Balances de género en torno a la terminalidad educativa y la empleabilidad

T h e presence o f the B ird and Snake Goddess is felt every w here - on earth, in the skies and beyond the clouds, w here prim ordial waters lie. H er abode is beyon d the upper vvaters, i.e., beyond m eandrous labyrinths. She rules over the life-g iv in g force o f w ater, and her

65 im age is consequently associated w ith w ater containers. O n Cucuteni

vases, the goddess’ eyes, or her eyes and beak, appear above represen-

66 tations o f vvater or falling rain. T h e eyes o f the B ird or Snake Goddess

even stare from the v e ry centre o f the w o rld - a sphere vvith a m y thical

67 vvater stream in the centre. H er cosm ic character is emphasized b y

68 a series o f abstract com positions painted on Cucuteni vases.

T h e Snake Goddess and the B ird Goddess appear as separate figures and as a single d ivin ity. T h eir functions are so intim ately related that their separate treatm ent is im possible. She is one and she is tw o , som etim es snake, som etim es bird. She is the goddess o f vvaters and air, assum ing the shape o f a snake, a crane, a goose, a duck, a d ivin g bird. T he com bination o f a w ater snake and a w ater bird is a peculiarity o f the O ld European sym bolism representing divine am bivalence.

Part o f vessel with a Hcsentation o fa ntasked st Balkan Bird Goddess.

,f.ana at O ltenifa, tiania. G um elnifa plex. c. 4000 BC

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Parallel lines, V ’s, chevrons, belts o f zigzags, and groups o f parallel lines are frequently found on figurines, stamp seals, cult vases and vase lids. Their consistent appearance 011 figurine masks and bodies, anthropom orphic vases, m iniature cult vessels and zoom orphic containers suggests the existence o f a coherent system o f sym bolic expression: the relationship betvveen the depietion o f rain torrents, the m ythical bear and the B ird Goddess is obvious.

T h e desiccation o f the elimate during the sixth m illennium b c

shovvn by palaeobotanical and geological research (clearly rcvcalcd by results o f the auth or’s ow n recent excavation at Anza, M acedonia) is also refleeted in sym b olic com m unication. The centuries-long lack o f w ater resulted in the creation o fsym b o lic images related to streams and m ythical creatures considered to be the source o f water. The M istress o f W aters, the B ird Goddess, and the bcar, vvho seems to have been also connected vvith water, are very frequent im ages ali over the Balkan Pcninsula, particularly in its driest regions, Greece,

6 7 (šomposite pictorial representation oj a B in i or Snake C oddess' eyes and u'ttlet streams. Staraja Buda, u'csteni Ukraine. Late Cucuteni

Th e i n v o c a t i o n o f r a i n, t h e b e a r a n d t h e i d e o g r a m s o f t h e

Bi r d Go d d e s s

Abstract compositions o f Bird Goddess' eyes and

( or only her benk) in cialion m th a cosmic

Painted on Late uteni vases. Sipintsi, tem Ukraine. Early ’th millennium bc

B ird Goddess' eyes and : above groups o f g lit painted lines (falling ?) as fo u n d on ritual :d vessels ’painted in darh i'u on orange-red. A n za

Macedonia. Central um N eolithic III. c.

Beoiter tt'itli hlack- tcd design o feyes ciated irith hair rayed lik e snakt'S or ng rain. I'iangli, ssaly. Late Neolithic, sixth millennium lu:

M acedon ia, Southern Y u g o sla v ia and the A driatic seaboard. Even the p ottery decoration refleets an ‘obsession’ w ith rain and w ater sym b olism . Floral and spiral m otifs o f the earlier N eolithic w cre replaced in Sesklo, D anilo, late Starčevo and Vinča com plexes by rig id ly geom etric d eco ra tio n : bands or groups o f vertical or diagonal parallel lines, striated and punetated bands and chevrons. T h e go d dess’ eyes em erge in association w ith rain torrents o r lines repre- senting w ater. Stam p seals o f this period reveal the same tendency: alm ost ali o f the knovvn seals are engraved vvith either straight lines, w a v y lines or zigzags. T orrents o f vvater show n as vertical zigzaggin g lines in separate panels depieted 011 an early Vinča funnel-shaped vase

114

7 1 Painted black-oti-red ornamental motifs, probably sym bolizing rain, on Late Starčevo

vases from northern Yugoslavia. c. 5 5 0 0 bc

72 C la y seals engraved ivith zigza g and parallel lines fro m Starčevo and Karanovo / sjtes: 1 , Grabovac, Yugoslavia; 2 , 3 , 5 , C a vda r, ivestern B u lga ria ; 4, Rug B a ir, Macedonia. c. 5500 bc

