Tiempos y espacios en clave de género

H A striking developm ent in art at the inception o f the agricultural era vvas its persistent representation o f a num ber o f conventionalized I graphic designs sym bolizing abstract ideas. These ideogram s, recurring on figurines, stamp seals, dishes, cult vessels, and as part o f pictorial decoration o f vases and house vvalls, vvere used for thcuisands ofyears throughout O ld European civilization, and help to expand our understanding o f its cosm ogo n y and co sm o lo gy, and o f the funetions o f the deities it sustained.

The sym bols fali into tvvo basic categories: those related to vvater or rain, the snake and the bird ; and those associated vvith the m oon, the vegetal life-cycle, the rotation o f seasons, the birth and grovvth essential to the perpetuation o f life. The first category consists o f symbols vvith sim ple parallel lines, V ’s, zigzags, chevrons and meanders, and spirals. T h e second group ineludes the cross, the encircled cross and m ore com plex derivations o f this basic m o tif vvhich sym b olically connects the four corners o f the vvorld, the crescent, horn, Caterpillar, egg and fish.

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

The cross, vvith its arms direeted to the four corners o ft h e eosm os, is a universa] sym bol created or adopted by farm ing com m unitics in the N eolithic and extending into present day folk art. It is based on

the b e lie f that the year is a jo u rn e y em bracing the four C a rd in a l

direetions. Its purpose is to prom ote and assure the contm uance o f the cosm ic cycle, to help the vvorld through ali phases o f the m oon and the ehanging seasons. Graphite-painted East Balkan dishes have cross and cosm ic snake designs vvhich recurrently present identical com positions o f ‘ the universc’ . The hooks or branehing lines attached to the four arm s o f the cross reinforce its d ynam icexp ression. These vital signs are cncountered on the bases, the insides o f dishes, on figurines and stam p seals.

45 Craphite-painted dishes with cross and snake motifs in the centre o f the cosmos. Tangira mound, Rom ania. East Balkan civilization. M id-Jifth millennium b c

6 F-ourjold signs inciscd on ■titra! European Linear ottery dishes. B ylany and her sur.' in Bohemia. Umi xth—early fifth millenniuni

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The cross and its various derivative sym bols are frequently Jičountered in the incised or painted ceram ic decorations o f each *f§)lithic and C h alcolithic grou p . T h eir consistent appearance on $ishes, bow ls, vases, stamp seals and the crow ns o f figurines strongly ||g ests that they are ideogram s necessary to prom ote the recurrent irthand g ro w th o f plant, anim al, and hum an life. T h e y are sym bols ilt h e continuum o f life w hich had to be ensured. Painted or engraved ! h the bases or insides o f dishes they must have served as go od -lu ck sjm bols as they still do in the European peasant culture. Life is 'resent on ly w here there is no stagnation and the regularity o f nature not obstructed b y the forces o f death. In E gyp tian hieroglyphics the cross stands for life or liv in g and form s part o f such w ords as fp!health’ and ‘happiness’ . A related concept could have dom inated S lh e minds o f early European farmers. A sm ooth transition from one ||)hase to another spelled happiness. T h e fou rfold com positions, K | ir c h e t y p a l o f perpetual renewal or wholeness and the m oon in the Ms' symbolism o f O ld Europe, are associated vvith the Great Goddess o f Life and Death, and the Goddess o f V egetation, m oon goddesses Par excellence.

The sym bols o f ‘b ecom in g’ - crescents, caterpillars and horns - ■ P lc c o m p a n y fou rfold designs. T h e y do not depict the end result o f s m r wholeness but rather the continuous strivin g tovvards it, the active a p .p r o c e s s o f creation. A painting on a Cucuteni dish from Valea f* Lupului shovvs stylized horns o f four bulls, each quartered b y crossed om lines, with a crescent o r a Caterpillar in each section, a sym bol related S ' to the idea o f periodic regeneration. There is a m orphological relationship betvveen the buli, on.account o f its fast-grow in g horns, and the w a x in g aspect o f the m oon, vvhich is further evidence o f the bull’s sym b olic funetion as invigorator. T h e w orship o f the m oon and horns is the w o r s h i p o f the C re a tiv e and fecund p o v v e rs o f nature. In W estern Asia o f the fourth to second m illennia, the cross was usually associated vvith the lunar crescent and was an alternative

