Anthropomorphic Clay Figurines from Neolithic Settlements in Northern Kurzeme, Latvia

Ilze Loze (Latvia)

Abstract

The serial manufacture of Neolithic anthropomorphic clay figurines and their accumulation in dwellings is rare northern Europe. In the latter half of the 1930s, a dune settlement was discovered near a lagoon in Northern Kurzeme where the first miniature clay anthropomorphic figurines were found. Archaeological investigations carried out by the author from 1993 to 2001 in Northern Kurzeme, in the narrow zone of the blown–out dunes between the littoral of the Litirina Sea and the coast of the Ģipka lagoon (later lake) at Ģipka A and B settlement, opened up new possibilities for research on miniature anthropomorphic plastic art in clay of the local Pit Ceramic culture of Northern Kurzeme. The clay anthropomorphic figurines found at there were classsified by making use of fragmentary figurines with broken off heads, breasts and other parts of torsos. The least damaged figurine from the Pūrciems C site served as a standard of comparision for the proportions of the others. These figurines are carefully modeled and demonstrate the mastering of a special style and elegance of ornamentation, rooted in a deep respect for tradition, the world of the dead, ritual events and their symbolism. These original clay ceramics have no analogues in the territories around the Baltic Sea basin and are evidence of the mature period of Neolithic artistic taste. The magnificent ornamental compositions on these figurines disclose the symbolism of early agricultural communities which open unique possibilities for investigations into systems of archaic symbols in the East Baltic region.