transitional MN III/LN I layers, have no parallels in other Thessalian sites, and possibly represent a local or regional development of this part of the Western Thessalian Plain. By their style they already announce the more static Late Neolithic fgurines.721

### *Decoration and its Meaning*

Most fgurines from Middle Neolithic layers are red monochrome, and some are pattern painted. In particular, the legs of the three fgurines sitting on a stool show red-on-white painted decoration, either vertically, following the structure of the fgurines, or horizontally. In combination with the fact that they probably represented a class of individuals of special importance sitting on stools, it may be argued that this painted decoration underlined the importance of the fgurines.

In contrast, at PMZ incised decoration appears on fgurines from the late Middle Neolithic and the transitional MN III/LN I, i.e. on the fgurines of the house model as well as on two heads (PM0657 and PM1020) and a leg of a standing fgurine PM0620 (Fig. VI.21).722 This change in decoration seems to coincide with the preference for more static fgurines and points to a focus on the surface of the body. Incision, like inscription, has been seen as a most powerful act upon something, carrying certain insignia.723 For PMZ we can say that emphasis was given to the hairstyle of all fgurines, followed by the illustration of their jewellery, most probably indicating the social or familial position of a class of individuals as well as the dress.

### *Fragmentation*

With the exception of the house model, only the three schematic fgurines are complete. For four further fgurines, the body is quite complete, but the heads are missing, in one case the hole for inserting it in the leather-dry stage is still visible, and only three upper parts/heads are present in the material.

By contrast, eleven fragments are legs separated from the body, three of them being separated due to the separate manufacture of legs, the others just broken away from the body. Although Trench A only represents a small area of the site, this number of legs in this area is intriguing, especially if we think of the missing other parts of these fgurines. Especially frequent is the occurrence of legs in the lower part of the trench, while complete or nearly complete fgurines are more abundant in the MN III and later layers. This number of legs stands in contrast to assemblages from other sites, such as Aşağı Pınar, where mainly heads and bodies were located.724 Therefore, we have to consider whether the deposition of the legs at PMZ happened by chance or had a certain meaning, the rest of the fgurine being deposited somewhere else.

In three cases (PM0590b [Fig. VI.24], PM0620 [Fig. VI.21], PM0892 [Fig. VI.2]), the appearance of legs alone is the result of the shaping of fgurines in parts which were put together only before fring, and therefore the result of the fragmentation of body parts in a predetermined way. The same fragmentation was observed for northern Greece, Anatolia and the Balkans.725 We have to face the fact that the destruction of an object means that it was no longer usable.726 Therefore, explaining the usefulness of fragmented objects is paradoxical in itself,727 and the dumping of fgurines points to their limited period of use.728 However, such a reduction of the fgurine to

721 Nanoglou 2005, 149–152; Nanoglou 2009, 289.

722 Makrychori 2: Hansen 2007, pl. 92.6.

723 Nanoglou 2009, 290, following Meskell 1999.

724 Hansen 2007, 352, fg. 197.

725 Chapman 2000, 68–79; Hansen 2005, 205–206; Becker 2012.

726 Becker 2012; Nanoglou 2015, 49–50.

727 Nanoglou 2005, 143.

728 Perlès 2001, 363.

Tab. VI.2 Grade of fragmentation of fgurines in the ceramic sequence of PMZ (E. Alram-Stern)

component parts may have enhanced its symbolism.729 For southern Greece, Lauren Talalay has argued that their being broken into parts was intentional at the time of their production, the parts being used as tokens symbolising social and economic bonds between settlements.730 John Chapman has argued similar meanings for the breaking of fgurines from the Balkans.731

### *Connection of Figurines to Contexts*

With the exception of the house model, which will be discussed below, only one fgurine comes from a context that may point to the original position of the fgurines in the settlement. It is the torso of a standing female fgurine PM0753 (Fig. VI.10), which was found on Floor F29 of BSPh Vb and belongs to SU 88 (Fig. III.22). Connected to this unit are three hearths, and the fgurine was found next to the hearth TS29. Marja Gimbutas has argued for Achilleion that fgurines were often connected to hearths.732 However, the evidence from PMZ is too thin to support this hypothesis, and the house model points to ritual actions which go beyond the hypothesis of assembling them close to hearths. Otherwise, fgurines used to be discarded after their use.733 Another interesting feature is that the fragment of a fgurine PM0640 (Fig. VI.17) was found in BSPh VIb (Fig. III.27) in the same context as three pieces of ornament. Furthermore, aside from the house model, BSPh VIIa showed a concentration of fgurines (PM0577, PM0590, PM0591, PM0620, PM0621, PM0912, PM1013, PM1014, PM1020; Fig. III.29), some of them even preserved completely (PM0621, PM0645, PM0591). Although we cannot expect that they were found in situ, it is important to note that this phase is characterised by an increase in fgurines, maybe due to an enhanced importance of fgurines in ritual.

729 Tracey Cullen, personal communication.

730 Talalay 1987.

731 Chapman 2000, 73–75; For a summary: Bailey 2017, 827–829.

732 Gimbutas 1989, 213–218.

733 Perlès 2001, 263.

### *External Connections and Regional Identities*

Figurines are objects that, according to some specialists, were distributed across networks of production and consumption.734 To check this hypothesis and to get a clear distribution pattern, it is important to conduct archaeometric investigations which compare local and potentially non-local fabrics. Since such analyses are not yet available for our site, the fgurines were just checked macroscopically. According to these observations, all except three fgurines may have been produced locally. This means that a small-scale exchange of fgurines is to be expected. However, in order to acquire a better understanding of the exchange of fgurines, we have to wait for future analyses which may correct this picture.735

Otherwise, fgurines serve as points of reference for the conceptualisation of communal identities. In this sense, they are a defning trait for a group of people,736 and we may argue that sites sharing similar fgurines had similar cultural and ritual perceptions and shared some sort of identity. In contrast to such a comparison of fgurines from nearby regions, similarities of style and manufacture visible over large distances, such as in Chalcolithic Anatolia and Middle Neolithic Greece, should be considered with caution, since they could be interpreted as transcultural phenomena.737 On the other hand, we have to keep in mind that fgurines in northern and central Greece are comparably frequent, but much rarer in southern Greece.738

Therefore, I will compare fgurines under a local and regional aspect and consider in what way PMZ was part of a network of sites sharing similar representations. It has to be remarked that most fgurines identifed in our material are fragmented and the collection of analogies in the catalogue mainly served the identifcation of these fgurine types. Only for a smaller number of fgurines were we able to distinguish characteristic details which compare with fnds from other sites.739

Many fgurines from PMZ belong to types that are known all over Thessaly, if not all over Middle Neolithic Greece. To these belong steatopygous fgurines squatting on the foor in various postures known all over Thessaly (PM0873 [Fig. VI.3], PM0892 [Fig. VI.2], PM0936 [Fig. VI.11]), at least as far south as Koutroulou Magoula740 and as far as Pontokomi-Souloukia in western Macedonia in the north.741 It is likely that the distribution of these types points to regional interrelations connecting the large north-central Greek plains.

Figurines sitting on a stool (PM0651 [Fig. VI.16], PM0792 [Fig. VI.8], PM0878 [Fig. VI.4]) are well known from the Western as well as from the Eastern Thessalian Plain,742 and comparable items are also located in western Macedonia.743 However, until now Middle Neolithic fgurines sitting on a stool have not been recorded in central and southern Greece.744 Therefore, for them a similar distribution pattern has to be argued as for the fgurines sitting on the ground.

In general, standing female, steatopygous fgurines (PM0590 [Fig. VI.24], PM0620 [Fig. VI.21]) with two legs are also present all over Greece. Their stylistic similarities do not correspond to the variety of pottery styles known for the various areas of Greece, so that they possibly

734 Talalay 1987, 58.

735 See above,453–454.

736 Nanoglou 2009, 292.

737 Maran 2017. By comparing pottery decoration techniques and styles, certain similarities, but also diferences, are visible, which point to a steady exchange of knowledge, but also to diferences which defne them as diferent cultural units.

738 Talalay 1987.

739 Nanoglou 2006, 160–164.

740 Hamilakis et al. 2017, 466, pl. II, chapter 6, fg. 8.

741 Pontokomi-Souloukia: Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2002, 628–630, fgs. 30–31. For transcultural connections see, e.g., the Lady of Saliagos (Evans – Renfrew 1968, 62–63, fg. 75, pl. XLII), but also in Anatolia such as Çatal Hüyük and Hacılar (Hansen 2007, 360).

742 Nanoglou 2006, fg. 4; Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 188–191, nos. 482–485.

743 Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2009, 120, fg. 23 (Pontokomi-Souloukia).

744 Hansen 2007, 115.

point to far-distant contacts.745 However, for several fgurines, mainly coming from the upper layers of PMZ, we observe a regional distribution pattern: fgurine PM0725 (Fig. VI.12), from a Middle Neolithic context, with hands lying under its breasts, an inserted head, an incised line separating the lower body from the navel as well as a concave base, has close connections to Prodromos and Tsangli, so that a closer connection between these sites may be argued.746

The standing fgurine with two legs and a fat upper part PM0016 (Fig. VI.40) belongs to a type present in Late Neolithic Thessalian and western and central Macedonian contexts.747 In southern Greece it is known under the name 'split-leg fgurines' from various sites during the Middle Neolithic and Late Neolithic period.748 A central Balkan transcultural connection is given by analogies in Thrace and Serbia.749 All these analogies indicate that standing fgurines with two legs continued to be produced after the end of the Greek Middle Neolithic period. Moreover, a more regional distribution pattern is visible for fgurines of this type with an accented belly on the fat upper part, if produced in grey ware: three analogies at Magoula Sykeon, Mavrachades Sophadon and Mavrachades Tataria indicate an interconnectivity of these communities of the Western Thessalian Plain.750

For the female fgurine with a fat base and quite schematically indicated breasts from the Early Bronze Age pit PM0327 (Fig. VI.38), there are analogies in the material of Magoula Sykeon, which point to close connections between the two sites.751 Another analogy comes from the cemetery of PMZ, which points to a direct connection between the cemetery and the settlement. In consequence, since the type is not documented elsewhere in Thessaly, it is possibly typical for western Thessaly and points to regional networks in this region.

