“Group Portrait” of the Early Agricultural Era: A Set of Figurines of Vinča Culture from Stubline (Serbia) in the Context of the European Neolithic and Copper Age Societies

Abstract

One of the most fruitful trends in contemporary Art History is the social history of art. Interpretation of artworks of preliterate cultures is possible by revealing the interrelationships between a particular society, the peculiarities of its ecology, and the figurative system presented in its art. European Neolithic and Chalcolithic societies (7th–3rd millennia BC) are different by its’ structure: from hierarchical to relatively homogeneous. But just during this epoque war became one of the modes of production, giving birth to the corresponding social institutions. Pictorial representations that clearly show the characters related to the sphere of war are extremely rare. That is why a find of the set of figurines in Vinča D site Stubline, Serbia is of great importance. This set includes 43 clay figurines, 7 miniature clay axe and 2 maceheads models. Statuettes formed several groups (Crnobrnja 2011). Thus, we have an image of a troop of armed men, united around the leader. Figurines were made in the form of cones, which allowed them to be placed on a flat surface. A squad of almost 50 warriors that was depicted in the composition of figurines described above could portray a group of fighters led by a military leader. Based on the known ethnographic parallels, similar groups could be formed on the principle an age-class system. It is possible that Stubline set could have been used in initiation rituals or may have been intended as a visual representation of the roles of men’s society members as in a “tactical game” (which does not exclude the possibility that this set could have been made during cult practice).