73 Zoom orphic pottery lid ivith clusters o f diagonal incisions (streaming rain?). Early Vinča. Par\a, Tim ifoara district ivestern Romania. c. 5000 bc

74 Pottery lid in half-hum an, half-anim al form ivith beaked nose, depression fo r mouth (source o f w ater?), and incised m arkings.from Malča near N iš, Southern Yugoslavia. E arly Vinča, late sixth millennium bc

5 Torsos with inverted / $ ) and crosses (76) 'e breasts, triple verticle ■ and chevrons. Sitagroi đacedonia. c. 4000 BC

. iead o f a Bird Goddess 1 pointed beak and ’tige-shaped eycs. R u g -

M accdonia. Early 1

,

Bird-headed fig u re ( a ■cl protome) with an

ram on the body osed o f chest bands and . ons. The Vinča site.

0 1 7 a <

m ay be related to the ritual o f rain invocation. O n masked Vinča heads or zoom orp hic lids the incised parallel lines m ergin g on the nose ridge and the forehead g ive an im pression o f torrents o f w ater running d o w n the m ask.

T h e ‘cat-headed’ V inča lids have puzzled archaeologists since the d iscovery o f the V inča site. T h e y certainly do not p ortray cats, since the cat was not knovvn in prehistoric Europe. A re they bears? Birds? The puzzle can be solved o n ly b y studying ali the accum ulated sym bols. T h e y have large incised, usually sem icircular, hum an eyes, ears, b ird ’s beak and a V or ch evron engraved ab ove the beak. Bands o f striations, punctuated bands, or parallel lines clearly show their connection vvith vvater. T h e y are not given m ouths, but som e­ times h ave a round depression belovv the beak, as on m any other bird masks from vvhich ‘ vvater flo w s in ali fou r directions’ .

T h e relationship betvveen vvater and the bear is further indicated b y bear-shaped cult vases, abundantly represented in the D anilo, Sesklo, B u tm ir and L e n gy e l cultures. T h e D anilo bear-shaped vases are solid ly covered vvith belts o f zigzags, chevrons and striated diam onds, sym b olic o f flovving vvater. Large pavvs o f bears from the B u tm ir settlem ent at O b re, p robably once part o f a vvater Container, are also decorated vvith incised parallel lines.

T h e presence th rou gh o u t the N eolithic and C h alcolithic periods in Europe and A natolia o f V ’s, chevrons or cross signs on fem ale breasts o r im m ed iately belovv them , o r on arms supporting breasts, suggests an identification o f rain vvith m ilk, an old and vvidespread b elief vvhich induced people to see vvom en’s breasts o r covv udders in the clouds. This b e lie f still extant am on g the A rctic hunters points to its origin in Palaeolithic times. V ’s are m arked on the breasts o f a painted clay figu re o f a goddess from shrine V I in C atal H i\yiik (M ellaart 19 6 7 : 18 2 , Fig. 50, Plate 79), and m an y o f the P roto-Sesklo goddesses o f T hessaly have red-painted V ’s on their breasts or chevrons incised on their hands. T h ere appears to have been an association betvveen a fem ale d ivin ity and divine m oisture from the skies. A beaked figu rin e from Porodin has, in addition to her norm al breasts, breast-like protuberances on the ncck, perhaps to invigorate the influence o f her m agical breasts. T h e double-headed B ird Goddess from V inča has breasts m arked vvith V ’s and her body is covered vvith a m eandrous design. A m o n g C ucuteni vessels, breasts sprout from basins held b y a fem ale figure and from ja rs; they are usually depieted in the centre o f bands or parallel lines sym bolizing rain torrents. Tvvo o f the m an y figurines found in the Chalcolithic levels o f the Sitagroi teli in northeastern G reece illustrate the arrangem ent o f these rain- or m ilk -in v o k in g sym bols. U n fortu nate- Iy, they are headless but other East Balkan figurines bearing the same signs have bird heads. N o te that there are three parallel lines betvveen