By contrast, there are a number of fgurines that do not compare with published Thessalian material. Three schematic fgurines with angular or rounded upper and lower parts and incisions in the place where a head would be inserted (PM0591 [Fig. VI.25], PM0621 [Fig. VI.18], PM0645 [Fig. VI.19]) belong to this group. They come from late Middle Neolithic and early Late Neolithic contexts, so that they are not contemporaneous with schematic fgurines of later Late Neolithic and Final Neolithic date. However, they remind one of the more naturalistic fgurine PM0725 (Fig. VI.12) with its arms folded under the breasts, a cavity for the head to be inserted and a convex base. Therefore, we argue that they actually developed from this type, possibly in this area of western Thessaly or even at the site of PMZ itself.

Furthermore, two fragments, which I interpret as heads, can hardly be connected with any published fgurines. PM0657 has a form which is attested for heads of Thessalian fgurines; however, analogies for the incised decoration are rare.752 For the quadrangular head with linear incised decoration on the top and incised triangles as eyes, vague analogies can be found in angular or

745 For the variety of pottery styles during the Middle Neolithic period of Greece, which probably defne areas of close contact: Washburn 1983, 151–157. Compare, e.g., Chaironeia (L. Orphanidis, in: Papathanassopoulos 1996, 315, no. 236); Aegina-Kolonna ([1] Staatliche Antikensammlungen, München, inv.-no. 10.060: Welter 1938, 7–8, 10, fg. 8; Thimme 1977, 421, no. 10; Talalay 1993, 109; [2] Athens, Archaeological National Museum no. 8772: Welter 1954, 40, 41, fgs. 3–5; Papathanassopoulos 1996, 318, no. 239; Papadimitriou – Tsirtsoni 2010, 116, no. 16); Corinth (Phelps 1987); Lerna (Caskey 1958); western Macedonia, Pontokomi-Souloukia (Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2002, 628–630, fgs. 30–31).

746 Prodromos: Fassoulas 2017, pl. 1, PRO 1 (Type GM); pl. 1, PRO 2 (Type MP); pl. 2, PRO 5; pl. 5, PRO 17; Tsangli: Wace – Thompson 1912, 122, 126, fg. 75a.

747 Thessaly: Hansen 2007, 16; pl. 101.16 (Rachmani); Hauptmann 1981 (Otzaki); Western Macedonia: Phelps 2000, 202, SF219 (Servia); Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2011, 86–87, fg. 10 (Grevena region); Nanoglou 2004, I-80 (Paliambela).

748 Southern Greece: Talalay 1993, 25, FC 122 (Franchthi Cave); Phelps 1987, 242–243, nos. 5–11, pl. 33–34 (Corinth).

749 Thrace: Hansen 2007, pl. 78.1–4, 7–8 (Ilıpınar).

750 Alexiou 2020, 140, fg. 1e; 154, fg. 10 (Magoula Sykeon and Mavrachades Sophadon); Nancy Krahtopoulou, personal communication (Mavrachades Tataria in the Kambos region).

751 Alexiou 2018, 187–188, fgs. 9, 10ε.

752 Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 137, no. 71 (Chalki 3 = Gallis 1992a, 189, fg. 33); Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 183, no. 473; Fassoulas 2017, pl. 51, RACH 14 (Rachmani).

rounded heads ending in a rod-shaped body, which have a wide distribution from the southeastern Balkans to the Carpathian Basin,753 but a connection with this head remains insecure and needs further research. For both heads, I suggest that they either belong to a chronological or to a local phenomenon which has not yet been considered.

The fgurines from the house model with their incised decoration also seem to belong to types with a regional distribution in the area of western Thessaly: the small asexual fgurine Fig. VI.31. from the house model PM0912 has a good analogy at Magoula Sykeon754 as well as another in the cemetery of PMZ.755 Furthermore, a female fgurine similar to Fig. VI.28 has been found at PMZ as a stray fnd.756

In general, incised decoration, consisting of short horizontal lines, which is present on the fgurines of the house model, but also on the head of PM0657 and the leg PM0620 (Fig. VI.21) is confned to the MN III and the transitional phase MN/LN I of PMZ and is present at western Thessalian sites such as Magoula Sykeon and Mavrachades.757 In consequence, this decoration style for fgurines seems to be unique to this period and to this area.

To conclude, based on their style and decoration, several fgurines from PMZ are confned to western Thessaly and indicate that this settlement had close connections to communities in the Western Thessalian Plain. This is especially well demonstrated by the similarities with fgurines from Magoula Sykeon, situated not more than 15km south of PMZ.

### **VI.3. The House Model Assemblage: Context and Deposition, Composition and Meaning**

One of the most important fnds from the western Thessalian tell site of PMZ is the open house model, which is on display at the Diachronic Museum of Larisa, PM0912. It was excavated by Kostas Gallis in 1983 and brought to the knowledge of the public in 1985.758 Since then, this house model has been discussed extensively by Gallis759 and several other specialists.760

It contains a platform and an oven as fxed installations, as well as four female fgurines, identifable by their breasts, two tetrapodal fgurines without indication of sex, three small asexual fgurines, and an oblong object which will be discussed below. Therefore, with the exception of a few contexts in the Aegean and the Balkans,761 the house model is a rare assemblage which helps us to gain a better understanding of fgurative representations and what they tell us about the Neolithic society.

### VI.3.1. Context and Deposition of the House Model

The house model and all nine fgurines and the movable object were found in situ as one assemblage.762 The house model was found in the BSPh VIIa fre destruction levelling layer SU 134 directly below habitation Surface F22 (SU 136) (Fig. III.29). This layer has been dated to the

756 Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 288–289, 615.

753 E.g. Hansen 2007, 137, fg. 51; 143–144 (Zăuan); pl. 121.1–4; 128.3, 5 (Méhtelek).

754 Alexiou 2018, 188, fg. 10α.

755 Gallis 1982, 72, 114, pl. 21 lower row left.

757 Alexiou 2018, 187–188, fgs. 10α, β, ε; 11; Alexiou 2020, 150, fg. 3ε, στ, ζ.

758 Gallis 1985b; see also Gallis, this volume, 23–25.

759 Gallis 1990, 15, fg. 4, drawing 1; 17–18; Gallis 1992b; Gallis 1996d; Gallis 2001.

760 Marangou 1992, 36–37, 225; Marangou 1996a, 185–186; Marangou 1996b; Nanoglou 2004, 183–191; Nanoglou 2005, 149; Hansen 2007, 122, 499; Crnobrnja 2011; Risch 2018, 54–55.

761 See below, 479.

762 In 2020 the video 'Man creates Man', paraphrasing Childe' s classical book 'Man Makes Himself' (Gordon Childe 1936), was installed in the exhibition hall of the Diachronic Museum of Larissa, dealing with the house model. This video won the First Pan-European Prize of 2020 in the 'Museums in Short' contest. Cf. <https://youtu.be/ u2cn6r2k1aM> (last access 10 Feb. 2022).

transition MN III/LN I, while Surface F22 already belongs to the earliest LN I. Surface F22 was connected with the hearth or oven Thermal Structure TS 19 (SU 139).

Layers SU 133 and 134, which are characterised by fre destruction debris, including burnt clay and wooden building material probably coming from the wall of a house and from its roof, covered the lower Surface F23 (SU 127). Since the house model was not found on this lower surface, it belonged to the levelling SU 133 and 134, which must have taken place before the upper Surface F22 was installed.

The excavator interpreted this position as being the result of a pit which had been dug into the destruction layer and into which the house model had been placed. However, on the photographs and drawings, no lined pit dug from the higher level is documented, although such deposition pits are usually marked by linings and are therefore clearly visible.763 Therefore it is more probable that the house model with the fgurines was found in a shallow pit within the burnt material and the diference in the consistency of its material probably derives from the relocation of the burnt material. Consequently, I suggest that the house model should be connected with the levelling of the destruction debris SU 123 and 124 above Floor F23.

The practice of depositing fgurines below foors is well known from the Balkans.764 In consequence, for the deposition of the house model in this transitional Middle Neolithic/earliest Late Neolithic layer, I would like to suggest an interpretation that follows the theory propounded by John Chapman and Ruth Tringham, which suggests that Neolithic houses were retired from use by being buried.765 According to them, such burials of houses could be connected with intramural burials of the inhabitants of the household. Otherwise, such burials could also be replaced by burning down the house, and in this way, burying the household itself.766 Therefore, since the house model was deposited after the house had burnt down and before the foor above was made, and specifcally during the phase of levelling for erecting the new house, it could have been a symbol of such a buried house. In this sense, it is not a foundation ofering in its proper sense, as has been suggested for a long time,767 but a deposition in memory of ancestors. This interpretation fts with the fnd of a fragment of a house model in Školska Tumba at Mogila/northern Macedonia, where a house model has been identifed in a comparable fnd situation.768 This interpretation also coincides with a thesis by Talalay,769 which – based on ethnographic studies – argues for an important meaning of fgurines as ancestor images. This idea fts with increased burial rituals at the contemporaneous cemetery of PMZ.770

While during the transitional Middle/Late Neolithic phase the western part of the trench was an open area, the abundant burnt pieces indicate that during BSPh VIIa and BSPh VIIb the eastern half – where the model was found – was a roofed area,771 which contrasts with Late Neolithic sites like Mandra, Makrychori 1, Galini and Rachmani, where the majority of the fgurines come from open areas.772 Therefore we argue for PMZ that the house model was deposited in the course of a ritual which was carried out in the interior of a house by its residents.

This hypothesis may also be correlated with the Neolithic radiocarbon sequence of PMZ, which indicates comparatively short-lived foor sequences, the levels being rebuilt on average every

763 E.g. Cucoş 1973 (Ghelăieşti); Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2002 (Pontokomi-Souloukia); Alram-Stern 2016, 9–11 (Aegina-Kolonna, where a stone-lined pit contained more than 20 fgurines).