symbol o f the m oon (Briffault 1 9 6 3 : 3 4 3 , Figs. 8 - 1 2 ) . Painted on a

Classical C u cuteni vase from Tru$e§ti are quartered d is c d e s ig n s

having a cross inside vvith knobbed extrem ities, p robably sym boliz- ing four phases o f the m oon, hooked to a horn. A portrayal o f the head o f a buli vvith the lunar disc betvveen its horns occurs in relief on a vase from a Late Cucuteni site o f Podei. T h e disc is quartcred by Crossing lines possibly indicating the four phases o f the m oon. In the low er section o f the vase, the bu ll’s horns are shovvn upside dovvn, perhaps to sym b olize the dcad buli. In this and m any sim ilar por- trayals w e m ay recognize the sacrificial aspect o f the act o f creation.

The G reat G oddess, as w e shall s c e later, em erges from the dead buli

in the shape o f a bee o r a butterfly. T h e life process o f creation and destruetion is the basis fo r im m ortality.

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47 Schem atizedfigurine having crou/n engraved u/ith quartered design, fo u n d in a clay silo fille d with wheat grain. M edvedn jak, Vinča site near Smederevska P alanka, Central Yugoslavia. c. 5000 b c. Note chevrons above eyes

0 1 2 3 CM

1 f < - I 4S Pottery stamp bearing a quartered design. M ultiple chevrons in each section. Ruse, lou'er Danube. East Balkan civilization. (Karanovo V I). M id-fifth millennium BC

49 Q u atrefo il design painted on the inside o f a Late C u cu ten i d ish : fo u r b u ll’s horn s e n v e lo p in g a qu artcrcd disc w ith a crescent o r a Caterpillar in each section. V alea L u p u lu i, M o ld a v ia , n orthcastern R o m a n ia . M id -fo u rth m illen n iu m b c

50 Q u artered discs e m e rg in g fro m b u ll’s horn s (o n ly one h o rn is visible.) P o ly c h ro m e painted C lassical C u cu ten i v ise . T ru se jti, northcastern R o m a n ia . Late fifth m illen n iu m BC

5 1 P ainted Late C u cu ten i vase vvith b u ll’s head in relief. T h e b u ll’s outsize horns en circle a q u artered disc. D a rk b ro w n on w h ite. P od ei at T a r g u -O c n a , n ortheastcrn R o m a n ia . M id -fo u rth m illenn iu m b c

52 H orn ed terracotta štand (one h o rn bro kcn ) vvith fem ale breasts. It has a hole on top betvveen the horn s. M e d v e d n ja k , V in ča site at S m ed erev sk a P alan ka, southeast o f B elg rad e. c. 5000 BC

53 T erraco tta fig u r in e o f a b u li vvith e x a g g e r a t c d ly large h o r n s (b o th b r o k e n off). V in ča cuiture. Fafos, So u th ern Y u g o s la v ia . Fifth m ille n n iu m bc

T he sacredness o f the buli is expressed in particular through the f emphasis on horns. T h e y are sometimes as large as the w h ole animai figurine. R e p le te w ith a m ysterious p o w e r o f g ro w th , the horns have becom e a lunar sym b ol, vvhich is presum ed to have com e into being in the U p p e r Palaeolithic A u rig n a đ an vvhen reliefs o f naked wom en holding a horn begin to appear (cf. the re lie f from the cave o f Laussel in Southern France). In the m ythical im agery o f O ld Europe the buli vvas as dom inant as elsevvhere in the M editerranean vvorld. T erracotta figurines o f bulls in the C ucu teni civilization usually have conical bosses on the forehead or a piece o f copper set betvveen the horns (a figurine vvith copper on the forehead vvas m unearthed at B o lb o ch , a classical Cucuteni settlem ent near Kishenev). The heads o f bulls vvith rosettes on the foreheads knovvn from M inoan and M ycenaean art inherited this O ld European tradition. H orns o f consecration, so frequent in M inoan art, vvere already present in the Vinča and East B alkan civilizations. H undreds o f horned stands vvith a central hole for the insertion o f som e divine im age m ade o f perish- able m aterial are found in V inča sites. In one case the breasts o f the go d -

i! dess are indicated on the štand. The abundance o f these stands vvould

jP-.