i i(5

the breasts and chevrons on these figurines; an identical sign o f three lines connected on top b y a horizontal line recurs on the figures in E arly Vinča reliefs. O n the neck o f an anthropom orphic vessel from the B iik k site o f Kenezlo in northeastern H u n gary, there is a mask ■vvith three lines incised betvveen the eyes and three m ore belovv the m outh. T h e body is incised vvith zigzagging and m eandering lines, sim ulating ‘torrents o f vvater’ : tiny arm stumps s.uggest the goddess’ vvings. Signs o f three interconnected lines engraved on hum an figures are present in the M agdalenian era o f the U p p er Palaeolithic. R ectan gles consisting o f three lines connected at the ends appear en graved on a hum an figure on the bone point from the A b ri M ege at T e y ja t (D ordogne). T h e hum an im age, p robably an abstract rendering o f a goddess, has a tiny head, double ovalo id vu lv a vvith tvvo lines belovv it, a serpentine decoration along the sides and strokes dovvn the legs (M arshack 19 7 2 : 3 15 ). T h e serpentine stroked design along each side seems to be a snake or vvater im age. T h e sym b olic connection vvith the abstract Snake or B ird Goddess im ages o f the N eo lith ic is apparent.

C h evro n s (m ultiple V ’s), tvvo, three or m ore parallel lines and a crossed chest band characterize the bird-headed or bird-m asked figurines. These signs are either incised or painted on their masks, heads, arm s o r b o d y. A crossed band vvith chevrons appears incised on the chest o f a bird-shaped figurine from V inča, and a sim ilar chest-band sign, associated vvith sym bols o f three connected lines, occurs on the b o d y o f a double-headed B ird Goddess. T h e chest- band sign is also found incised on double-headed stands and con- sistently occurs in com bination vvith chevrons on bird-headed or bird-m asked figurines, clay stamps and flat plaques. A n E arly Vinča anth ropom orph ic lid from Par^a bears, belovv the goddess’ eyes and nose, an X , p robably sign ifyin g chest bands, and a chevron appears in the upper segm ent. A Tisza pot vvith a spout, p robably used as a libation vase in ritual cerem onies, has the same ideogram incised on one p an e l; a second pauci contains four groups o f three parallel lines and a third panel large meanders. A n altar table from V inča, sup­ p ortin g a fem ale figure seated in front o f a vessel, p robably portray- ing a vvater-invocation scene, vvas also decorated vvith V ’s, a chest band and m eander m otifs. U nfortu nately, the upper part o f the seated figure is lost. A nother altar table from Fafos portrays a bear- or bull-legged altar table. T h e vvoman holding the vessel seems to be vvearing a mask representing a bear or a bird. The altar is decorated vvith chevrons. A rain-invocation or vvater-divination scene can be recognized in the sculpture from B ord još in northern Y u go slavia, representing a nude vvoman seated on a stool vvith a large basin on her lap. T h e stool is decorated vvith a m eander design. From vvhat follovvs vve shall scc that the m eander sym bolizes vvater.

1 1 7

79 D ouble-headed Vinča štand with hole in the middle incised with crossed chest bands and chevrons. Crnokalačka Bara, southeastem Yugoslavia. c. 5000 BC

So C la y seal bearing an ideogram o f a Bird Goddess: crossed chest bands and chevrons. Predionica, E arly

Vinča site near Priština,

Southern Yugoslavia. E n d o f

sixth millennium BC

8 1 Lid, bearing symbols o f Bird G oddess: chevrons and incised chest bands. Early Vinča. Parja site, uiestern Rom ania, end o f sixth millennium BC

7 7 Late V in ča vase w ith panels still sh o w in g the ‘ rain -to rre n t’ m o tif. M ean d er pan el on the other side. T h e V in ča site

78 , 79 Z o o m o r p h ic V in ča lids w ith a b ird ’s beak and inciscd bands o f ’ stream in g rain ’ . V in ča site: E a rly V in ča (78), Late V in ča (79)

80. 81 B ear-sh ap ed vase, incised vvith bands o f z ig z a g g iu g lines and striated triangles. S m ilčić site near Z a d a r. D an ilo cu lture. Se co n d h n lfo fs ix t h

m illen n iu m ik:

N j B e a r ' < p .ivv d e c o r a t e d vv it h b a n d s o t p a r a l l e l li n e s . O b r e II. l i .i r l v B u t m i r . l i. t r l v f i f t h m i l l e t m i u m 11c

83, 84 B u st o f a bird -h ead ed goddess w ith lo n g cy lin d ric al neck, cap o r h air bun , la rg e breasts and incised chevron s o v e r lo w e r arm s.