764 Tringham – Conkey 1998, 38.

765 Chapman 1999; Tringham 2005; Chapman 2015.

766 For speculations on the background of such 'cremations' of houses in connection with changes in the kinship hierarchy of a house: Nikolov 2019, 9.

767 Gallis 1985b; Marangou 2009, 87. For foundation oferings in the Balkans: Makkay 1983.

768 Naumov – Tomaž 2015, 86.

769 Talalay 1991, 49.

770 Fowler 2004, 62.

771 Toufexis – Batzelas, this volume, 113.

772 Toufexis 2017; Giorgos Toufexis, personal communication.

18 years, which is one generation.773 Therefore, if we interpret the house model as connected to the burial of the transitional Middle/Late Neolithic habitation level 23 and the construction of the early Late Neolithic level 22, we have to be aware of the short-lived building-destruction-rebuilding sequence of the site, connected to an alternation of generations.

Such short phases of construction/rebuilding do not necessarily imply that the inhabitants of the subsequent building phase knew about the house model buried below their foor. However, interestingly enough, the subsequent building phase included a thermal structure constructed closely above the place where the house model had been deposited. It is an oven very similar to the one depicted in the house model. So, it is still possible that for the people who deposited the house model, the deposition of the house model was part of the practice of the levelling undertaken before constructing the subsequent house at the site.774

### VI.3.2. Form and Decoration of the Model and the Figurines

### *The House Model (Fig. VI.27)*

The house model belongs to the type of the open house model which is known from southeastern Europe775 and much rarer than its roofed counterpart. Analogies come from Macedonia,776 as well as from Thessaly.777 In general, house models are connected to the emergence of the household as the social unit of the Neolithic period.778

The house model of PMZ consists of a plaque of clay on which the walls were set in the form of a low enclosure with a door opening. It was made by crudely hand shaping the clay and then smoothing the surface.779 The sides of the house model were made of thick slabs of clay, which were stuck onto the sides of the base.

The bench and the oven are fxed installations, which were modelled separately and subsequently put into the house model before smoothing and fring. At PMZ the bench, which is situated in the left rear corner of the model, shows short incisions on its sides, which are similar to the decoration of the fgurines. The oven was set in the rear centre and had a protruding opening on its front. Ovens of this type are known from PMZ,780 but also from various Neolithic sites like Achilleion,781 Magoula Rizava782 and Dikili Tash.783 In BSPh Ve of PMZ, an oven was accompanied by a bench.784 The oven and the bench must have been the most important installations in a house since they were present in all open house models, as in those from Sitagroi785 and Ovčarovo.786 Furthermore, oven models as independent miniatures are known from other northern

773 Weninger et al., this volume, 195.

774 I am most indebted to Tracey Cullen for her most helpful discussion of these fnd circumstances.

775 See the collection in Marangou 1992, 204, n. 30–38 (from Russia, Ovčarovo, Porodin, Popudnia, Dobrovoda, Čičerkozkovska, Souškovska).

776 Kleitos: Ziota 2011, 217–218, fg. 11; Limnochori II: Chrysostomou 2017, 132; Sitagroi: Renfrew et al. 1986, 216, fg. 8.20, pl. XL.1a–d = Theocharis 1973, 340, fg. 290; Promachonas-Topoliča: Koukouli-Chrysanthaki et al. 2005, 100; Aslanis 2010, 41, 45. For further house models from Thermi B and Vasilika: Marangou 1992, 435, 437, 441–443.

777 One piece from Otzaki (Marangou 1992, fg. 23) and one from Magoula Aliphaka, Kastro A.T.A.E. 9 (Gallis 1992a, 128, fg. 14).

778 Toufexis 1996a; Souvatzi 2008, 56; Toufexis in press.

779 In connection with the crude forming of this open house model, an unbaked house model from Ovčarovo should be mentioned which was formed and deposited at the same place: Marangou 1996a, 181.

780 Toufexis – Batzelas, this volume, e.g. 105-106 (TS 23) and 107 (TS 23a).

781 Winn – Shimabuku 1989a, 40 (in combination with a bench to the left of the oven), 43, 48–49, 54–55, 61.

782 Krahtopoulou et al. 2018.

783 Treuil 1992b, 42–43, 46–47.

784 Toufexis – Batzelas, this volume, 105–106 (TS 23).

785 Renfrew et al. 1986, 215, fg. 8.20, pl. XL.1.

786 Todorova 1982, 40, fg. 24.

Greek and Balkan sites.787 The front side of the model shows damage, which may have been a result of its deposition and/or of its previous use.

In consequence, the open house model of PMZ represents either a one-roomed house as known from Middle Neolithic sites like Sesklo,788 Tsangli789 and Otzaki,790 or a room that may have been part of a two- or multi-roomed building.791 In addition, although the house model does not indicate steps to a second storey, we should not rule out the possibility that this room represents the ground foor of a two-storied building, as reconstructed for the Tsangli house type.792 Such houses with two foors are also represented in a few Middle Neolithic Thessalian house models.793 In such a case, there exists the possibility that the ground foor served for the activities represented in this house model, whereas other rooms and the second storey could have been dedicated to diferent activities, probably for residential purposes794 or just for storage.795 In any case, we have to be aware that the house model illustrates an idealised situation showing a part of the Neolithic society with its social relations described below.

### *The Figurines*

### The Three Female Figurines

Three female fgurines (Figs. VI.28, VI.30, VI.35), although difering in their size, have the same form and decoration. All of them have the same triangular head, the beak-shaped face with cofeebean eyes, the same upper body with pointed breasts, the same hands, with the fngers indicated by incisions, laid under the breasts, and a similarly bell-shaped lower body. As far as we can tell from the surface, they were formed in the same way, the eyes, the breasts and the arms attached to the body, and the underside hollowed with an instrument. All of them also have the same fne incised decoration, which has partly been adapted to the size of the fgurines. The two for which the head is preserved (Figs. VI.28, VI.35) have three diagonal lines on their cheeks. The back of the head has a row of small vertical lines at the edge of the back of the head. The back of the head of the largest fgurine (Fig. VI.28) is decorated with two rows of short diagonal lines, the smaller one (Fig. VI.35) with one row. These incisions probably indicate the hairstyle, and the same kind of representation of the hair is common on Middle Neolithic fgurines all over Greece.796 The tops of the heads are painted red/reddish-brown and burnished. This treatment may either indicate a head covering or point to the importance of this part of the body. All three fgurines are provided with two horizontal rows of short linear incisions around the neck. The front and the back of the upper part of the body of the fgurines is decorated with vertical lines, the two larger ones (Figs. VI.28, VI.35) with three, the smaller one (Fig. VI.30) with two lines. The arms are decorated with short vertical and diagonal lines. These lines are best visible on the largest fgurine (Fig. VI.28) and only very faintly on the smallest (Fig. VI.30). The back of the lower part of the body of the largest fgurine (Fig. VI.28) is adorned with two diagonal lines, arranged in a V. The lower end of the lower body of all three fgurines is decorated with short horizontal lines, the largest with four (Fig. VI.28), the second largest with three (Fig. VI.35), and the smallest with four lines

787 Marangou 1992, 165.

788 Theocharis 1973, 65, fgs. 176–179; Theocharis 1993, 88–102; Kotsakis 2006, 211, fg. 2.1.

789 Wace – Thompson 1912, 115–117, 121.

790 Milojčić 1983b, 7–8.

791 Kotsakis 2006, 211, fg. 2.2.

792 Alram-Stern 1996, 110.

793 Toufexis 1996a, 328, no. 264; Toufexis in press.

794 Nikolov 2019, 6: Two-storey Late Neolithic houses in the area of today's Bulgaria show that the ground foor was devoted to household activities while the upper level was used for residential purposes.

795 Catherine Perlès, personal communication.

796 E.g. Phelps 1987, 241, no. 1, pl. 33.1 (Corinth); Chourmouziadis 1994, 208d; Hansen 2007, Taf. 96.2 after Efstratiou 1985 (Ag. Petros).

(Fig. VI.30). Consistently with the form of the lower part of the fgurines, which copies a skirt, the linear incisions on the body probably indicate the dress of the women, the upper horizontal lines representing either a necklace or the collar of the dress. The edge of the lower part of the body of all three fgurines has short vertical lines, perhaps indicating their feet. These similarities and small diferences in the decoration of these fgurines have a certain meaning, which will be discussed below.

### Tetrapodal Figurines

Two tetrapodal fgurines (Figs. VI.27, VI.36) are the counterparts of the female fgurines. The four legs of these fgurines derive from the Middle Neolithic representations of fgurines sitting on stools, the legs melted with the front legs of the stool. During the Middle Neolithic period most of these fgurines represent males, but females are also present.797 However, based on their diference from the female fgurines, Gallis has interpreted them as males, and all subsequent publications have followed him.798

The upper part of the fgurines, i.e. their heads and their necks, are shaped and decorated in a very similar way to the female fgurines. The underside also has a concave depression, formed by a half-rounded instrument. It should be noted that the legs of the two fgurines are positioned diferently, the larger having one leg in front and one at the back (Fig. VI.27), the smaller one two legs in front and two at the back (Fig. VI.36).

In contrast to the female fgurines, the body of the fgurines is represented in a truncated version, the four legs growing out of a short, conical body. Like for the female fgurines, the heads of the fgurines are triangular, have attached cofee-bean eyes, and below them three short diagonal incised lines. The back of the head is decorated in an identical and more elaborate way than the female fgurines, with short, vertical, incised lines on its edge and three courses of short lines hanging down the neck, indicating the hair. The tops of their heads are painted and burnished. The further decoration of the two fgurines difers according to their size. Like the female fgurines, the neck of the tetrapodal fgurines also has rows of short, horizontal, linear impressions. However, compared to the females, more emphasis is put on them, consisting of fve (Fig. VI.27), respectively four lines (Fig. VI. 36). Furthermore, on the front of the fgurines, a vertical row of dot incisions hangs down between the horizontal lines, and on the larger fgurine this vertical line is combined with some horizontal v-impressions. This decoration of the tetrapodal fgurines may indicate necklaces, so that they were more splendidly decorated than the female fgurines. The legs of the larger fgurines are decorated by three parallel lines following the course of the legs; the legs of the smaller fgurine by two lines.

