Kovács Tibor (szerk.): Neuere Daten zur Siedlungsgeschichte und Chronologie der Kupferzeit des Karpatenbeckens (Inventaria Praehistorica Hungariae 7; Budapest, 1995)
Nikola Tasic: Anthropomorphic sculpture of the Eneolithic in Serbia and Macedonia
stylized head and the short arm-stumps hark back to the Late Vinca tradition. Statuettes depicting a seated figure with a stylized, cone-like head form a distinct group (Fig. 1. 5-6). These occur more frequently in Pelagonia and in Kosovo, and their stylistic traits suggest links with Bulgaria. In the course of systematic excavations on the Gadimlje site near Lipljan in Kosovo, J. Glisic found four intact figurines of this type on a house floor 8 The layer containing the house could be assigned to a specific Bubanj-Sälcuta phase that is characterized by an abundance of painted and graphite-ornamented pottery (Bubanj la). These figurines are depicted in a reclining position; their legs are short and they have a schematic, cone-like head (Fig. 1. 6c-d). An almost identical figurine that came to light at Mahq (Maliq Ha) can be seen as the most westerly (south-westerly) occurrence of this type. 9 Almost all of the Pelagonian sites have yielded seated or reclining terracotta figurines: Bakarno Gumno, Tumba near Crnobuki, and Suplevec. The Crnobuki statuette 10 bears a close resemblance to the figurines from Gadimlje and Maliq: seated on a throne or stool, it has short, stump-like arms and legs, well-defined breasts and a cone-like head, similarly to the figurines from Kosovo and Bulgaria. A stray find from Prilep (Fig. 1.5) can perhaps also be assigned to this group: J. Korosec and, following him, M. Garasanin, had linked this figurine to the Neolithic ''Porodin group". 11 However, the shape of this figurine and its stylistic attributes - such as the reclining posture, the cone-shaped head, the pronounced breasts and the incised pubic triangle - suggest that it should rather be assigned to the Pelagonian branch of the BubanjS älcuta complex. Figurines with a hole for the insertion of the head, that were later prolific in the Baden culture, make their first appearance on Pelagonian sites during the Eneolithic. Figurines of this type came to light at three Eneolithic sites in this region: Bakarno Gumno near Prilep, Crnobuki, and Suplevec near Bitolj. 12 One curious specimen, whose shape is closer to the Vinca tradition, but has a hole for the insertion of the head, was unearthed at Suplevec (Fig. 1. 2). It is also reminiscent of a headless idol from Maliq IIa. 13 The relative scarcity of idols in the Bubanj-Sälcuta culture on the territory of Serbia and Macedonia - less than fifty have been found to date, and most of these are fragmented, with less than a handful of intact pieces - would suggest that these can be regarded as the last manifestation of Neolithic art. The tradition of the Vinca, Gradesnica, Sava, Marica and other related cultures, that boasted a flourishing anthropomorphic sculpture, did survive to some extent, but the work8 Unpublished. The finds are currently housed in the Museurn of Kosovo in Pristina. M Prendi ( 1966) 255ff, and PI. Xa. 10 D. Simoska—B. Kitanoski-J. Todorovic, Naselata Crnobuki i problemot na istoimenata kultúra vo svetlinata na novite arheoloski istrazivanja [The Crnobuki settlement: some problems of the origins of this culture in the light of new archaeological finds]. MacActaArch 2 (1976)43-83. 11 J. Korosec. Glasnik muzejsko-konzen'atorskog drustva NR Makedonije 1 (1954) Fig. 1; M. Garasanin. Neolithikum und Bronzezeit in Serbien und Makedonien. BerRGK 39 (1958) 116. Fig, 24. manship deteriorated, with the former realistic representation of details gradually becoming more schematic and coarse. This process, that began in the Late Neolithic, continued in the Eneolithic. What has been said in the above about the Bubanj-Sälcuta complex of Serbia and Macedonia also holds true for Bulgaria. Anthropomorphic figurines become increasingly rare during the Sälcut.a IV period and they are, moreover, markedly inferior to the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic statuettes of the Neolithic. The anthropomorphic figurines of the Bubanj-Sälcuta complex and related cultures nonetheless reflect an unbroken development from the Neolithic to the Early Eneolithic in the Central and Eastern Balkans. The term 'post-Neolithic 1 cultures seems appropriate in this case, all the more so, since their economy was based on crop cultivation and an essentially sedentary way of life. The intrusion of semi-nomadic and nomadic population groups engaged in stock-breeding is also reflected by the changes in the material culture and art, including anthropomorphic figurines. 14 These changes are reflected not only in the appearance of new forms and ornamental motifs, but also in the role of these figurines in cult practices and rituals. * * * The changes in Central and South-East Europe in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC resulted in the appearance of new population groups, as well as new cultures and culture groups. One of the most important among these was the Baden culture for it marked the beginning of a new evolutionary cycle that - at least in the Serbian areas of the Danube Basin - lasted until the appearance of the Early Bronze Age cultures. This cycle spans the Boleráz-Cernavoda III phase (that can be seen as a proto-Baden complex), the Baden culture proper, and the Kostolac, Vucedol and Vinkovci cultures. The anthropomorphic art of this period reflects a break with earlier traditions, and the appearance of new forms and ornamental motifs. Few anthropomorphic figurines are known from the Baden culture; the known specimens, however, are important both typologically and, as shall be later demonstrated, chronologically. All in all, some twenty sites yielded intact or partially fragmented anthropomorphic figurines: the first finds were published by V. Kricka and J. Banner, 15 and their work was soon followed by a number of more detailed studies. 16 These figurines can be generally assigned to one specific type: a flat, armless figure with coarsely shaped lower limbs, and with the occasional realistic depiction of clothing. The hole on their upper part is thought to V. Sanev—D. Simoska—B. Kitanoski—S. Sarzoski, Praistorija vo Make donija [Hie prehistory of Macedonia]. Museum catalogue. Skopje ( 1976) 49-52. Nos 388 and 441. 13 Prendi (1966) PL Xa. II. 4. 14 See note 2. 1? V. Kricka, Vytvarny prejav slovenskèho praveku [The prehistory of Slovakia], Turcansky Sväty Martin (1942) 12; B. Novoüiy. Pociatky vytvarného prejavu na Slovensku [The prehistory of Slovakia! Bratislava (1958) 103 and Figs 49-50; J. Banner, Die Péceler Kultur. ArchHung 35. Budapest (1956) 1691 aid Pl. LVIII. 12. 16 Novoüiy (1981) 131-138. and Figs 1-2; Kahcz (1977) 12711; Tasic (1980-1981) 27-33, and Figs 1-3.
