Vessel guardians: Sculpture and graphics related to the ceramics of North-Eastern European hunter-gatherers

Abstract

North-Eastern European hunter-gatherer ceramic sculptures, relief sculptures and graphic images on vessels are discussed. Five groups of finds are distinguished according to their chronology (4000-2500 calBC) and the subject that is represented (birds, human heads, human figures, mammal heads etc.). We believe that the production of these items was a female craft; they were made for ritual purposes and their emergence was independent of any influence from pastoral/agricultural societies.