Anthropomorphic Vessels

ART, MATERIALITY AND REPRESENTATION, British Museum and SOAS, 2 June 2018 - The purpose of the report is to present the results of a research on the vase decorated with anthropomorphic figure and anthropoid pot, during the Neolithic period, in the Italian peninsula and in Sicily

11 APRILE 2018 - A roundtable on the anthropomorphic representation, on vase and figurines, of the Neolithic period in the italian peninsula and centre-southern Europe. The conference deal with this theme, in order to analyze the iconography, iconology, cultural relations and archaeological contexts of these class of objects.

This paper (in Dutch) highlights some aspects of four Etruscan terracotta cinerary urns from the Chiusi region now housed in the Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam. Central to the discussion is the urn APM 1510, which was recently incorporated into the new Hellenistic gallery at the museum. The small, once brightly painted urn (2nd century BCE) consists of a lidded rectangular receptacle adorned in relief with a representation of the fratricidal duel between Eteocles and Polynices. Flanking the scene are two winged Vanths holding flaming torches. The deceased, represented as a young man wrapped in a mantle, is shown lying on the lid, which is shaped like a matress. Whether the lid originally belonged with the container remains uncertain. The inscription attests that the urn belonged to Arnth Carpnate, son of a woman named Cainei. Both nomina gentilicia are well represented in inscriptions from the Chiusi region.

Die Siedlung von Niederleis/Thomasl stellt eine typische Anlage der jüngeren Notenkopfkeramik im nördlichen Niederösterreich dar. Sie liegt im Einflussgebiet sowohl östlicher als auch westlicher Kulturgruppen. Die Funde können in die Stufe II bis III der mährischen Chronologie und die Stufe II der slowakischen Chronologie der LBK gestellt werden.

On the occasion of the preventive archaeological excavations made in 2011 on the future route of A1 Highway, in the area of Șoimuș village, Hunedoara County, an interesting neolithic settlement was discovered, with numerous features (pits, dwelling structures, enclosures). In this contribution we intend to discuss about a special category of objects, namely anthropomorphic representations. These were recovered from secure contexts, and one of them is unique in the archaeological discoveries of Romania.

Cu ocazia săpăturilor arheologice preventive din anul 2011 de pe traseul viitoarei Autostrăzi A1, în zona localității Șoimuș, jud. Hunedoara, a fost descoperită o interesantă aşezare neolitică, cu numeroase complexe (gropi, structuri de locuire, şanțuri de delimitare). În această contribuție ne propunem să valorificăm o categorie interesantă de obiecte descoperite cu ocazia acestor cercetări arheologice, şi anume reprezentările antropomorfe. Acestea au fost recuperate din contexte sigure, iar una dintre ele reprezintă un unicat la nivelul descoperirilor arheologice din România.

A body for eternity: an Etruscan canopic urn in Amsterdam.

In 1988 the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam, the Allard Pierson Museum, acquired a jar of burnished brown impasto with a lid featuring a stylized human face (inv. no. APM 11.734). Although there is no information concerning its exact provenance and original find context, it is clear that the vessel belongs to a distinctive group of Etruscan anthropomorphic cinerary urns - so-called "canopic" urns - from the ancient city of Clevsin (modern Chiusi) and its surrounding territory. Such urs were produced in the Middle and Late Orientalizing period (c. 675-580 BCE). The Amsterdam urn, which represents a woman, is of a rare type. Close comparanda include a canopic urn found in an undisturbed "ziro tomb" (no. 21) in the Necropolis of Tolle near Chianciano Terme. The associated grave goods point to a date in the second quarter of the 7th century BCE. This paper (in Dutch) is an adaptation of a more elaborate article on the same subject that will be published soon.

