Examples of anthropomorphic figurines from the Chalcolithic settlement mound at Pietrele (Romania)

Abstract

This paper is detailing some of the most recent observations on the anthropomorphic plastic discovered over the last 15 years, during the excavation of the Chalcolithic settlement mound at Pietrele (Romania). Firstly, a clay statuette showing evidently morphological features close to the ones of the Cucuteni-Tripolje culture is presented and the inquiry of whether or not it should be regarded as an “import” is forwarded. In addition, a similar assumption is proposed for a marble statuette found in 2007 at the same site. Finally, those stratigraphic observations which suggest the first occurrences of figurines made of bone as well as the presumed origin of clay statuettes with a so-called swollen belly are discussed.