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i suggest their association vvith some sort o f m yth -enacting cerem ony, f and the beginning o f this sym bol probably goes back to the prim or- ■ dial sacrifice vvith the underlying concept that out o f the sacrificed

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bull’s b o d y a new life em erges. The schematized buli horn represents

I one o f the basic philosophical ideas o f O ld European religion ; per­

haps this is w h y they are so num erous - as num erous as horns o f consecration in the Palače o f Knossos. T h e tradition o f expressing the same idea in shorthand continued in the Proto-palatial period o f Crete. T h e so-called ‘sheep-beH’ figurines vvith a suspension ring, | tvvo horn-like projeetions and eyes or a m asked face depieted on the

V body, found at Knossos, Poros, Tylissos and V o ro u (Platon 1 9 4 9:

833f.) p robably represent a divinity in com bination vvith the horns sym bolical o f a sacrificed buli. In N eo-palatial C rete, the horns o f

| consecration are alvvays associated vvith the epiphany o f the Goddess

in the shape o f a d oublc-axe (a butterfly), a tree or a pillar.

Th e s n a k e

The snake and its abstracted derivative, the spiral, are the dom inant motifs o f the art o f O ld Europe, and their im agin ativc use in spirali- form design throughout the N eolithic and C h alcolithic periods remaincd unsurpasscd by any subsequent decorativc stylc until the Minoan civilization, the sole inheritor o f O ld European lavishness. The Chalcolithic B u tm ir, Cucuteni, and East Balkan peoples created large bulbous vessels, adopting the snake-spiral as the basis o f the entire ornam ental com position. This art rcachcd its peak o f unified

» . sym bolic and aesthetic cxpression c. 5000 b c .

49 M iniature terracotta horns o j consecration from 1, 2 , Ruse, C um elnija com p lex; 3 , Vinča. Fifth m illennium b c

55. 5<> 57

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5«. 59 60 5» 5 1 5». 52 5.1

‘Sym p honies o f snakes’ appear in colours and in graphite or vvhite- encrusted incisions on cult vases, lamps, altar tables, hearth panels and house vvalls. C o n cu rren tly, almost naturalistic m odels o f snakes were produced b y ali the cultural groups o f O ld Europe in bone, w o o d or clay. A coiled pottery snake, decorated vvith incised zigzag and punctate designs, vvas found at the E arly Vinča settlement o f Predio­ nica. T h e entire inner surface o f a ritual dish vvith holes fro m K u ko va M og ila in B ulgaria is covered b y a snake coil. The zigzaggin g outer coil contrasts witf\th,e inner spiral and suggests the radiating sun. A form idable horned snake m odelled in re lie f vvinds around a N eo li­ thic pot from the site' o f S u vo d o l-D ib el in Pelagonia. Snakes, their bodies m arked by dots or com b-like stamps, h ave been found in­ cised on a n u m b e ro f vases from the Vinča m ound. The V inča settle­ m ent o f Potporanj at V ršac yieldcd curling snakes carved out o f bone, vvith triangular heads and cye-holes. Snake ornam entation dominates the ceramics o f the N eo lith ic Linear Pottery culture in central Europe and that o f the B iik k group in the Carpathian foothills, rangin g in expression from naturalistic portrayals to elegantly cu rvin g geo- m etric designs. Snakes m odelled in relief, som etim es vvith fine naturalistic detail, m eander across the inner surface o f dishes dis­ eovered in gravcs at the D v o ry and Ž ita v o u cem etery o fŽ e le z o v c e , a variant o f the Linear Pottery culture in vvestern S lo vak ia. Sim ilar snakes, but painted in black or brovvn on orange piriform vases, are frequ en tly encountercd du ring the Late C ucuteni period. T h e snake coil also appears 011 C ucuteni stam p seals.

T h e m ysterious dynam ism o f the snake, its extraordinary vitality and periodic rejuvenation, must have provoked a povverful em o- tional response in the N eolithic agriculturists, and the snake vvas consequently m yth o!ogized , attributed w ith a povver that can m ove the entire cosmos. C om p osition s 011 the shoulders o f cult vases reveal pairs o f snakes vvith opposed heads, ‘ m aking the vvorld ro ll’ vvith the cn ergy o f their spiralling bodies. Tension betvvcen the tvvo is em pha- sized, since it is not ju st one snake that begins the m ovem ent. This m o tif occurs in various degrees o f sehematization du ring the N eolithic and C h alcolithic eras. The m ore naturalistic tendency is to distinguish the heads and bodies o f snakes and their tails, vvhich end in vvidespread triangles, a contrivance to fill the space betvveen the discs or ovals. The organization o ft h e m otifs dem onstrates that the im agery is gcnuinely co sm o go n ic: the disc and snake com positions appear in bands occu p yin g the m iddle o ft h e vases, associated vvith belts o f the upper skies containing rain clouds, divine dogs and favvns. T h e b ek o f earth is characterized b y plant motifs. O n som e vases snake coils in the upper bands have diagonal stripes, p robably to indicatc torrents o f rain. In som e cases the snake is portrayed vvinding across the cosm ic d oub le-egg.

