Sacred Display: Divine and Magical Female Figures of Eurasia By M ...

are in a dancing pose (see figures 1–2). A similar pose is found on a Cucuteni potsherd from Scînteia Nov (Scânteia), Iai County, northeastern Romania, near Moldova. The arms are raised and the legs form a crouching position in mirror image to the arms (see figure 3).⁵ The potsherd dates to ca. 4350-4050 BCE.⁶ Another, a similar figure also of the middle Neolithic, was excavated from the Vina B site of Zorlenu Mare, in Romania (see figure 4).⁷ Such figures have been found throughout Southeastern Europe.⁸

Figure 4. Female silhouette. Zorlenu Mare, Romania. Vina B, 4300–4200 BCE. Excavated by Gheorghe Lazarovici. From G. Lazarovici 2009: 68, annex I, table 4c. Courtesy of Gheorghe Lazarovici.