### Asexual Figurines

Three fgurines (Figs. VI.31, VI.33–34), all of them stylistically diferent, have no indication of sex. Fig. VI.31 is a small fgurine with a triangular head and the right eye formed as a cofee bean, the left most probably faked away.799 The back upper part of the head is separated by a line from the neck. The nose has been formed by pressing the clay with the fngertips. Similarly to the female and tetrapodal fgurines, the cheeks are decorated with two fne and short diagonal incised lines. The lower body is rounded and has two faint horizontal lines consisting of short incisions. The base is fat. The rounded shape of the lower body and the horizontal incisions connect this fgurine with the female fgurines of the house model.

797 Nanoglou 2006, 161–163.

798 Gallis 1985b.

799 Similar small fgurines are rare and come from Larissa 2 (Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 362, no. 311) and Magoula Sykeon (Alexiou 2018, 184, fg. 5η).

Since asexual fgurines need not represent genderless types of individuals, the small size of the fgurine may point to a representation of an individual in childhood or adolescence.800 Based on the rounded shape of the lower body, I argue that this fgurine represents a girl in the stage before sexual maturity. This may be confrmed by a fgurine which Gallis found above the cremation burial urn 21 of the Late Neolithic cemetery of PMZ, north of the settlement.801 In contrast to the genderless fgurine in the house model, this fgurine is characterised by a quadrangular, pointed base, which reminds us of the tetrapodals from the house model, and actually, Gallis was able to correlate it to a young, probably male adult which was found cremated in the urn.802 So this evidence shows that premature male and female fgurines were probably distinguished and that the small fgurine from the house model most likely represented an immature female individual.

The fgurine Fig. VI.34 has a damaged upper part, and its completion is difcult. However, it seems that the pointed end of the fgurine represents the nose while the upper part, which would represent the back of the head is broken away. For its shape, it best parallels beaked fgurines from Achilleion803 and Koutroulou Magoula804 as well as fgurines from the Late Vinča assemblage of Stubline.805 The base of the fgurines is slightly triangular, and the underside is slightly concave. The fgurine difers from the other fgurines not only in its shape but also in its decoration, which consists of deep *pointillé* incisions arranged in rows.806 Similar to the female fgurines, two rows of incisions follow the base. The upper part of the nose is decorated with two rows of incisions, and one more laterally placed incision may represent an eye. Two further rows of incisions surround the broken part of the head and hang down vertically in the back. Therefore, similar to more plastically elaborated representations, I would like to interpret it as decoration of the head or a hairstyle.807 From the size of the fgurine and its situation alongside a female fgurine, it should be interpreted as a child. However, without any primary sexual indication it would be daring to attribute any sex to it. This fgurine difers considerably from all other fgurines of this assemblage, and the implications will be discussed below.

 Its interpretation has been controversial for some time. Being connected to the oven, it has been interpreted as a bread loaf.808 However, the recording with the 3D scanner clearly indicates that the rounded protrusion on the one end of the object makes it more likely that it represents a human being with a head. The remains of an incised line at the edge of its broken area may come from an eye. Furthermore, two diagonal incised lines along the sides of this protrusion/ head have parallels in the diagonal incised lines on the cheeks of the female and tetrapodal fgurines of the house model and therefore prove its interpretation as an anthropomorphic fgurine. Consequently, the vertical lines on the fat part of the object may indicate cloth, and this small object most probably represents a small individual wrapped in cloth, i.e. a baby.

### Female Figurine

The female fgurine Fig. VI.32, identifed as female by its breasts, is of a diferent type than the other female fgurines from the house model. Characteristically, its lower body ends in a short cylindrical base, concave on the underside.809 In contrast to the other fgurines, it is undecorated.

800 Mina 2007, 280; Marangou 2009, 89.

801 Gallis 1982, 72, 114, pl. 21 lower row, left.

802 Gallis 2001.

803 Gimbutas 1989, 238, no. 89.

804 Papadopoulos et al. 2019, 16, fg. 7.

805 Crnobrnja 2011, 145–146, pl. 1–2.

806 Decoration comparable to a fgurine from Vršnik, northern Macedonia: Hansen 2007, 148–150, fgs. 61–62.

807 Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 91, no. 23 (Koilada 1); Alexiou 2018, 188, fg. 11γ (Magoula Sykeon).

808 Risch 2018, 54.

809 Cf. Orphanidis – Malakasioti 2011, 204, no. 136 (Magoula Margarita).

Otherwise, the triangular head with its fattened upper side and its cofee-bean eyes resembles the typical Thessalian fgurines. Furthermore, having the arms folded under the breasts, it follows a common Thessalian type.

### Oblong Object

Another controversial item is the oblong object which was lying between the bench and the oven of the house model (Fig. VI.29). It is characterised by its long, narrow form, ending in upright points, as well as its square section. Furthermore, it has three rows of short incisions covering the surface of the object. Concerning its interpretation, several suggestions have been made. One of them is that it was a boat.810 However, it is quite unlikely that a boat is characterised with such incisions and placed beside the oven. Rather, this object must represent an object connected with the household, the oven, the bench and the woman laid down beside the object. Therefore, it seems more likely that it was connected with food production. People working on ground stone tools have suggested an interpretation as a grinding slab, the incised lines seen as a not purely decorative element, but as an indication of the roughened work face of a grinder.811 An unfnished specimen, probably intended as a handstone, has a pecked surface (PM0450).812 However, none of the grinding stones of PMZ has the same elaborated form which is only found in central European grinders of this period.813

### *Production of the House Model and Figurines*

The house model and the fgurines were produced as one assemblage: the fgurines and the one object, which was formed separately, were formed of the same clay as the house model. Furthermore, they show a very similar smoothing of the surface. Apart from two, the fgurines also share the same decoration technique and style consisting of short, fne, linear incisions arranged in one line. This decoration is also present on the bench, which was attached to the house model before fring.

For its production, the possibility has to be envisaged that the fgurine making was a collaborative act, most probably by female potters,814 so that the female fgurines in the house model may even be related to the social class of their makers. At the same time, it was possibly an act executed by the community.815 A communal construction of assemblages has already been argued for the deposit of fgurines from Aegina-Kolonna.816

### *Relationship of the Figurines Based on Form and Decoration*

So the fgurines are closely connected to each other by their manufacture, being made of the same clay. Furthermore, their similar and exact modelling implies that all details had a meaning. Apart from two fgurines, all of them were decorated in the same fne, incised linear style.817 It is likely that this incised decoration represents the hairstyle, jewellery, pleats and patterns of the attire.818

810 Gallis 1985b, 22; Marangou 1991; Marangou 1992, 37. For discussion I am indebted to Christoph Schwall.

811 Already Gallis 1990, 17; see also Risch 2018, 54.

812 Stroulia, this volume, 320.

813 Graefe 2009, 268, no. 25; for Neolithic grinders in Greece: Bekiaris 2007, 99, fg. 5 (incised lines on grinding stones), fg. 43 (grinder).

814 Vitelli 1993; see also Gallis, this volume, 25 and below, 479.

815 Papadopoulos et al. 2019.

816 Alram-Stern 2017.

817 For the incised style on fgurines in the Balkans and the meaning of such insignia which are inscribed into the body of the fgurines: Nanoglou 2009, 289–290.

818 Mina 2007, 277–278; Mina 2008a, 121.

However, analogies in form and decoration are found in two cases at PMZ,819 but only in one case in the nearby site of Magoula Sykeon in western Thessaly.820 Therefore, the fgurines were possibly related to a local style which distinguishes them from other sites and in PMZ was specially related to the house model. Attire and jewellery provide information on social identity and age. Therefore, similarities in decoration display close interrelations between the fgurines.821

The three fgurines representing women have identical decoration, two disrupted lines for the necklace, vertical and v-shaped lines for the costume, using two to four disrupted horizontal lines depending on the size of the fgurine. The two fgurines with four legs, which were interpreted as males,822 have identical linear decoration. The hair is indicated by a vertical zigzag pattern, the necklace by fve disconnected lines on the larger fgurine, and four lines on the smaller fgurine. The four legs of the male fgurines have three zigzag lines on the larger example, and two zigzag lines on the smaller one.823 The width of the decoration zones may be due to the size of the fgurines, but it could also express their importance.

For the tetrapodal (male) fgurines, the rich decoration of the neck is remarkable and may point to their high social position. Overall, the similarity and association of the fgurines indicates that – although diferentiated by size and decoration – they were related to each other by social and possibly family ties. Only two fgurines, whilst made of the same clay, difer in their decoration.824 The frst is the asexual fgurine found together with the couple, interpreted as a child, with rows of incised points. The second is the undecorated female fgurine, which was placed together with the female fgurine and the asexual fgurine (the girl) to the right of the oven. The stylistic diferences in the small, asexual fgurine, which was connected with the couple, may either be due to its age or to a looser connection to the family. However, an interpretation of the undecorated female fgurine connected with two fgurines with incised decoration next to the oven as alien is obvious.

### VI.3.3. The House Model as a Social Arena

### *The House Model as a Container of Figurines*

In Thessaly, a large number of closed house models have been collected, showing the importance of the house as a social and political entity.825 Furthermore, the appearance of these models of buildings coincides chronologically with the practice of rebuilding structures.826 In contrast, open house models, much rarer in northern Greece, ofer the possibility to present the equipment of the houses. One of the most important structures in the house is the oven,827 not only represented as a fxed installation in house models, but also produced as a separate model.828 Furthermore, these models provide an opportunity to place fgurines as representations of allied individuals in their domestic settings.829 For this, the house model of PMZ is a unique example, which is only paralleled by house models from Ghelăieşti and Popudnia,830 which also contained fgurines. All other house models were found empty, so that we cannot be sure if all open house models were initially

819 Gallis 1982, 72, 114, pl. 21, lower row, left (cemetery of PMZ, cluster E21); Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 288–289, 615 (PMZ, stray fnd).