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The involved ornam entation o f Cucuteni and East B alkan cera- fflic painting is a sym b olic glorification o f natu re’s d ynam ism . Its graphic expression is organized around the sym b ol o f the snake, whose presence vvas a guarantee that nature’s enigm atic cycle w o u ld be maintained and its life-g iv in g povvers not dim inish. T h e snake vvas the vehicle o f im m ortality. Som e vases flaunt a gigan tic snake vvinding or stretehing o ver ‘the vvholc universe’ , o v er the sun or moon, stars and rain torrents; elsevvhere the snake vvinds ab ove or belovv a grovving plant or coils above the pregnant m oth er’s belly. Snakes coil in concentric circles coverin g e very protuberance, the buttocks as w ell as the fem ale abdom en. The sanctity o f protuberance is indicated b y the special attention given e ve ry co n vcx roundness o f the fem ale b o d y - even a knee is encircled. S im ilarly, the snake is usually present on a bu ll’s rum p or shoulders. The phallus, as vvell as ithyphallic vases and lids, is also accom panied by snake coils. T h e snake vvas stim ulator and guardian o f the spontancous life energy, and this anatom ical association, so frequent that its sym b o lic m ean- ing cannot be doubted, dem onstrates the povver that vvas attributed to bodily protuberances as its source.

In the N eolithic m ound o f Poroditi in M acedonia num erous ceramic snakes vvere diseovered. O rigin ally they vvere attached to vessels, perhaps vvater containers, used in ritual cerem onies. A reconstruction o f such a vessel is here reproduced. S im ilar snake- or phallus-shaped ‘elongated heads’ h ave been diseovered in R a m a d , Level III, a sixth-m illennium villagc in Syria (Contenson 1 9 7 1 : 285).

The phallus, horns, snake, vvater bird, and vvater are closeIy interrelated in m yth and cult. T h e m ystery o f life lies in vvater, in oceans, deep seas, lakes o r rivers. G ods are born from vvater. D io n y - sus com es from vvater, as do the B ird Goddess, Athcna, o r A ph rodite. On pictorial Cucuteni vases and Tisza altars vvc sce bird-đavved or horned goddesses borne in the vvomb o f m ythical vvaters. T h e uni- versal snake vvinds around the universal egg like a continuous flovv o f vvater. T o the pocts and philosophers o fa n cie n t Greece vvater vvas the prim ordial elem ent, able to produce life, stimulate its grovvth and nurture it vvith dam p vvarmth. This concept o f the genesis o f the universe from an elem ental aqua-substance surely extends back in time to the N eo lith ic-C h alcolith ic era.

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110, 92 5 6

j o Snahe and disc motifs as ornamentaI belts 011 the shoulders o fa Classical Cucuteni vase from the sile o f H ib S fi'fti, M otdavia, northeastern Romania. a, va se; b , ornament around tlte shoulders.

54 Potcery snake fro m P red io n ica at Priština, Y u g o s la v ia . E a rly V in ča. En d o f sixth m illen n iu m b c

55, 56 P o ttery b o w l wich holes and a snake coil inside sh o w n in relief. P ro b a b ly used in Cerem onies of rain in vo catio n . K u k o v a M o g ila . centra! B u lg a ria . K a ra n o v o Hl c o m p le x , East B alk an civilization . End o f sixth m illen n iu m b c

57 A h o rn ed snake w ith la rg e c y c s fro m D ib el, a Late N e o lith ic settlem ent near B ito la , vvestern M accd o n ia. P o ttc ry re lie f on the sh ou ld er o f a vaše

