Neolithic Era & Copper Age 

Domestic Ritual 

During the Neolithic Era (ca. 8,500–6,500 years ago), small hamlets and farming communities established themselves across the Balkan Peninsula and the Carpathian Basin as knowledge of how to cultivate land spread throughout the region—enabling inhabitants to grow crops, raise livestock, and build durable housing. Once settled, some of those communities developed into more complex agricultural villages during the Copper Age (ca. 6,500–5,000 years ago), and other distinct cultural practices and artistic styles emerged.

Ceramic works from these periods reveal astonishing technological and aesthetic sophistication. Pottery made from fine clay was shaped into anthropomorphic and architectural forms, decorated with complex incised designs, and then fired under well-controlled conditions by expert craftspeople. Some artifacts may have been used for utilitarian purposes, yet many of the face pots, altars, figurines, and vessels likely served ritual functions. A number of these works were purposefully broken by the prehistoric people that created them, and subsequently buried in a deliberate way, often near a house, which suggests that the objects had been used in domestic rituals. In one particularly striking example, a vessel depicts a female figure seated on a stool; fragments of this vessel were found in a deep, shaft-like pit located next to the corner of a house. The figure was most likely made for a single ritual event related to the construction—or destruction—of the house, demonstrating the strong link that existed between womanhood and the home.

Anthropomorphic vessel, 5200–4950 BCE, ceramic, Törökbálint-Dulácska, Hungary, H. 32.4 cm, W. 16 cm (max.), Budapest History Museum, Budapest, Hungary: 2019.12.157.1. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

This vessel depicting a seated woman is reconstructed from fragments discovered in a shaft-like pit near a Neolithic house. Likely used for a single ritual involving fire, the vessel was deliberately broken by members of the community that created it, and then buried in the spot where archaeologists recovered its sherds millennia later. The style and form of the vessel suggest its nonutilitarian function: the incised M-shaped face and zigzag pattern below follow rules for symbolic representation, and the unusual raised back of the head indicates a unique use and provides an additional clue that the vessel had a ritual purpose.

Face pot, 5200–5000 BCE, ceramic, Biatorbágy-Tyúkberek, Hungary, H. 31.2 cm, Diam. 11 cm (rim), Diam. 8.5 cm (base), Budapest History Museum, Budapest, Hungary: 2019.13.36.1. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

With two identical faces on opposite sides of its neck—perhaps a symbol of humankind’s dual nature—this vessel may have served a protective function for a single household. Recovered by archaeologists from a pit, it also may have been used during a now-unrecoverable ritual, as such vessels were often broken into pieces and deposited into pits when their significance was lost.

Altar, 5300–5200 BCE, ceramic, Vicinity of Szeged, Hungary, H. 12 cm, L. 12 cm, W. 13.5 cm, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest, Hungary: 41.1935.1. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

This altar reveals the sophisticated ceramic practices of Neolithic farming communities, and the stylized ram’s heads with incised spiral and meander patterns suggest that it was not intended for everyday use. The shallow basin, too, indicate that this piece was likely used for offerings, libations, or the burning of organic materials.

Male figurine, 5000–4500 BCE, ceramic, Szegvár-Tűzköves, Hungary, H. 25.8 cm, W. 10.5 cm (max.), D. 14.6 cm (max.), Koszta József Museum, Szentes, Hungary: 59.1.1. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

The male figure is sometimes known as the “Sickle God” because the item held over his right shoulder has been identified by some archaeologists as the agricultural tool, but other scholars believe it may be a boomerang-type weapon. Despite the range of theories, there is little doubt that the artifact is intended to represent a figure of prominence and power: he sits on a throne and wears a mask or a masklike expression.

Building Communities

While domestic rituals emphasized the centrality of the family in prehistoric communities, other archaeological finds reveal that they also took place outside the home. Community-oriented ceremonies such as harvest celebrations and communal feasts, for example, promoted group cohesion beyond the individual family unit. Some artifacts, including an architectural model with gables  shaped like the heads of bulls, are interpreted as representations of sanctuaries, and archaeologists have identified other evidence for such collective gathering spaces.

Group identity was consolidated not only with celebrations among the living, but also through funerary rituals after death. During the Neolithic Era, the deceased were regularly interred within a settlement, and bodies typically were buried with few or no objects. Other graves, such as a find from Polgár-Csőszhalom (present-day Hungary), contained elaborately crafted objects made from exotic materials, indicating that some important individuals received special treatment. Funerary practices evolved during the Copper Age: instead of burying the dead within settlements, stand-alone cemeteries that were used by multiple villages began to function as regional stages for complex mortuary rituals. Artifacts from graves and cemeteries suggest the status of the dead as well as the values and aspirations of the larger community; funerals were also public demonstrations of wealth.