820 Alexiou 2018, 188, fg. 10α (Magoula Sykeon).

821 Mina 2008a, 123.

822 Gallis 1985b, 21; Gallis 1990, 17.

823 For gender as stereotypic illusion: Bailey 2013, 252–253.

824 For the fgurines of diferent style also: Nanoglou 2004, 187.

825 Toufexis – Skafda 1998.

826 Nanoglou 2005, 148.

827 Marangou 1992, 17.

828 E.g. from Sitagroi: Marangou 1992, fg. 22b.

829 Marangou 1996a.

830 Bailey 2010, 120, fg. 5.5.

made for such a purpose. In any case, the deposition at PMZ was a special act, asserting kinship.831 In this sense, the focus was directed at the people utilising the building, not at the building itself.

However, we have evidence that creating space for connecting fgurines was not restricted to house models, since on certain occasions fgurines were deposited in pots, such as in Ghelăieşti,832 where they were put in a pot with a cover, or at Aegina-Kolonna, where pairs or single fgurines were placed upright inside miniature bowls.833 Otherwise, fgurines were arranged on platforms within houses, such as in Ovčarovo or Stubline.834 In this sense, the open house model, like the pots or the platforms, represented space for presenting the familial relations of groups of people. In all these cases we have to keep in mind that restricted areas are related to groups of people, so that space refects domestic organisation.835

Therefore, we argue that the fgurines were arranged in the house model as an efgy especially designed for them, showing the prototype of a group of people living in a Neolithic house, although it cannot be ruled out that the fgurines and their grouping are related to the particular individuals who once lived in this area.836 So, the house model and the fgurines should be seen in the ideological system of Neolithic societies and their organisation system, as well as their use of space,837 i.e. the house and the household.838

### *Grouping, Relationship and Position of the Figurines and the Objects in the House Model*

In contrast to all other house models, the open house model of PMZ contained nine fgurines as well as one movable and two non-movable miniature objects. Since miniatures and fgurines may be representations and interpretations of reality,839 this arrangement might well illustrate the preferred relationship among people and their built environment840 giving information on the social structure of communities.841 Special emphasis is given to those objects which are thought to structure the environment immediately around them, while individuals belong to pairs, groups or sets, one being dominant over the other.842 Based on this statement and the assumption that an arrangement was meant to be meaningful,843 it is important to examine the relationship of space and objects to the fgurines, and the connections between the fgurines themselves.

The fgurines from PMZ vary in size and shape844 and were arranged in three groups. The frst group consists of the tall fgurine of a woman lying in the rear left side of the model and the tetrapodal fgurine lying in front of it. The female fgurine was lying on a platform beside the oven, the installations fxed on the ground of the house model. The oblong object was deposited at the side of the fgurine. Therefore, we have assumed that the installations and the object were closely related to the woman and her activities. If the oblong object was connected to the oven, it could have been a tool connected to cooking and food preparation, i.e. typical activities practised in a household.845 The platform on which the female fgurine was lying may have been the working surface for such activities. For the large female fgurine this means that it is connected to the

844 For the diferentiation of fgurines by variation of shape: Bailey 2005, 153–154.

831 Nanoglou 2005, 149.

832 Ghelăieşti: Cucoş 1973; Popudnia: Gimbutas 1956.

833 Alram-Stern 2016, 19–21; Alram-Stern 2017.

834 Todorova 1982, 67–68; Crnobrnja 2011.

835 Ardener 1997, 1–2.

836 For discussing this issue, I am indebted to Tracey Cullen.

837 Skafda – Toufexis 1994, 13.

843 Nanoglou 2015, 51–52.

845 For the discussion of its interpretation as a grinding stone see above, 474.

most important household activities, which are food preparation and production. The tetrapodal fgurine, as opposed to the female fgurine, has been interpreted as a male, sitting on a stool. It is placed in front of the female fgurine, close to the entrance and without any objects connected to its activities. It is defnitely smaller than the female fgurine, probably pointing to its minor importance in the setting of the space represented in the model, which is underlined by the fact that no tools are connected to it. On the other hand, it is lying close to the entrance pointing to its feld of activities outside the room. Although the tetrapodal, i.e. male, fgurine is smaller than the female fgurine, we may argue its high rank based on the elaborate decoration around the neck, i.e. its dress or jewellery. This male fgurine could have been connected to the large female fgurine, and in such a case represent her husband.846 However, the female fgurine beside the oven represented the most important and probably also the oldest individual in this household.  As such, it was placed close to the warmest place in the room, the oven. So, the function of this group was expressed by their relation to each other as a couple with two children, representing a family and its importance through reproduction seen in two generations of people in the household.848 As in the group with the largest fgurines, the male fgurine is smaller than the female fgurine, and it is placed closer to the entrance, pointing to its feld of activities outside the house. In contrast, the female fgurine was emphasized in her size since her status as mother is of higher importance to the household. Based on their size, which is smaller than the female and the male fgurine on the left side of the house model, they were of less importance to the house than the big couple. This is underlined by the space designated to them, which is around half the size of the space allocated to the large female fgurine and the associated male fgurine. However, their decoration, which is nearly identical to that on the larger couple, suggests that they were related to them, possibly by kinship. By contrast, the small asexual fgurine, interpreted as a child, difers from them in form and decoration. Since every detail in this assemblage was constructed, we have to be aware that its characteristics probably gave an indication on its provenance, its connection to the fgurines alongside it and its age.

Finally, a third group is lying beside the oven. It consists of two females and another asexual fgurine, which I would like to interpret as another girl, i.e. a female in an immature state. So the function of this group is expressed by its deposition beside the oven as well as by its composition, all of them being females. The woman, who has a damaged head, and the asexual fgurine (the immature girl) have similar decoration to the other female fgurines of the house model and could therefore be related to the women of the other groups, being younger relatives of them. However, the other woman in this group is of a diferent style, with large breasts and without incised decoration. Therefore, most probably she was not related to the other fgurines in the household. In consequence, this group does not represent a family, but is dominated by women connected to the household by their activities. Furthermore, in relation to the other fgurines, they are the smallest, also occupying only half the amount of space allocated to the family, and therefore, in this house, represent not necessarily the younger ones, but most probably the group of the lowest familial status.849

In summary, we have stated that the fgurines in the house model were arranged in three groups, perhaps an older couple of high status within the family, a family of four individuals and a group of three female fgurines of minor status. This means that the fgurines are represented

846 Gallis 1985b, 21; Talalay 2000, 5.

847 Gallis, this volume, 23.

848 Kokkinidou – Nikolaidou 1997, 92–96.

849 Contra Gallis, this volume, 24.

in their horizontal social position.850 At the same time, these fgurines were linked to each other by grouping them in the house model. Therefore, I argue that they represent an extended family unifed in one household. At the same time, their function has been defned through their being combined with objects characteristic for actions in a household: the oven, the bench or platform and the instrument, perhaps a grinding stone.

### *Handling of the Figurines in the House Model*

For the use of the fgurines, we have to be aware that, in general, fgurines were most probably produced to be touched and handled.851 For the house model, this means that the fgurines were produced to be arranged in the house model. Similar connections of the forming of a fgurine together with its container are seen in the assemblage of Chalcolithic fgurines from Aegina-Kolonna. Here a male fgurine was produced from the same clay as the container to ft into it, as can be argued from the foot imprints of the fgurine in the inner surface of the bowl.852

Furthermore, it has been noted that the house models of Ovčarovo were originally unbaked and only hardened by the confagration of the fre destruction.853 As can be seen by the coherent nature of the fgurines and the house model concerning fabric and style, the house model and its contents were produced together as one set,854 meaning that the makers already envisaged its use.

As regards their size and shape, the fgurines were found lying down in groups within the house model, and their size suggests they were purposely made to ft in this way.855 This is further suggested by the presence of soft depressions on the ground of the house model below the fgurines, indicating that the fgurines were positioned in the model while the clay was still soft, before being fred. This evidence implies that the fgurines were not produced to stand upright but to lie in the house. This is also supported by the fact that the side walls of the model are very low in comparison to the fgurines, so standing fgurines would appear much higher than the house model itself. Otherwise, based on their even bases, the fgurines were also capable of standing in an upright position. Thus, we cannot exclude that, before lying them down, they were kept standing up during some sort of ritual.856

In consequence, I consider that the position of the fgurines in the assemblage was of importance for the Neolithic people and was intended from the very beginning of its construction. The evidence from PMZ shows that the fgurines were produced for laying in the house, even if they also had a use before deposition. This is, of course, possible, and the damage seen on three of the fgurines (Figs. VI.30, VI.33–34) could go back to such prior use.857

### *Arrangements of Neolithic Figurines as Efgies of the Neolithic Society*

Up to now, arrangements of fgurines found in situ are rare: at Stubline, a site of the late Vinča Culture, a platform held fgurines which – with the exception of the central fgurine – were of identical type and were arranged in seven or eight groups so that this could indicate the roles of individuals on the community level. At the same, the replicas of tools/weapons found in the context were meant to identify the role of the representations in society. Like the house model from PMZ, the context of Stubline shows individuals in relation to each other. However, in contrast to

850 Fowler 2004, 62.

851 Bailey 2013, 251; for the advantages of 3D scanning for visualize this act: Papadopoulos et al. 2019.

852 Alram-Stern 2016, 19–21.

853 Marangou 1996a, 181.

854 A similar production of models as sets is also seen in other fgurative assemblages: Marangou 1996a, 181.

855 For the lying position of the fgurines in the house model see also Nanoglou 2004, 185–187.

856 Cf. Tracey Cullen, personal communication; see also Gallis 1985b.

857 For a possible use of miniatures on several occasions before their deposition: Marangou 1996a, 196–197.

the former, they are not represented in the closed space of a house but in a more dispersed way, and therefore represent people from a group beyond the household.858

In Building 7 of Ovčarovo, 26 miniature objects, including four fgurines, three upright plaques of clay, eight chairs, three tables, three bowls and two pans and three cylinders were set along a wall.859 In consequence, the fgurines were placed in relation to the objects, and due to their interpretation as ritual objects, the miniatures were interpreted not as a representation of daily life, but as part of a ritual scene.860

The importance of the position of fgurines is underlined by other fnds of fgurines intentionally fxed in a certain position, such as at Aegina-Kolonna, where single fgurines and pairs of fgurines were fxed standing in miniature bowls.861 However, in contrast to the house model, these pairs are of the same gender, but of diferent size, so that the relationships between the fgurines must have had a diferent meaning than for the fgurines from the house model. In particular, the preponderance of male fgurines points to a masculine section of the Neolithic society usually underrepresented in fgurative art and contradicting a matriarchal view of Neolithic society. Groups of fgurines were also found in House T in Tsangli.862

In consequence, the house model of PMZ and the groups of fgurines described above have in common that they were intentionally constructed, combined and arranged according to their intended meaning. It also becomes clear that there are a variety of such 'scenes', which most probably difered according to their purpose.

