident Near Eastern influence.

39 Nor can it be a mere coincidence that the Linear ornamented pottery 18 J. Banner. Dolgozatok 8 (1932) p. 6, Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs, Zsoldos-farm, the vessel has been found at a remote part of the settlement; Id.. Dolgozatok 11 (1935) pp. 105—106, Hódmezővásárhely-Kotacpart, Vata farm. Vessel no. 62 (PI. XVI no. 1) was even covered. Together with or similarly to vessel no. 63 (PI. XVI no. 3) it was not found in a refuse pit but independently of it. 39 J. Makkay, Orientalia 37:3 (Roma, 1968) pp. 272—289, Figs 39—40 and 42—43; A. Guider, Die urnenfelderzeitliche »Frauenkröte« von Maissau in Niederösterreich und ihr geistesgeschichtlicher Hintergrund. Mitt d. Präh. Komm. der. Ost. Akad. d. Wiss. 10 (Wien 1960—1962) pp. 86—88, with further literature.