The Museum of Russian Art «

SACRED OBJECTS

TRYPILIAN SECTION

ANTHROPOMORPHIC SCULPTURE

This stone deity resembles stone figures found in the burials of the early nomadic herders of the Pit-grave and Catacomb cultures. These objects are an indication of the drastic changes of lifestyles and economies in the Bronze Age Europe. As the climate grew arid in the third millennium BC, land cultivation grew increasingly precarious, and peaceful sedentary communities began to adopt the mobile lifestyles of nomadic herders. This new development marked the end of the Trypilian society. Trypilians were absorbed into the mobile animal-herding cultures to the east and south of the Trypilian region.

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THE CIVILIZATION OF THE GODDESS

The Trypilian society left behind an array of artifacts that are likely to have been used in sacred rituals: models of temples, small chair-like altars, and figurines of humans and animals. Female figurines are ubiquitous, mostly found in the sacred corners of Trypilian houses. The majority of femalefigurines found at Trypilian sites are made of clay mixed with grains of wheat and barley as well as peas. The representations are diverse ranging from seated plump figures to upright slender ‘maiden goddess’ figurines. Male figurines and symbols are rare in Trypilian settlements.

In the 4th-3rd millennia B.C., these societies were gradually supplanted by war-like nomadic Indo-European tribes. The nomads buried their dead in kurgans, burial mounds found throughout the Eurasian steppe zone. This collision of cultures resulted in the disintegration of the rich cultural fabric of Old Europe. Gimbutas’ kurgan theory is one of several influential theories striving to interpret Europe’s distant past.

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