The Neolithic attracts a particular interest among the researchers of Prehistoric archaeology, as the innovations this period brought on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia and the Balkans in the second half of the seventh millennium BC, have major role in the manner in which the society was formed, functioned and existed. Building the first houses, organization of the earliest settlements, cultivation of plants and domestication of animals are Neolithic acquisitions which changed the course of human development and still remain crucial segments for any community. These social, economic and building innovations also reflect how the Neolithic people perceived the world that surrounded them and their place within. To define and explicate this relation they used clay i.e. ceramics as material which was already present as a new technological discovery. In addition, they employed pottery as medium where their own ideas about the world were registered, as well as those related to their own bodies. For the first time in the Balkans there were artifacts representing human figure not only as a reflection of their actual appearance, but also as manifestation of mythical characters which were constituent elements of their life. These anthropomorphic objects in particular are the subject of this monograph. A general overview of Neolithic finds in Macedonia is made where complete human body is represented or just parts of it. The anthropomorphic house models, vessels and figurines in all Neolithic phases are elaborated. They were rarely considered in Macedonian publications so far, especially not assembled as unit, but merely in chronological and typological perspective and sometimes through history of art. However, recent archaeological tendencies indicate that these aspects are not sufficient for a profound insight into their complex character and meaning. Therefore, we have established the aims of this book i.e. the elementary directions of our research project which resulted in realization of this publication.

The aim of this work is to analyze the character and the purpose of the openings on the Macedonian Neolithic altars of the Mother-House type, based on it, and a verification of several hypothesis about the meaning and the function of this category of cult objects. Presented here is a part of these analysis which are related to these openings, located on the upper area (roof) and the bottom of the cubus (modeled house) (PI. I) and on the top of the anthropomorphic cylinder (PI. III). On some of the altars, on the four corners on the roof of the presented house there is a circular hole cut in with a diameter of around 1 cm. So far there is an assumption, according to which they could be used for putting in ropes so the altar can be hanged on the roof. Not really denying this hypothesis, the author is proposing a new one, according to which these openings had cult character i.e. were used for ritual adding of certain elements in the cubus: water, various liquid food (milk, cooking oil), processed or granulated (wheat, flour, bread crumbs), vegetation (leafs, flowers, branches) and animal elements (wool, hair, feathers) or elements who can burn or smoke (candles, pitch, embers). This hypothesis can be argued through appropriate rituals concluded at the Slavic and Balkan folklore, as well as the ehnographic traditions of other distant regions of the world. Actually, they are actions taken during various occasions (moving into a house, bringing the bride in the house, New Year's and other festivities). Namely, in the four corners of the house or on the roof various goods are placed, all with the same purpose, the abbility to gain happiness, welfare and protection in the future through this action. Especially important are the traces of such rituals, reffered to as "donating to the corners" during the excavation at the real houses from the Neolithic period. Semiotic analyses show that the four angles of the house, in these procedures symbolically are coding its total area.
The mentioned rituals quite often end with giving a present at the last point - the fireplace which codes the central part i.e. the center of the house, where in the case of elaborated Neolithic altars coincides with the central hole made on the peak of the anthropomorphic cylinders. Based on the funnel shape and traces of burning, can be assumed that through this hole on the cubus some kind of liquid was poured, or through it a smoke was going out. Besides this function and shape, the cylinders rising from the cubus, shouldn't be treated as chimneys (they appeared in the future epochs), but as a symbolic-iconographic elements with a purpose to anthropomorphize i.e. divinize the house. On some altars, this central hole on the cylinder has its own match - larger central hole cut on the basement of the cubus. The author makes an effort for additional development and argument on the previously stated assumptions stating that it serves for pouring out the elements that were ritually added into the cubus. He doesn't exclude the possibility that through this hole, in the cubus periodically could be possible to put out or put in certain elements (candle, icon lamp, planted plant) so the altar will simply cover them.
Adding various ritual elements could be made through larger holes, made on the lateral walls of the cubus. They could be elements that are already mentioned (in a role of symbols of the richness and the welfare of the house), so according to the principle of the homeopathic magic - and the real house to be filled with these elements or the one that they are symbolizing. Except the real jments, they could also be their art representations (figurines of people or animals). Considering the same concept, adding certain prophylactic elements (especially at the four corners) could lead to apostrophic effect, i.e. house protection from various negative aspects. In regard of listed concepts some parallels could be found, kept until present time in the Slavic and Balkan Folklore. We have in consideration the ritual breads (round breads, somewhere eve called "house"), made for Christmas or for the saint-patron holiday of the certain house, i.e. family. On their surface often is making an application of various artistic motifs, made in dough, and schematically are coding certain categories which the house should be fulfilled ("full barns", "multiplication of the cattle in the stables", "full house with children"). Some distant ethnographic examples are referring to the possibility of here shown Neolithic altars could serve also for symbolic sheltering and serving the souls of the deceased tenants that sometime lived in the house where this altar was placed in.