Zalai Múzeum 15. Horváth László 60 éves (Zalaegerszeg, 2006)

Bondár Mária: Kultúraváltások a rézkori emberábrázolások tükrében (Dunántúl)

124 Bondár Mária above observations imply that these regions may have played an important role in the cultic life of Copper Age people. Unfortunately the reason for the emergence of regional restriction of such finds is not known. The regional distribution of special finds may imply differences between people in the different regions in terms of economy, social division and power relations. Thus wealth and power may have concentrated in certain regions. Kostolac culture There is only one complete figurine published from Slavca. However, its age is uncertain (Kostolac or Vucedol) (Fig. 8. 7.). The figurine is „chunky" and rather distinct from the Baden figurines that have replaceable heads. The figurine from Slavca represents a different belief-system and holds different meaning from Baden figurines. It is, however, reminiscent of late Baden figurines, which also implies that it can probably be dated to the Kostolac culture. Conclusion In assessing the figurines of almost two thousand years it was demonstrated that in human representations cultural changes can well be traced, although some continuity can also be observed for centuries. In assessing the above it became clear that during the examined periods two types of human representations were present: simple schematic representation on one hand and detailed, carefully fashioned artistic figurines with details of cloth, hair style, and jewellery (e.g. Graz-iella) on the other. The presence of two types of representations do not necessarily mean that they alternated each other through time thus they do not necessarily show chronological differences but rather - as it was demonstrated above - that both representations appear at the same time within the same culture (Balaton-Lasinja, Baden and Vucedol cultures). In the literature dealing with prehistoric art in many cases a stereotypic explanation appears. According to this explanation only women were represented with exaggerated body parts articulating fertility as a result of the Mother Goddess cult. Even though the number of cultic finds is much less, comparing them to the whole assemblage, it became clear from the above that after scrutinising the Mother Goddess explanation it does not necessarily hold true. Male representations did not disappear in the Copper Age (they are present in late Lengyel culture, BalatonLasinja culture and Baden culture). Only a smaller number of male figurines came to light compared to women figurines. Of course the most probable mathematical explanation to this is that for the ceremonies more women figurines were made than men figurines. The reason for the appearance of more women than men figurines probably lies in the belief system. Examining anthropomorphic representations it can be observed that anthropomorphic vessels (Lengyel culture, Furchenstich culture and Baden culture) were present in the Copper Age and probably during the whole of prehistory. This may hold true even if such finds are not known from all of the cultural groups. The case is similar with animal representations but the assessment of zoomorphic depictions is out of the scope of this paper. It is considered that the above discussed overview indicates that cultural changes can be traced consistently through figurines. There are clear differences between, for example, the Balaton-Lasinja and Furchenstich or the Furchenstich and Baden cultural groups in terms of human representations. At the same time such differences are not so clear between the late Lengyel and Balaton-Lasinja cultural groups. During the examined consequential periods, in the light of the observed duality of figurines (roughly made figurines with cylindrical bodies that conceal their gender and facial features, as against decorated figurines with good body proportions), it needs to be considered whether the differences in material culture (mainly in pottery) indicates the appearance of a new culture, a group or a phase, or rather it indicates a return to previous traditions. Translated by Attila Kreiter