Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
Two Statuettes with Mobile Heads from Petresti-Groapa Galbenä 21 category we find in Banat, the В and C phases of Vinca culture, only within the settlement of Zorlentu Mare being recovered about 130 items, dated to Vinca B2 and C (Vlassa 1966,16, note 11; Lazarovici 1979, 94, pl. XXI/A 1, 3, 4-6, 8-9, C 4, 7-8, 10, D 1-10, E 1-11, F 1-9; XXII/CG; H 1-12; Cultura Vinca 1991,207-208, cat. 146-148; Drasovean 1996, pi. XXIX/1-2,4-15; XXX/1-18.); other finds are signalled at Sälbägelu Vechi (Vinca C, Drasovean 1996, pi. XXV/2- 7, 10-11), Jupa South (Vinca C, Cultura Vinca 1991, 163, cat. 53, s.v. S. A. Luca), Liubcova (Lazarovici 1979, pl. XXII/A 16-18; Luca 1998, fig. 39/1, 6-7; 40/3; 51/2-3; Comsa 1995, 33, fig. 26/11; 27/4, 6; Drasovean 1996, pl. XXI/2-4, 6-8; XXIV/1), Ruginosu (Vinca B2/C, Lazarovici 1979, pl. XXII/B 10), Sänandrei (Vinca C, Drasovean 1996, pl. XXVI/3-4), Uivar (Vinca C, Schier-Drasovean 2004, 181, Abb. 21/5). Within the Bucovät cultural group there are items found in the Parta settlement (Lazarovici 1979, pl. XXI/H 2-3). Two such statuettes were found also at Alba Iulia-Lumea Nouä, and were attributed to the Foeni cultural group (Gligor 2009a, 111, pi. CLI/3 a-d; CLII/7 a-с.), a group that is clearly using this type of representations as was documented by finds in Banat, at Sánmihaiu Román (Luca 2009, 200, fig. 2/5, 7). North of the Danube we find such items in the well known settlements of Gumelnita, Cäscioarele, Sultana (Dumitrescu 1941, 97-99, 101, fig. 1-2; Dumitrescu 1960, 245-246, 249-250, 251 — 253, fig. 1; 2/3; Comsa 1995, 45, fig. 53/5-6; 55/5-6; Andreescu 2002, 48, pl. 3/6A-B; 33/1-4) and Vädastra (Mateescu 1959,59, fig. 3/2; Vlassa 1966,16, note 11; Comsa 1995,31, fig. 18/5), belonging to these two Aeneolithic cultures respectively. The larger representation from Petresti (Pi. 1/2) has analogies among the Turdas figurines (Roska 1941, 318, Taf. CXXXVII/1; Vlassa 1966, 9, 11, pi. A/l, 5; Cultura Vinca 1991, 206, cat. 148). A difference can be found in the way the arms are arched inwards and outwards, a similar situation being found for the second item (Pi. 1/1); the lower part is more robust and straight, allowing the horizontal placement of the statuettes on a flat surface. Gh. Lazarovici sees the origin of the mobile head statuettes in the Vinca environment, as early as the В1 phase, with several variants and groups being developed later. Within his proposed typology, the Petresti finds can be seen as belonging to group III, the bi variant (cylindrical shaped body, obliquely placed arms ending with animal representations) and they are considered to be specific for the Vinca B2 phase (Lazarovici 1979,94). Here we can certainly place the more massive statuette from Petresti (PI. 1/2), having numerous similar finds in Banat, at Zorlentu Mare, belonging to Vinca B2 (Lazarovici 1979,97, pi. XXI/C 7, 10, D 1, 7,4, E 2-4, 9, F 1, 5-6; XXII/E 1; G 4, 12; fig. 38/1-2; Drasovean 1996, 63, pl. XXIX/7, 9; XXX/4) and Liubcova (Lazarovici 1979, pi. XXII/A 18).2 Although it is present in the western area of Vinca culture beginning with the B2 phase, the Neolithic anthropomorphic representations with mobile heads can be attributed, for Transylvania, to the Vinca Cl migration (Drasovean 1996, 96; Lazarovici-Lazarovici 2006, 571). The Alba Iulia-Lumea Nouä finds are a proof that, on this chronological level, the Foeni have also used and moved around this type of representations (Gligor 2009a, 112). We also make note, in the case of the two finds from Petresti, the small diameter of the perforation, created either after modelling the clay or during this process, around a wood - or a different organic material - stick. There is no agreement towards the functionality of this type of representations. Some researchers argue that on the upper part of the statuette, different types of mobile head were interchanged, using the perforation and varying according to the worshiped 2 For the statuette associated within the ritual feature with the famous Liubcova statuette, see: Luca 1998, fig. 51/3