Technological developments during this period are revealed in burial finds. Sophisticated pottery kilns led to metallurgical innovations in the Copper Age, so both gold and copper could be crafted into new types of objects.

Architectural model, 4600–3900 BCE, ceramic, Căscioarele, Romania, L. 51 cm, W. 13 cm, H. 24.2, National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest, Romania: 12156. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

This model likely depicts a sanctuary, as bull-shaped gables are associated with cult architecture in Copper Age finds from this region, which had significant centers. Ceramic models of real or imagined ritual buildings have been found at several sites and are understood to represent community identity. This object was excavated from an archaeological site type known as a “tell”—a mound of the remains of settlements built up over time by generations of people who inhabited the area—once occupied by members of the Gumelnița culture. One of the principal Copper Age cultures on the lower Danube, the Gumelnița practiced cattle breeding, hunting, fishing, and agriculture.

Burial assemblage including headdress, necklaces, ring, armrings, beaded waistbelt, and foot adornment, 4900–4600 BCE, spondylus shell, deer and animal bone or tooth, and marble, Polgár-Csőszhalom, feature 836/1827, Hungary, Headdress: L. 0.9-2.0 cm, Diam. 0.9-1.4 cm; Necklace: L. 0.2-2.4 cm, Diam. 0.3-1.4 cm; Necklace: L. 0.2-1.1 cm, Diam. 0.3-0.6 cm; Armrings from the right upper arm (3): Diam. 8.1-8.4 x 7.5-9.5 cm, W. 0.8-3.9 cm; Armrings from the left upper arm (3): Diam. 7.5-9.8 x 7.5-8.6 cm, W. 0.4-1.8 cm; Ring from a right-hand finger: Diam. 2.5 cm, D. 0.4 cm; Girdle of beads around the waist: L. 0.8-1.5 cm, Diam. 0.9-1.6 cm; Beads from around the left foot: L. 0.3-0.4, Diam. 0.4 cm, Déri Museum, Debrecen, Hungary: Gy.sz. 2019.1–2019.11, 2019.14, 2019.15. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

Excavations of the archaeological site at Polgár-Csőszhalom in Hungary have yielded extraordinary insights into the Neolithic settlement that stood at this location for generations. The recovery of more than eighty residential buildings and more than one hundred burials has allowed for a comparative analysis of domestic and funerary practices between this and neighboring contemporaneous communities.

At Polgár-Csőszhalom, men and children were interred within the central, enclosed part of the settlement, whereas women were frequently buried outside that area, near domestic structures of the village. In addition, different grave goods were placed depending on the deceased’s gender.

This suite of artifacts once adorned the body of a mature woman, likely in her fifties. Made from imported exotic shells, associated with wealth and prestige, such luxury jewelry, as well as traces from a wooden coffin and an ocher-dyed veil, suggests that she was a figure of social importance.

The jewelry was carved from shells from the species Spondylus gaederopus. This mollusk lives in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and its habitat extends down the northwestern African coast, but it does not grow in the Black Sea due to the difference in temperature and salinity. Scientific analysis of shells from Neolithic archaeological sites shows that Spondylus artifacts originated from Mediterranean shells, a finding that confirms the existence of long-distance trade networks and reveals that intercultural interactions accompanied the establishment and development of early farming communities in southeastern Europe.

Architectural model and hoard, 4500–4000 BCE, ceramic and gold, Sultana-Malu Roşu, Romania, Architectural model: L. 31 cm, W. 17 cm, H. 21 cm; Anthropomorphic pendants (3): L. 2.2-5-5 cm, W. 2.7-4.4 cm; Disc: Diam. 1.4 cm; Chained rings: L. 7.1 cm, Diam. 1.1 cm (of rings); Saltaleoni: L. 1.9-6.5 cm, Museum of Gumelnița Culture, Oltenița, Romania: 10625, 8651–8658. Photo © Field Museum, photographer Ádám Vágó

This architectural model was buried together with this suite of gold artifacts, a grouping that emphasizes their ritual value and power. While some scholars have interpreted the model as a sanctuary, others believe it may have represented an entire village rather than a single building.

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