Н. Ангелов. Златното съкровище от Хотница

Three-finger Anthropomorphic Images from the Struma River Basin

Stefan Chohadzhiev

Стефан Чохаджиев

Трипръстни антропоморфны изображения от басейна па р. Струма

В сьобщението са разгледани трипрьстните антропоморфны изображения, открити при проучване на три пра­исторически обекта: Гъльбник (от ранния неолит): Слатино (от раннин халколит) и Ьаксево (от късния халколит). И трите имат сходна иконография - изправена човешка фигура в поза на адорация с дълга шил, силно разширеп ханш и подчертини три пръста на всяка ръка. Изказано е предположение, че изобразената персона е медиатор между чо-всшкия род и природните стихии, измолваща плодородие, гадаеща бьдещето и сьхраняваща знанието за природата и небесните тела.

The anthropomorphic images, dating back to the neolith and the eneolith, have been and stili are a subject of various studies: by those who originally found them, the archaeolo-gists, as well by ethnographers, art specialists, anthropologists, historians, etc. Most of them, due to various reasons, but mostly because of accepting uncritically the terminology used be-fore them, group them under the general term "idol plastics", while every separate small figure is called an "idol".

H. Todorova made the first attempi to rede-fine the function of thèse figures after she dis-covered the so-called "cult scene" from Ovcha-rovo (Todorova 1972). She bears the credit for initiating the distinction between "idols" and figures with différent functions. H. Todorova proved in a quite adequate way that the anthro­pomorphic figures with hands spread apart and upwards (adoration) do not represent the dei-ties themselves, but rather stand for mediators ("priests") between humans and gods (natural éléments), or do personify fertility which is ask-ing for blessing (Todorova 1972). The innovative idea of H. Todorova directed us to a search for a rational interprétation of the anthropomorphic images, which are the subject of this note.

The rieh and diverse anthropomorphic plas­tic expression is a major characteristic of the spiritual culture of any agricultural and cattle-breeding society. The two-dimensional images are significantly less common, and usually they cover the sides of the vessels. Images, display-ing three-finger human figures, are even less common. Although rarely found, thèse figures are spread over a vast territory, from Middle Europe to Asia, and they date back to différent prehistorical periods (Eneolith 1982, T. XCII, T. LXVII, T. LXI, T. LXXIV; Kalicz 1987, 59, 71, fig. 24, 20; Antonova 1984, 104, fig. 12. 7, 9, 10; Mazin 1976, Tab. 5. 12, 17, 19). Anthropo­morphic vessels, reminding to a high degree of the images in adoration, are also found relative-ly often (Nikolov 1974,47, 78; Kalicz 1970, Taf. 24, Taf. 65-68), but they will not be a subject of this study. Neither we are going to focus on the commonly found individuai images of hands, which have a différent interprétation (Stoliar 1976), although they are related indirectly to the images, subject of this note.

The basin of the Struma River displays a certain concentration of three-finger images, which explicitly affirms the existence of a defi­nite iconography, typical for the whole histori-cal period.

The drawing of a human figure in the pose of adoration, found in Galabnik, is the earliest one so far (Chohadzhiev 1990, 14, fig. 7. 9). It has been drawn with a black paint over the pro-truding side of a vessel, dating from the middle of the early neolith - IIb degree according to M. Chohadzhiev (fig. 1. 3). Its preserved height is about 0.09 m. The head is missing, as well as parts ofthe left hand and the hip. The figure is stylized: the neck is long; the hands are spread wide apart and lifted upwards at a right an­gle; the hip is unusually enlarged, creating the impression that the figure is dressed in "shal-

vais", tightened around the ankles. A triangle in negative is imprinted over the right half of the hip. The small figure from Vaksevo (fig. 1. 1) is marked on the same place. The three distinct fingers on each hand are an impor­tant feature of the image. We are familiar with a similar painted image form the early neolith from Sapareva Banya (Georgiev et al. 1986, 127. fig. 15. 3). There is a general impression of a swastika-like shape, but at the same time the figure could be perceived as anthropomorphic. The image from the village of Gäläbnik is also similar, and its hands are three-fingered too, al-though the left hand points downwards.

The second image was found in the village of Slatino, Kyustendil région, and it dates back to the early eneolith (Chohadzhiev 1992, 7). So far, it is the only one drawn with graphite (fig. 1. 2). The drawing is made on the floor of a dwelling of an open type (sanctuary?), similar to the model from Ovcharovo (Todorova 1983, T. XII). The preserved height of the figure is 0.045 m. A. Raduntcheva has reported a similar, em-bossed clay figure in an adoration position, only in full-size, found in the village of Dolnoslav, Plovdiv région. This image impresses with the unusually precise display of all détails, despite the general sketchiness of the line. The head is almost round, and the neck is relatively long. The hair is distinct: untidy locks, falling over the paté, and two pairs of braids, falling down to the Shoulders. A band crosses the forehead horizon-tally. The eyes, the nose, and the lips are clearly seen. The hands are spread apart and upwards. Again, one can see three distinct fingers on each hand. Besides them, one can clearly distinguish the three bands hanging down from each hand. There are also three bands hanging down from each Shoulder. Due to the fragmented state of the drawing, it is impossible to reconstruct how the lower part of the drawing would look.

Unlike the first two images, the third one rendéis a complete information about the whole appearance of the figure (fig. 1. 1). It has been imposed over the outer side of the bottoni of a vessel, found in the "Studena Voda" area near the village of Vaksevo, Kyustendil région; it dates back to the early eneolith. The figure has been made by cutting through in the raw clay before baking the vessel. Its height is 0.058 m. It is made in a schematic manner, while the individuai parts of the body are rendered ex-clusively through the use of right and sharp angles, almost like in "cubism", without the use of any curved lines. The head is triangular; the eyes and the nose are clearly seen. A simi­lar représentation of the head is familiar to us from Ovcharovo (Todorova 1983, T. 91. 4). The hands, as with the other images, bend at the el-bows at a right angle and point upwards. The three fingers at each hand can be distinguished clearly. The body is represented by a single ver­tical line, while the hip and the legs again ap-pear as if they have been dressed in "shalvars." The feet are marked too, in profile.

The three anthropomorphic figures un-doubtedly share a common iconography: arms bent at the elbows and lifted upwards with three wide spread fingers. The différence between them and the clay figures in adoration pose consists mostly in the three spreacl fingers. We assume that the emphasis on the fingers is pos-sible only with two-dimensional images; with the clay figures these fingers could easily break. However, we find this significant iconographic detail realized in some anthropomorphic ves­sels, which represent stylized human bodies in the pose of adoration, through three miniature pits on the place where the hands would be.

Apparently, the three fingers play the ma-jor role in this gesture of blessing or of asking for it. Indeed, the significance of the number "three" in the human life throughout all epochs has been connected with its rich semantic charge and magical power (Coopf.r 1993, 241-243). We find expressions of the cult to the number 'three" during the neolith and the eneolith in our land in the shapes of some "triple" vessels, in the three-belted decoration of ceramics, and in the triple symmetry of individual motives, legs, and handles.

In later periods, we can find resemblance in the iconography of these images with the ges­ture "benedicto latina" from the iconography in the relief of the "Thracian horseman" (Oper­man 1970, 24). Probably, the gesture is connected with blessing, protection, and healing (Coopf.r

References