Two anthropomorphic figures on ceramic vessels from tell Yunatsite (Eneolithic)

Materials from Thracian Tell Yunatsite have been studied and published for a long time. The site has three layers. the lower layer C dates from the Eneolithic. The subsequent layer B comprises 16 Early Bronze Age horizons. Layer A which is the upper one is dated to the Iron Age. Materials originating from layers A and B have been largely published. The Bulgarian-Russian expedition examined the upper horizon of layer C that contains remains of a destroyed settlement. This paper focuses on solitary human images on vessel fragments. The Tell Yunatsite collection has two of such figures. One figure was engraved on vessel bottom and the second one is an applique relief on the wall of a vessel. The bottom of the vessel features a figure wearing a skirt with joined legs in adoration position, the hands are three-fingered, with the fingers spread out. Such figures are known in various European cultures from the Middle Eneolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The second fragment displaying an image comes from a thick-walled vessel. The preserved relief resembles the legs that are spread out and bent. It has some parallels dating to the period from the Early Neolithic to the Eneolithic. Judging by the analogies, the figure wearing a skirt in adoration correlates with both Eneolithic horizons (Karanovo V and VI) in equal measure; however, the depth at which it was found suggests that it is most likely linked to Karanovo VI. The paper discusses an issue of gender definition of the figurines. It shows that naked images with spread out legs can be female and male. The figures dressed in skirts do not have clear gender identity, though quite often they are perceived as female. Because these two figures in adoration on the vessel from Strelitsa, one of which wears a skirt while the other has the legs spread out, the figures from Yunatsite can be semantically matched. However, in this case, we will have to assume that the poorly preserved relief also featured a figure with the raised hands.