Tárnoki Judit szerk.: Tisicum - A Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok Megyei Múzeumok Évkönyve 19. (2009)

Régészettudomány - Raczky Pál - A Körös-kultúra figurális ábrázolásainak értelmezéséhez

Régészettudomány Pál RACZKY Contribution to the interpretation of the figurai representations from the Körös culture Abstract The Körös culture house with upright walls, excavated in cooperation with Marietta Csányi at the site of Szajol-Felsőföld in 1976 was a sensational archaeological discovery at the time from a variety of aspects. Among others, a large storage vessel recovered outside the wall of the building could be fully restored, thereby offering an opportunity for the in-depth discussion of problems related to figurai representation, since anthropomorphic plastic decoration was identified on this vessel (Figure 1). Subsequently, János Makkay has again placed the question of the aforementioned anthropomorphic reliefs into the focus of archaeological research by emphasizing certain stylistic details and listing additional relevant finds. One of the noteworthy new pieces of information was the composition observed on shards of large, Körös culture storage vessels recovered at the sites of Endrőd 39 and Endrőd 119: these human shapes were shown in "total frontality", i. e. chest part of the upper torso was facing forward, while the lower trunk was united with it shown from the rear with strongly emphasized features.

1 Specimens made to reflect this peculiar point of view, all seem to have displayed some degree of steatopygia

, fat rump, in the iconography even at the expense of the anatomical "standards". Meanwhile, characteristic breasts were also formed on the upper part of the specimen from the site of Endrőd 39. These features clearly suggest that the aim was not simply the representation of a person but that of a woman. Beside the discussed examples, János Makkay and Elisabetta Starnini published new illustrative material for the characteristic assemblage of the human relief representations in "total frontality". Another plastic version of emphatically depicted steatopygia can be seen on the two fragments of large storage vessels brought to light at the Körös culture settlement SzolnokSzanda (Figure 2: 1-2). On these figurai representations from Szanda, steatopygia is depicted in the form of a relief, occurring in the shape of triangles. The fact that in these cases the hip is shown from the front is clearly indicated by the marking of female genitals on the smaller specimen by an inpression. Essentially the same, fat-rumped representation is shown on the previously published specimen from Nagykorú, the best preserved specimen known to date. Another recently 1 MAKKAY, János 2001. Fig. 8: 2, Fig. 9:1, 2. published parallel find from Endrőd 119 confirms the trend that this form of figurai representation of the Körös culture represents a canonized type, widely spread across the Great Hungarian Plain.

2 On the basis of the data reviewed here it may be said that the majority of recently recovered anthropomorphic reliefs show women, displaying visual characteristics and iconographie emphases that are typical of plastic art representing females in the Körös culture. The interpretation of Körös culture reliefs is further complicated by the variability in the way of depicting the arms. Some are raised upward in a parallel position. Others are likewise parallel but point downwards. Combinations of one arm up, the other down are known as well. These positions seem to represent different sets of postures and had probably carried correspondingly different meanings. For these relief gestures several archaeological examples have been published by János Makkay and Elisabetta Starnini in their new illustrative volume.

3 János Makkay has recently returned to discussing problems of anthropomorphic reliefs of the Körös culture. His renewed interest was chiefly inspired by a recent thematic synthesis of this subject published by Yosef Garfinkel. According to that author, painted, incised and plastic representations of humans distributed between the Near East and the Carpathian Basin uniformly show dancing figures. It is suggested here that another important observation relevant to the anthropomorphic reliefs of the Körös culture (most commonly showing females) is that they usually do not stand in themselves: they tend to occur on the sides of large storage vessels, sometimes in the company of various animals. This point can be convincingly illustrated by three, previously recovered examples based on the graphic reinterpretation of visual fields. These specimens were recovered at the sites of Hódmezővásárhely-Kotacpart, Vata-tanya (Figure 3: 1, 3) and Hódmezővásárhely-Kopáncs, Zsoldos-tanya (Figure 3: 2). In relation with this vessels it is worth mentioning that possibly all three of them show small ruminants (sheep and goat) sharing the visual field with humans. Given the context, it cannot be considered a coincidence that domestic small stock, goat (in the case of Kotacpart) and sheep were depicted 2 MAKKAY, JÁNOS 2006. FIG. 1:5. 3 Endrőd 3/35: MAKKAY, János - STARNINI, Elisabetta 2008. Fig. 41:1., Endrőd 3/39: MAKKAY, János - STARNINI, Elisabetta 2008. Fig. 44: 2, 3., Endrőd 3/19: MAKKAY, János - STARNINI, Elisabetta 2008. Fig. 41: 2., Fig. 42: 2., Szentes-Nagyjaksorpart: MAKKAY, János - STARNINI, Elisabetta 2008. Fig. 43:1, 2., Fig. 44:1. 75