Къснонеолитни кухи антропоморфни фигури от долината на Струма

Abstract

The current paper discusses the Late Neolithic anthropomorphic figurines with a hollow body originating from three settlements in the Struma River Valley to the north of the Kresna Gorge: Bersin, Mursalevo – Gerena locality and Kocherinovo – Ganevi Nivi locality. Only upper body fragments are preserved. Three groups are defined based on the typical features of the upper half of the body, the cavity shape and its location. The largest group has been divided to subgroups depending on the way the head and the upper torso around the breasts are shaped, as well as the transition to the abdomen and the bottom. The systematisation takes into account the fragmentary state of the objects. The first group consists of anthropomorphic figurines with elongated, almost cylindrical, flattened-cylindrical (sometimes widening at the top) or flat head. All of them have arms shaped as horizontally perforated short side knobs. The body is hollow and bell-shaped in the preserved part. This shape suggests that the lower half was a separate piece, and the two would attach to form the body. A fragmented figurine from Kocherinovo, with compactly shaped legs divided by a vertical groove, offers an example for a possible shaping of the lower part. The other two groups are represented by single examples. Late Neolithic hollow anthropomorphic figurines are discovered at sites dated to various phases of the Late Neolithic along the Struma River Valley to the north of the Kresna Gorge. Similar artefacts have been published within the catchment area of the Vardar River.

Keywords

• Hollow anthropomorphic figurines
• Late Neolithic
• Bersin
• Mursalevo – Gerena
• Kocherinovo – Ganevi Nivi