T h essaly. A y c a A n n a (M eg . V ry si) at T irn av o s, Sesk lo . c. 6000 b c

85 U p p e r torso o f a fig u rin e w ith cy lin d rical head and b ird ’s beak. P o ro d in , Southern Y u g o s la v ia . C en tra l B alk an N e o lith ic , S ta rč e vo c o m p lc x . E a rly sixth m illen n iu m b c

86 D ou b le-h ead cd goddess. E arly Vinča. Rastu, w cstern R om an ia. End sixth m illennium BC

87 A n th ro p o m o rp h ic pot su ggestin g a bird-sh aped vvater d ivin ity. T h e god d ess’ m ask is m arked vvith chevrons and triple lines. K en ezlo, B iik k g ro u p , northcastern H u n g ary. End sixth m illennium BC

88 Ja r featuring breasts set in ‘rain to rren t' bands. Early C u cu ten i, N cgresti, northeastem R o m a n ia . Late fifth m illennium b c

yo D ou b le-h ea d ed B ird G od d ess m arked vvith chest-band sign, chevrons and signs con sisting o f three con n ected lines. The V in ča site. £ a r ly fifth m illenn iu m B<:

<;l A ltar table vvith figure o f a vvom an h o ld in g a vessel. B oth d am aged . I’ ossib lv a r.iin-in vocation scene. B ird G o d d ess’ svm b o l 011 front tace o f altar. T h e V inča site.

,92 A ltar table in fo rm o f an an im ai-m ask ed ;woman h o ld in g a vessel d ecorated vvith meandering bands. L egs are b e ar- or bull-shaped. E a rly V in č a. Fafos !, Southern Yugoslavia

94 Seated n u d e vvom an h o ld in g a la rg e basin. P ossib ly a rain -in v o c atio n sccnc. Elab orate d iam on d -sh ap ed design incised 011 the side o f stool. T isza cu ltu re. B o rd jo š, northern Y u g o s la v ia

? U ppcr torso o f an Early te a figurine ivith a large tnđer incised over the '«y and face (mask). otporanj at Vrsac, ,rtheastern Yugoslavia

_ Figure o f ivater-bird ciscd ivith mcanders on ick and ivings, V ’s iti

it. Perforations piercc the y at neck and tail. The i ča site, Classical Vinča

82 Terracotta head ivith Bird Goddess* mask decorated ivith meanders over the top and parallel lines (rain torrents?) round the eyes. Potporanj, northeastern Yugoslavia. Classical Vinča. Fifth millennium b c

Th e m e a n d e r s y m b o l o f c o s m i c w a t e r s

T h e m eander vvas incised on figurines vvith bird-m asks or bird- heads, snake-arm s or snake-legs, and on masks, cult vessels and altars in ali cultural groups o f O ld Europe. Vinča statues representing dignified personages, som e seated and som e standing, vvear a disc- shaped pendant and h ave the m eander sym b ol m arked either on the abdom en or on the back or front o f the skirt. T h e same type o f incised pattern occurs on the forehead o f m ore elaborate masks, at the upper right corner o f the mask, or betvveen the eyes and extend- ing dovvn the bridge o f the nose. The front and the back o f the tvvo- headed Vinča goddess from G o m o lava is decorated vvith a large m eander, vvhile a m eander incised on the back o f a vvater bird from V inča refleets its association vvith a bird d ivin ity and vvith vvater.

T h e enlarged or double m eander m o tif must have originated as tvvo opposing lines - like tvvo snakcs vvith their heads m ceting but not touching - subsequently elaborated into an enorm ous meander design vvhich appears incised on body, pedim ent and throne. D ouble m eanders and double snakcs vvere also incised upon dises. Frequently the m eander is associated vvith striated triangles, chevrons, bands o f parallel lines and sem icircles; zoom orphic lids from Vinča sites and an o v a l plaque from the Vinča settlem ent o f Banjica servc as cxam plcs. T h e double m eander, incised vvith vvhitc-cncrusted lines at the centre o f the latter must have been a sign ofessential im portance in the cult o f the goddesses.