### *The House Model as an Efgy of a Neolithic Household*

For the house model of PMZ we may state that it represents a room as an architectural feature, which is occupied by the members of a household.863 Of importance is the fact that just one door opened to the room so that there was restricted access to the house.864 For the fgurines, they were used to assert membership of the household, and such social practices aimed to consolidate already existing identities.865

According to social studies in most cultures, women dominate the household, the males being occupied with activities outside the household. This is seen in the house model by the number of females in the house but also by their size compared to the two tetrapodal fgurines interpreted as males. In the house model the female fgurines are placed close to their activity area, which is the freplace or the oven. For this we also have to envisage the fact that women were probably producers of pottery and also of the fgurines, and that the oven represented in the house model may have been used for fring the fgurines.866 Furthermore, they are connected to their two main tasks, the tallest female fgurine with food preparation, the second with raising children. By analogy, Pierre Bourdieu has shown that in the Berber house women are connected with the dark and secret rear zone of the house, which was devoted to food production and the raising of children. By contrast, men are connected with life outside the house, which may be their occupation with the animals and the felds, but also their life in public.867 So, following Ian Hodder's terminology, the women

858 Crnobrnja 2011.

859 Bailey 2005, 26–28.

860 Todorova 1974; Marangou 1996a, 196.

861 Alram-Stern 2016, 19–21.

862 Wace – Thompson 1912, 115–117, 123–124.

863 For the character of the Neolithic household in the Balkans: Borić 2008. For the house model as its efgy: Borić 2008, 131–132.

864 Nanoglou 2001.

865 Bailey 2000, 103, 268.

866 Gallis, this volume, 25. For pottery production in special ovens at Magoula Rizava in western Thessaly: Krahtopoulou et al. 2018. For Magoula Imvros: Kyparissi-Apostolika 2012.

867 Bourdieu 2003.

are connected to the *domus* while men are linked to the wild or the *agros*. 868 This is expressed by the fact that the males were placed close to the door.

### *The Lying Position of the Figurines and its Meaning*

Since the lying position of the fgurines was planned from the shaping of the house model and the fgurines, its deposition must have had a meaning from the very beginning of their construction, such as at Aegina-Kolonna, where pairs of fgurines were fxed standing in miniature bowls.869 Unfortunately, it is impossible to know if fgurines from other contexts found in a lying position were intentionally placed or not. However, contexts like the fgurines at Stubline, which were arranged on a bench before the house was burnt down and buried, could be seen in analogy with the house model of PMZ.870 Therefore, we argue that the fgurines in the house model were brought together to be placed as if in sleep or death in a manner symbolic of the demise of the house and maybe even the passing on of the ancestors.871 At the same time, they were hidden and meant to be buried in their function in or as a household,872 maybe to increase stability within the community (or wishful thinking by community members).873 Maybe it replaced occasional intramural burials,874 although for PMZ, intramural burials were not identifed in the previous nor in the subsequent strata of the excavated, admittedly small Trench A. For the last settlement phase, an extramural cemetery points to increasing emphasis on burial ritual during the early Late Neolithic Tsangli-Larissa phase.875 As regards the meaning of fgurines, this manner of deposition under the surface of an open area in the settlement may be related to the fact that fgurines might represent the community's ties to the ancestral spirits, which were thus present, close to the space of the living.876

### VI.3.4. Conclusions

To conclude, the fgurines and house model belong to a special set of fgurines produced for a special kind of arrangement and deposition, and even their production was connected to this. Thus their position in the house model had a certain meaning, possibly from the very beginning of their production, but defnitely at the moment they were placed in the container. Most probably their position should demonstrate that the fgurines were put to sleep, possibly forever.

Furthermore, this house model and the fgurines give a most detailed picture of a social group living in an early Late Neolithic household of PMZ. The spatial formation and the diferences in shape and size most likely relate to the diferent ages and/or the horizontal social position of the individuals represented by the fgurines. In any case, their containment within the same house model shows that they were members of the same household, and this household consisted of an extended family877 as well as people connected to them by their activities, but who need not be, in a narrower sense, kin-related.878

The house model also points to the important role of women in the household. It has been suggested that this demonstrates that the role of the women in society was more active than that of

871 Tracey Cullen, personal communication.

873 Tracey Cullen, personal communication.

876 Talalay 1991, 49; Fowler 2004, 63.

878 Souvatzi 2008, 12–14.

868 Hodder 1984; Hodder 1990.

869 Alram-Stern 2016.

870 Crnobrnja 2011.

872 Marangou 2009, 84.

874 Chapman 2015.

875 Fowler 2004, 61–62.

877 Souvatzi 2008, 97–99 contra Gallis 1985b, 22 and Gallis 2001, 141 who identifed a nuclear family.

men.879 However, this runs counter to the representation of well-decorated men sitting on stools who may have had their main task outside the house. Therefore, we should not conclude a matriarchal society from this efgy, but we should keep in mind that, according to anthropology, women may also play an important role in household societies with a patrilinear social background.880

### **VI.4. Zoomorphic Figurines or Vessel Protomes**

The Middle Neolithic contexts of PMZ produced two heads of animal fgurines, PM0847 (Fig. VI.7) from BSPh IIIb, and the back part of a head PM0737 (Fig. VI.14) from BSPh Vd, both of Middle Neolithic date. No bodies for these heads are preserved. Therefore, we cannot ascertain whether they represent animal fgurines or animal-head attachments of vessels, i.e. animal protomes.881 According to a residue analysis of such vessels from Dikili Tash they contained oil/fat, Cedrus/Cypressus/Juniperus, fossil fuel and beeswax. Consequently, they may have been used as lamps, incense or fumigant burners or containers of aromatic or medicinal substances,882 i.e. as objects closely connected to ritual.

Toufexis has already pointed out that Neolithic animal fgurines usually represent domesticated animals related to the mixed farming character of Neolithic subsistence,883 and our two heads were most probably goats or sheep.

The application of cofee-bean eyes, which is a general feature on anthropomorphic fgurines, underlines a close relation of the animal head PM0847 to representations of humans.884 Furthermore, its red-on-white painted decoration shows the importance of this fgurine, as it is used at PMZ for anthropomorphic fgurines sitting on stools.

Interestingly, such fgural representations of domesticated animals are comparatively rare in Thessaly: if we take the house model as one special fnd, the ratio of animals to humans is 1:10– 1:15, as also counted by Nanoglou for Thessaly.885 This rarity, also seen in other contexts,886 stands in contrast to the central Balkans, where zoomorphic fgurines are much more abundant with a ratio between 1:2 and 1:4.887 This frequency of animal fgurines has been interpreted to mirror their importance due to the built environment of the settlements, the central Balkans being characterised by extended settlements with domesticated animals within the settlement area,888 while the limited settlement of Thessalian sites allowed breeding of animals outside the settlement area only.889 Since fgurines seem to be connected to the settlements and the ritual actions of their inhabitants, the popularity of animal fgurines in the Balkans could be interpreted as their incorporation in a common identity, whereas their symbolic meaning was of minor importance in Thessaly.

879 See Risch 2018, 55.

880 Cveček 2020, 16–19; Cveček in press, chapter VI.2.

881 Toufexis 2003, 263. For vessels with animal protomes of later date from Dikili Tash: Marangou 2004, 273, 276 (M163), 277 (M637), 278 (M1234–1235), 281 (M1911).

882 Marangou – Stern 2009.

883 Toufexis 1996b; Toufexis 2003, 264, 268.

884 Toufexis 2003, 263.

885 Nanoglou 2009, 286. For a summary see also Marangou 2000, 234.

886 Extremely rare, e.g., in Sarakenos Cave: Orphanidis 2015, 365, nos. 734–736 (with horns or ears), 367, no. 738, 368, no. 739 (several bovine fgurines, LN).

887 For zoomorphic fgurines from Delcevo: Chapman 1996, 222–225.

888 Bailey 2000, 174–177. However, we should consider the frequency of animal fgurines in eastern Macedonia with its characteristic tell sites.

889 Halstead 1996, 35; Kotsakis 1999; Nanoglou 2009, 287–288.

### **VI.5. Anthropomorphic Vessels**

At PMZ two fragments of anthropomorphic vessels have been identifed. PM0830 (Fig. VI.6.) from a layer of the Middle Neolithic BSPh IIIb is a plastically formed face attached below the rim of a vessel.  The fabric of this vessel has gold mica inclusions rarely seen macroscopically at PMZ. However, petrographic analyses are needed for a further provenance analysis. Similar fragments are rare, but known in western Thessaly as well as Macedonia. Another fragment, PM1013 (Fig. VI.22), representing the plastically formed lips of a face comes from the earliest Late Neolithic phase BSPh VIIa. It is characterised by a brown burnished surface.

Both faces may belong to anthropomorphic vessels with a human-shaped body;890 one of the most prominent anthropomorphic vessels is a vase with a lower body with separately formed legs from Tzani.891 Otherwise they could have been part of vessels with the face set on the neck, but without any further indication of the human body.892 Both types are rare in Greece, most examples being faces disconnected from the body of the vessel.

