Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 70 (2018)

ill. ; 25 cm

This paper discusses anthropomorphic representations from two Ukrainian sites that can be dated to the Linear Pottery Culture. They can be categorized as applications and incised human representations. Although their posture is similar, their significance was likely different. The applications were fixed to vessels’ walls in such a way that they look inside the container, whereas the incised representations look outward, facing anyone that would approach them. We may conclude that applications like the ones from the Ukrainian sites are part of a common set of beliefs comprising collective consumption from the same vessel, but we can only speculate about the original content, which may have been something extraordinary like alcohol or something ordinary like meat, milk or soup. On the other hand, the incised representations with their faces directed away from the vessel wall may be seen as guardians of the vessels’ content

il. ; 25 cm