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A Linear B tablet (G g 702) from Knossos, deciphered b y Palm er 1- (1965), inform s us that the labyrinth must have been a sym b ol o f the | abode or ‘palače’ o f the ‘ M istress o f the L ab yrin th ’ (da-pu-ri-to-jo- ; p 0-ti-ni-ja). This palače o r cult place, i.e. the labyrinth, is thought to be depieted on a tablet from Pylos. T h e Pylian ‘labyrin th ’ is m ore com ple* than the meanders o f the Vinča, Gumelni^a, Tisza, Len gyel, B iikk and Cucuteni civilizations, and dates from 2000-3000 years later, but the link betvveen them is nevcrtheless apparent. T h e role o f the labyrinth in gam es and dances vvas still strong in R o m a n , Hellemstic and even later times. Com parison o f the interlaced m o vc- ments o f an Ancient Greek dance know n as the Ceranos (‘erane’) to the labyrinth strueture (H arrison 18 94: C X X V II I) leads to an understandm g o f the connection betvveen the labynnth and its Mistress, the prehistoric B ird Goddess. The erane m ay have been one o f the incarnations o f a vvater d ivinity, and the N eolithic figurines vvith flattened posteriors, stiff legs and long neeks p robably represent eranes o r vvater birds o f a sim ilar kind. W ater birds vvith long legs and neeks are depieted on C ucuteni vases and sim ilar bird-form s have been found m odelled in clay. Indeed, ali the evidence seems to indicate that the d ivin ity associated vvith the m eander had the attributes o f a vvater bird.

Panels o f labyrinthinc design associated vvith gate and vvater- stream sym bols appear on anthropom orphic vases and figurines o f enthroned goddesses from Szegvar, a settlement o f the Tisza cuiture located near Szentes in H u n gary. There is a system atically repeated arrangem ent o f the incised m otifs on these artifacts. T h e b o d y and throne o f the seated Szegvar goddess is covered vvith meanders organized in vertical and horizonta] panels, interspersed vvith parallel vertical lines and narrovv panels o f zigzags. A lth ough the panelled design is suggestive o f a garm ent made up o f m any pieces o f cloth sevvn together, it is unlikely that the entire decorative com position vvas m erely a copy o f an em broidered costume. T h e design appears to sym bolize several levels o f m ythical vvaters. C orresponding sym bolism is encountered on vessels from the Tisza sites o f S zegvar and K o k en yd o m b , cult vases vvhich vvere apparently used in ritual or festivals dedicated to the vvater d ivinity. T h e Szegvar footed vessel is divided by vertical lines into four alternating broad and narrovv panels containing diffcrent patterns o f incised labyrinthine meanders. S ix holes at the top and bottom o f the narrovv front panel must have had some spccial significance associated vvith the funetions o f the goddess. Incised patterns on the cylindrical body o f the vase from K o k en yd o m b scem to shovv meanders superim posed upon gates. O n the uppcr part o f the cylinder is a sign com posed o f scven horizonta! lines vvith six dots belovv and a vertical line above braneh- ing into three dots 011 top.

8,5 Schem atizedfigurine (a štand) with meanders and chevrons in fron t and at the back o f the neck. M asked head with peaked hat. E arly

Vinča. T u rda fsite, Transylvania

86 Low er part o f standing Vinča figurin e bearing meander sign in front. A gino Brdo site near Belgrade

87 Low cr part oj Itroken terracotta portraying an enthroned goddess. Meanders incised on the sides o f the throne. The Vinča site. Classical Vinča

95 V in ča m ask w ith v crtica l lines and a m eander fram ed vvith V ’s incised a b o v e the rig h t eyc. C rn o k a la ć k a B ara, southeastem Y u g o s la v ia 96 Pen tagon al V inča mask vvith m eanders ab o ve eyes and snakes belovv. M e d v e d n ja k , central Y u g o sla v ia c. 5000 bc

97 B ird G od d ess fro m V in ča vvith a m ed allion in the centre o f the chest bands, an o th er at the nape o f the n cck, and a m ean d er on fro n t an d 'b a c k o f skirt and on top o f m ask, c. 4500 - 4000 bc

98 F rag m en t o f a clay disc inciscd vvith meanders and spirals. T h e V in ča site. c. 4500 BC

99 U p p e r torso o f a V in ča fig u rin e w e p en tagon al m ask. A m ean d er s y m b o l i:

m ng a added a b o v e the n ose. M e d v e d n ja k , central Yugoslavia

100 , 10 1 D ou b le-h ea d ed g od d ess fro m Gom olava, n orthern Y u g o s la v ia . M ean d ers inciscd at front and b ack. P erfo ratio n s p ro b a b ly fo r attachm ent of pcrishablc m aterials (vvings, plu m es?). Vinca, m id -fifth m illcnnium ec

10 2 , 10 3 T h e S z e g v a r en th ron ed goddess. T isza culture. S z e g v a r-T u z k o v e s at Szentes, southeastem H u n g a ry . c. 5000 b c

10 4 F o o tcd vase d ecorated w ith m eander panels and six dots at top o f p anel. T isza