The Middle Neolithic face application synchronises with fnds from Middle Neolithic Achilleion,893 Sitochoro 2894 and Tzani895 in western Thessaly as well as from Sesklo,896 Rachmani897 and Karamourlar in eastern Thessaly.898 Further Early Neolithic anthropomorphic vessel fragments come from Nea Nikomedeia.899 At Sitochoro 2 and in one case at Achilleion, the face is applied on the neck of a jar. At Tzani the face belonged to an upper body formed as a bowl with the face set directly under the rim. According to the shape of the rim, it is highly likely that our face application belonged to this type, which was provided with a slightly faring bowl.

In contrast, the burnished fragment dating to the frst Late Neolithic period synchronises with fnds from Makriyalos in central Macedonia900 and from Dispilio in western Macedonia.901 In both sites the published pieces belong to burnished jars. Like at PMZ, the features of the face are applied directly to the surface of the vessel; however, in contrast to the fragment from PMZ, the faces are not provided with lips. So for both fragments from PMZ, the Balkan connection is evident. Like at PMZ, in relation to fgurines, anthropomorphic vessels are scarce.902

All in all, anthropomorphic vessels representing the human body, similar in style and dating to the Early and Middle Neolithic period, have a wide distribution from northern Mesopotamia to southeastern Europe,903 the tradition continuing in the Balkans throughout the Late Neolithic period. Most of these anthropomorphic vessels are characterised by features of the female body – there are no examples of the male body – using the human body in its sexual and procreative

898 Orphanidis – Malakasioti 2011, 147, no. 29.

901 Vougari 2017, 27, fg. 2.2, 32, fg. 2.5.

890 'Gefäßfgurinen': Schwarzberg 2011, 23–79 (for Greece: 31–32, 39).

891 Wace – Thompson 1912, 147, fg. 91b (Tzani).

892 'Gesichtsgefäße': Schwarzberg 2011, 81–134 (for Greece: 93).

893 Gimbutas 1989, 238, no. 94; 242, no. 125, pl. 7.13; 248, no. 181, fg. 7.54, 1–3, pl. 7.13 (Phase IIIb/IVa, IVb, Achilleion).

894 Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 116, nos. 374–375. A further piece is of unknown provenance: Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 117, no. 376.

895 Wace – Thompson 1912, 147, fg. 91b.

896 Tsountas 1908, 299–300, fg. 228.

897 Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 117, no. 377.

899 Theocharis 1973, fgs. 219–220; Pyke – Yiouni 1996, 88.

900 Nanoglou – Pappa 2009, 254, 255 drawing 5a with a face set on the rim (Makriyalos I); Nanoglou – Pappa 2009, 255 drawing 5b, 257 with a face set on the body of a closed vessel (Makriyalos II).

902 Naumov 2017, 57.

903 Hansen 2007, 167–169, fg. 75, pl. 40.1 (Hassuna), pl. 169.11 (Rakitovo); Schwarzberg 2011, 74–79.

capacity.904 Another aspect is the concept of the body as a container, the human body strengthening the accumulative and protective features of the vessel.905

### **VI.6. Table and Miniature Bowl**

The high leg PM0935 (Fig. VI.41) of a three- or four-legged circular vessel or table is red monochrome and comes from the Middle Neolithic BSPh Vc (Fig. III.23). Legged vessels are well known in Middle Neolithic Thessaly. The vessel from PMZ should probably be reconstructed in analogy to a four-legged circular shallow bowl from Tsangli.906 In the Balkans, 'ritual tables' have been attributed to cultic contexts,907 and Gimbutas has argued their ritual function based on their association with fgurines at Achilleion.908 Elster attributes this kind of pot to "social ceramics, emphasizing the social role of ritual".909 At the Late Neolithic cemetery of PMZ, a closed vessel with an attached animal head and legs containing a cremation also argues for a ritual connection of legged vessels.910 In consequence, a ritual function of such vessels seems very plausible for Thessaly, too.

The complete miniature bowl PM0641 (Fig. VI.42) from BSPh VIb (MN III) is included in this chapter, since miniature bowls seem to have been used in connection with fgurines and other miniatures and therefore seem to have a ritual connotation.911 Furthermore, miniature vessels are connected with the Early Neolithic cremation burials of Souphli Magoula, and Gallis argues that they were fred in the course of the cremation, so that they were connected with the burial ritual.912

The miniature bowl from PMZ is completely preserved. It is fred brown, has an uneven surface, and has vertically incised lines from the base to the middle of the side. The vessel seems to have been low fred, a feature also seen at other sites.913 Miniature bowls come from various sites, mainly dating to the Late Neolithic period.914

904 Kokkinidou – Nikolaidou 1997, 100; Naumov 2008, 93–94; Naumov 2010, 230–231.

905 Naumov 2017, 54–55.

906 Wace – Thompson 1912, 99, 107, fg. 57g.

907 Schwarzberg 2003.

908 Gimbutas 1989, 204.

909 Elster 1986.

910 Gallis 1996d, 530, 548, fg. 13; 549, fg. 14.

911 Todorova 1982, 67–68, 69, fg. 31; 71, fg. 32.

912 Gallis 1996d, 532–533.

913 E.g. at Visviki Magoula: Alram-Stern – Dousougli-Zachos 2015b, 190, 193.

914 Marangou 1992, 178–179.

### **VI.7. Catalogue**

VI.7.1 Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Figurines

*Fig. VI.1. PM0898.*

BPh I, SU 3, ditch; 0.73m from east, south side (Fig. III.5).

H (pres.) 3.8cm, Wd (av.) 2cm, Th (av.) 1.9cm.

Clay: 5YR 5/1 grey, very well sorted, 5%, many small white and fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 4/1 dark grey, cracked, smoothed.

Lower part or leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, cylindrical, slightly fattened, slightly uneven; base indented.

Cf. Gimbutas 1989, 237, no. 79 (Achilleion/Pref. Larissa, Phase IIIb); Kyparissi-Apostolika 2000b, 198, no. 1 (Theopetra Cave/Pref. Trikala).

Fig. VI.1 PM0898. Leg or lower part of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BPh I (photos: M. Börner, drawing: S. Horwath)

### *Fig. VI.2. PM0892.*

BPh II, SU 8, directly above fll of the ditch; 2.03m from north, 0.80m from west (Fig. III.8). Lg (pres.) 4.8cm, Wd 5.3, H (pres.) 4.4cm.

Clay: 2.5YR 6/6 light red, very well sorted, 5%, many fne sparkling inclusions, fne white inclusions. Surface: 2.5YR 5/4 reddish brown, burnished; painted (?) spots of dark-grey colour, back side blackened.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 250, no. 193 (Domeniko 1/Pref. Larissa); Kyparissi-Apostolika 2000b, 198, no. 3 (Theopetra Cave/Pref. Trikala); Phelps 2000, 196, SF716, 195, fg. 4.28 (Servia/ western Macedonia); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 22, PRO 111 (Prodromos/Pref. Karditsa), showing the unfnished surface of the interior part of the leg.

Fig. VI.2 PM0892. Leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BPh II (photo: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.3. PM0873.*

BPh II, SU 14, above fll of the ditch (Fig. III.8).

Lg (pres.) 5cm, Wd 1.8cm, Th 1.55cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/4 pink, very well sorted, 2.5%, small dark and fne white and sparkling inclusions, a few golden inclusions. Surface: 2.5YR 6/6 red monochrome paint, burnished (?)

Leg of a sitting anthropomorphic fgurine, curved, bent to its right side; probably left leg, formed from a coil; rough area attached to the upper right leg visible.

Cf. Theocharis 1973, fg. 38 (Pharsala area/Pref. Larissa); Gimbutas 1989, 241, no. 116 (Achilleion/Pref. Larissa, Phase IVa); Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 242, no. 185 (Zappeio 5); Hansen 2007, pl. 96.3 (Pontokomi-Souloukia/western Macedonia); Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 257–263, nos. 570–582 (various sites).

Fig. VI.3 PM0873. Leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BPh II (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.4a–b. PM0878.*

BPh II, SU 14, above fll of the ditch; 1m from east, 1.85m from north (Fig. III.8). Lg 5cm, Wd (av.) 2cm, Th (lower part) 1.6cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/4 pink, very well sorted, 5%, many small and fne white, many fne sparkling, some golden sparkling inclusions. Surface: Slip: 5YR 8/2 pinkish-white, paint: 5YR 4/4 dark-red, worn, red on white.

Right leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, painted; rounded knee, lower leg bent at the knee so that fgurine could sit on a stool; on the outer, upper part of the leg, round abraded spot on which the arm may have rested; small, pointed foot with fattened, slightly concave sole, four thin incisions indicating the toes; painted red on white: vertical band with short fringes, interior with dark patches.

Cf. Theocharis 1973, fg. 37 (Sesklo/Pref. Magnesia) = Chourmouziadis 1994, pl. 8; Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 236, no. 180 (Paliouri/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.4a PM0878. Right leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BPh II (3D-model: M. Börner, photos: K.-V. von Eickstett)

Fig. VI.4b PM0878. Right leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BPh II (3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.5. PM0819.*

BSPh IIIb, SU 42, uppermost thin layer of black soil; 1.49m from south, 0.74m from east (Fig. III.12).

H (pres.) 4.2cm, Wd 4.5cm, Th (max.) 1.2cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/4 pink, very well sorted, 2.5%, many fne sparkling, few fne white and red inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/6 reddish-yellow slipped, worn, probably red monochrome, or red-on-buf linear painted.

Upper part of an anthropomorphic fgurine; head, upper body and arms preserved; small head on a long, thin, cylindrical neck; face separated from the neck by a thin incised line; right coffee-bean eye preserved, left eye chipped of; bird-like nose damaged; incised mouth; horizontal upper arms, bent at elbows; lower arms, bent to the body, are broken of; the pellet above the left arm either represents the left hand or, more probably, an object attached to the shoulder; body and neck rod-shaped.

Pub.: Gallis 1996d, 541, fg. 4.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 337, no. 349 (Ambelonas, Sofades/Pref. Karditsa), with a sickle on right shoulder; Nancy Krahtopoulou, personal communication: similar from Kambos and Magoula Palaiochori/Pref. Karditsa.

Fig. VI.5 PM0819. Upper part of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh IIIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.6. PM0830.*

BSPh IIIb, SU 42, uppermost thin layer of black soil (Fig. III.12).

