Valeska Becker (editor) - Bodies of clay : on prehistoric humanised pottery

Istvn Zalai-Gal (19512017)

At least since the very beginnings of the usage of containers made of burned clay, vessels have been associated with the general shape and the parts of the human body. And even in todays terminology they are divided into elements like neck, shoulder and body, which is true for almost any language.

This understanding culminated in the production of human-shaped pottery which might be understood as a part of the spectrum of figural art in prehistoric communities. Starting with the European Neolithic and moving on through the Bronze and Iron Ages, this book aims to focus on diachronic archaeological patterns and contexts as well as on the theoretical background of this particular type of container in order to shed some light on similarities and differences through the ages and to understand both possibilities and limits of interpretation.

The idea of studying anthropomorphic pottery in general and the return of human beings into a body made of clay originated in our own works on anthropomorphic features of Neolithic communities between the Near East and Europe. From the beginnings of systematic prehistoric research, humanised containers aroused great interest. Numerous scholars all over Europe and beyond are engaged in questions concerning the analysis of human features and characteristics on vessels, their occurrence, function and their disposal. However, surprisingly there were almost no diachronic and comprehensive studies about this phenomenon.

Therefore, a session was held at the 19th Annual Meeting of the EAA in Pilsen, Czech Republic, in September 2013. The papers presented were of great academic value, and the discussion of the interpretation of these finds before, during and after the meeting revealed the great hermeneutic potential of this particular find category. By publishing the papers and discussions, supplemented with contributions of further scholars, we hope to spark a new debate about human-shaped pottery.

We are very thankful to all the colleagues who accompanied and supported the conference and the subsequent making of this book. We are grateful to Anneli ONeill of Munich University who carried out linguistic corrections. We also wish to thank Julie Gardiner and Mette Bundgaard of Oxbow Books and Hannah McAdams of Casemate Publishers for the professional assistance, editing and layout.

This book is dedicated to the memory of our friend and colleague Istvn Zalai-Gal, a renowned and highly-regarded specialist for the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of South-East and Central Europe, who also made a valuable contribution to the knowledge and understanding of Lengyel Culture anthropomorphic pottery.

Constantin Aparaschivei

Bucovina Museum

tefan cel Mare Str. 33

720003 Suceava

Romania

Valeska Becker

Westflische Wilhelms-Universitt

Mnster

Abteilung fr Ur- und

Frhgeschichtliche Archologie

Robert-Koch-Strae 29

48149 Mnster

Germany

Daniela Hofmann

Universitt Hamburg

Fachbereich Kulturwissenschaften

Institut fr Vor- und Frhgeschichtliche

Archologie

Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 (West)

20146 Hamburg

Germany

Theodor Ignat

The Bucharest Municipality Museum

I. C. Bratianu 2

030174 Bucharest

Romania

Catalin Lazar

National History Museum of Romania

Calea Victoriei 12

030026 Bucharest

Romania

University of Bucharest

Mihail Kogalniceanu 36-46

50107 Bucharest

Romania

Goce Naumov

Goce Delcev University

Center for Prehistoric Research

Kiro Krstevski Platnik 11 - 2/7

1000 Skopje

Republic of Macedonia

Vasile Opri

The Bucharest Municipality Museum

I.C. Bratianu 2

030174 Bucharest

Romania

Ivan Pavl

Plamnkov 15

140 00 Praha 4

Czech Republic

Joanna Pyzel

Uniwersytet Gdaski

Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii

Ul. Bielaska 5

80-851 Gdask

Poland

Johanna Recchia

Universit Paul Valry Montpellier III

Archologie des Socits

Mditerranennes

UMR 5140 - Socits de la Prhistoire et

de la Protohistoire

34 Route de Mende

34000 Montpellier

France

Heiner Schwarzberg

Archologische Staatssammlung