58, 59 Sn ake in a dish fro m the cem etery o f D v o r y nad Ž ita v o u , w estern S lo v ak ia (detail). E a rly fifth m illenn iu m b c

t;6o Painted snake o n a Late gCucuteni vase from Bilcze Z lo te

;tail). First h a lf o f fourth nillennium b c

6 1 , 62 Sn ak e heads as decoration o f cult vessels. T errac o tta. P o ro d in , S o u th e rn Y u g o s la v ia . N e o lith ic S ta rče v o c o m p le x . c. 6 0 0 0 BC

63, 64 H o rn ed head in association vvith snakes (head o f a S n ak e Goddess) shovvn in re lie f 011 a vase from T e li A zm ak , central B u lgaria. East Balkan (K a ra n o v o I) civilization . c. 6000 BC

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$ A n th ro p o m o rp h ic terracotta fig u rin e o f a crovvned S n a k e G od d ess from K a to lerapctra, N eolithic C re te . T h e legs are fo rm ed like snakes. D isconnectcd lines c o v e r the breasts and shoulders and ex tc n d o v e r the lo w c r back

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V inča lid vvith punetated sn ake-m ean d er, and ehevrons on to p . c. sooo-carly fifth m illc n n iu m

R u tm k ig sn a k e-sp ira l k , rain c'louds, d iv in e dogs

p la titi on p ain ted Late •Meni vases fro m ointsi, mestern U k ra in e. mid-fourtk m lk n n iu m BC

T h e m vthical w ater snake and the vvater bird are vehicles o f an energy w hich has its source in water. In O ld European sym bolism these im ages are intim ately related, as w ili be seen from the next chapter. The snake w inds on the w ings o f a bird and is depieted on the beaked Vinča lid,

F ro m the E arly N eo lith ic to ancient Greece the snake appears in an anthropom orphic shape as a Snake Goddess. H er b o d y is usuallv decorated w ith stripes or snake spirals, while her arms and legs are portrayed as snakes, or she is entwined by one or m ore snakes. H er anthropom orphized im age occurs on vases enveloped b y a snake. O n a vase from the N eolithic stratum o f the m ound o f A zm ak in B u l­ garia, her face is hum an but her eyebrow s resem ble horns. M o n - strous horned heads w ith anthropom orphic features and bird-

claw ed or snake-like hands reappear in Pre-palatial C rete (c f. A lexio u

19 5 8 : Pl. IA , 10). Snake spirals, agglom erations o f snakes or hybrids, half-snake and half-hum an, vvith spiralling extrem ities are painted in black on the cave vvalls o fP o rto Badisco in A pu lia (Graziosi 19 7 1).

Th e p r i m o r d i a l e g g

Stories o f creation knovvn to European and non-European peoples represent stages o f a lon g process o f developm ent. Because o f their ‘p rim ev al’ character they are considered to be ve ry old. T h e actual record o f this ‘prim ordial stage’ o f creation m yths is lim ited, since not everyw h ere in prehistoric cultures vvere they expressed in im ages. Ethnological parallels from fishing and hunting societies indirectly prove the Palaeolithic origir. o f the cosm ogonical ideas centring around vvater, vvater bird, egg, doe, and vvoman. D u ring the N eolithic and C halcolithic the stories o f creation vvere quite com plex, as can be seen from vase paintings and frescoes.

T h e prim al elem ent o f the universe vvas conceived as vvater. The abstract paintings on Cucuteni vases further reveal the form ation o f the vvorld and the beginning o f life from an egg in the midst o f vvhich a germ resided. T h e egg is enveloped 111 vvater, represented

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5 2 C u lt vessel with two snahe heads attached to j'ro'nt corners. Poroditi, Southern

Yugoslavia. c. 6000 15c

5 j Snakes coiling across ‘ rain torrents'. Painted abstract design on a Classical Cucuteni vase from Vladim irouka, Southern Bug V alley, u'estern Ukraine. Iind o f fifth niillenniuni b c

4 Snake ivinding across juble-eggs enveloped in oiving ivater: painted nnpositions on Late 'ucuteni dishes from "omashevka, ivestern Jkraine. c. mid-fourth ii l leti ni um k c

15 Stiake 'adagio' on a <ra p hi te-pai nted G um e I ui(a •ase from the Tangira nound lowvr D anube region. ■ihoi’e, reconstrmted pase vith profile indicated on left id e ; heloiv, exploded irau’ing o f decoration.

by parallel lines. T h e sym b ol o f life energy - the snake - winds

In document María Andrea Voria * María Eugenia Míguez ** (página 25-30)