H (pres.) 4.cm, Wd 5.1cm. Th (max.) 0.8cm.

Clay 5YR 6/3 light reddish brown, very well sorted, 5%, many fne white, many fne sparkling inclusions, many small gold mica inclusions, few red/grey inclusions. Surface: 5YR 7/4 pink slip, interior: uppermost part burnished, lower part smoothed, exterior: rim and paint well burnished. Paint: 5YR 5/6 yellowish-red, red on white.

Triangular head attached directly under the rim of a closed, narrow-mouthed vessel; straight triangular nose, cofee-bean eyes; paint around triangular face, on cheeks, on the back of the nose and on the rim, as pending semicircles hanging down from rim (hair, decoration); diagonal 1cm-deep hole in left upper part of the head.

Pub.: K. Gallis, in: Papathanassopoulos 1996, 303, no. 212; Gallis 1996d, 541, fg. 4.

Cf. Wace – Thompson 1912, 147, fg. 91b (Tzani/Pref. Karditsa); Theocharis 1973, fgs. 219–220 (Nea Nikomedeia/western Macedonia); Gimbutas et al. 1989, 238, no. 94; 248, no. 181, fgs. 7.54, 1–3, pl. 7.13 (Achilleion/Pref. Larissa, Phase IIIb/IVa, IVb); Chourmouziadis 1994, pls. 98, 103; Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 116, nos. 374–375 (Sitochoro 2); 117, no. 376 (provenance unknown); 117 no. 377 (Rachmani/Pref. Larissa).

Fig. VI.6 PM0830. Triangular head attached directly under the rim of a closed, narrow-mouthed vessel, from BSPh IIIb (drawing: R. Exarhou, photos: K.-V. von Eickstett)

### *Fig. VI.7. PM0847.*

BSPh IIIb, SU 24–25 or 37; 0.9m from W, 2.10m from south (Fig. III.12).

H (pres.) 4cm, Wd (pres., horns) 2.8cm, Wd (neck) 1.3cm, Th (neck) 1.3cm.

Clay: 2.5YR 6/6 light red, very well sorted, 2.5%, many fne dark, white and sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow. Paint: 2.5YR 5/6 red, burnished, red on buf.

Head of an animal fgurine or animal protome of a zoomorphic vessel, with horns, a pointed mouth und applied cofee-bean eyes, long neck; paint in the area between the horns and the head. Cf. Marangou 1986, 339, fg. 5.Talalay 1993, 26–27, FC 41, pls. 18–19 (Franchthi Cave/Argolid, Final Neolithic).

Fig. VI.7 PM0847. Head of an animal fgurine or animal protome of a zoomorphic vessel, from BSPh IIIb (3D-model: M. Börner, photos: K.-V. von Eickstett)

### *Fig. VI.8. PM0792.*

BSPh IVa, SU 51, deposit below Surface F32; 2.6m from south, 1.5m from west (Fig. III.17). Lg 5.4cm, Wd (av.) 1.8cm, Wd (lower part) 2.2cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/3 pink, very well sorted, 2.5 %, small white and dark inclusions, some fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: Slip: 5YR 8/2 pinkish-white, paint: 2.5YR 5/8 red, worn, red on white.

Left leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine; lower columnar leg hanging from bent knee so that the fgurine could sit on a stool; fat sole; upper, outer part abraded so that arm may have been placed there; red-on-white painted vertical band on outer side of the leg, oval spot on the knee; inner side fattened and unpainted.

Cf. Chourmouziadis 1994, pl. 9 (Tzani/Pref. Karditsa); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 33, MP 21 (Megalo Pazaraki/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.8 PM0792. Left leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh IVa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.9. PM0924.*

BSPh IVb, SU 69, above Surface F31 (Fig. III.19).

Lg (pres.) 2.6cm, Wd (pres.) 2cm, Th (pres.) 1.5cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/4 pink, well sorted, many small, fne and larger black rounded inclusions, few fne white and sparkling inclusions, few golden large inclusions. Surface: Slip: 5YR 8/2 white, paint: 2.5YR 5/6 red, worn, red on white.

End of an arm, rounded with thin diagonal/crossing and horizontal red-on-white painted decoration.

Cf. Nanoglou 2004, I.6 (Ag. Christophoros/western Macedonia, Late Neolithic); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 13, PRO 63 (Prodromos/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.9 PM 0924. Arm of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh IVb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: S. Horwath)

### *Fig. VI.10a–c. PM0753.*

BSPh Vb, SU 88; 1.35m from west, 1.87m from north; on Surface F29 with three hearths, next to the hearth TS 29, in situ? (Fig. III.22).

H (pres.) 6.6cm, Wd (pres., arms) 6.3cm, Wd (pres., base) 4.7cm; Wd (waist) 4cm, Th (body) 3cm, Th (breasts/arms) 3.3cm.

Clay: 5YR 5/4 reddish brown, very well sorted, 5%, many fne sparkling and many golden sparkling inclusions, many small black, some small white rounded inclusions. Surface: 5YR 8/4 light red paint, worn, on a white slip, not certain if there was a red pattern decoration (broad bands) around the neck, horizontal around the arms and vertical at the sides and at the sides, red on white. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, head missing, arms and lower body fragmented, worn; back with rough surface; torso with an oval, deeply indented base (two deep impressions visible); arms formed as protrusions and possibly folded under the breasts; belly chipped of, impressed navel and lower part indicated as incision.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 309, no. 252 (Zoodochos Pigi, Pharsala 1/Pref. Larissa).

Fig. VI.10a PM0753. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.10b PM0753. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vb (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.10c PM0753. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vb (3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.11. PM0936.*

BSPh Vc, SU 92, Surface F28 (Fig. III.23).

Lg (pres.) 4.8cm, Wd (max.) 2.7cm, Wd (leg) 2.2cm, Th (av.) 1.5cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/6 reddish yellow, well sorted, 5%, many fne sparkling inclusions, small dark and white inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/8 red, burnished.

Possibly leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine seated on the ground, one leg upright above the other; rod-shaped leg with oval section, ending in a fat area.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 196, fg. 142.

Fig. VI.11 PM 0936. Possibly leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine seated on the ground, from BSPh Vc (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: S. Horwath)

*Fig. VI.12. PM0725.*

BSPh Vd, SU 107, between Surface F27 and F26; 0.12m from west, 2.48m from north (Fig. III.24).

H 5.5cm, Wd (arms) 5.7cm, Wd (waist) 2cm, Wd (base) 3.1cm, Diam. (waist) 1.7cm, Diam. (belly) 2cm, Diam. (breast) 2cm.

Clay: 5YR 5/8 yellowish red, very well sorted, 5%, many fne white and sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/4 light reddish brown, smoothed.

Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, base damaged, head missing; upper body with arms stretched horizontally and folded below the breasts; left breast preserved, right breast faked of; head broken away; conical lower part of the body, slightly protruding belly and incised navel, belly separated from the lowermost part by an incised line; lowermost part broken away; back fattened and roughened.

Forming details: upper part of the body hollow, head inserted into an oval indentation, arms formed of coils attached to the body, breasts attached to the body, area underneath right breast, which was faked away, is rough so that it must have been attached on the half-dry surface before smoothing; underside oval and concave.

Cf. Fassoulas 2017, pl. 1, PRO 1 (Type GM); pl. 1, PRO 2 (Type MP); pl. 2, PRO 5; pl. 5, PRO 17 (all from Prodromos/Pref. Karditsa); for inserting the head: Wace – Thompson 1912, 122, 126, fg. 75a (Tsangli/Pref. Larissa); Chourmouziadis 1994, pl. 74–75; Fassoulas 2017, pl. 14, PRO 70.

Fig. VI.12 PM0725. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vd (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.13a–b. PM0733.*

BSPh Vd, SU 107, between Surface F27 and F26; 1.85m from west, 0.00m from north.

H 4.1cm, Wd (base) 4.4cm, Wd (body) 3.2.cm, Th (body) 3cm.

Clay: 5YR 5/1 grey, very well sorted, 10%, many small and fne white inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 5/1 grey, burnished.

Right lower part of a leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine with a cylindrical trunk, slightly thickened toward the top; left narrower parts, where probably connected to the other leg, unburnished and rough; foot protruding to back and front, base rectangular and fat.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 395, no. 344; L. Orphanidis, in: Papathanassopoulos 1996, 315, no. 236 (Chaironeia/Boeotia); Kyparissi-Apostolika 2000b, 198, no. 1 (Theopetra Cave/Pref. Trikala).

Fig. VI.13a PM0733. Right lower part of a leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vd (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.13b PM0733. Right lower part of a leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh Vd (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.14. PM0737.*

BSPh Vd, SU 107, between Surface F27 and F26 (Fig. III.24).

Lg (pres.) 1.85cm, Wd (pres.) 2cm, Th (pres.) 1.5cm.

Clay: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, very well sorted, 5%, many small white and fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 7/4 pink, smoothed. Paint: red, red on white.

Back part of the head of an animal fgurine or animal protome of a zoomorphic vessel, with high, pointed horns; horn with red paint; (its) right horn and the mouth broken away, neck broken, worn.

Fig. VI.14 PM0737. Back part of the head of an animal fgurine, from BSPh Vd (photo: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.15. PM0657.*

BSPh VIa, SU 121, below Surface F24 (Fig. III.26).

H (pres.) 3cm, Wd 2.7cm, Th 1.4cm.

Clay: 10YR 4/1 dark grey, very well sorted, many fne white and sparkling inclusions. Surface: 10YR 5/1 grey, smoothed (?), four rows of short incisions around the back upper part.

Flat head of an anthropomorphic fgurine, of oval shape, face chipped of; back and sides decorated by four lines of short incisions; on the back side, short incisions along the edge of the neck. Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 137, no. 71 (Chalki 3/Pref. Larissa) = Gallis 1992a, 189, fg. 33; Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 183, no. 473 (area of Mezourlo/Pref. Larissa); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 51, RACH 14 (Rachmani/Pref. Larissa).

Fig. VI.15 PM0657. Flat head of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.16. PM0651.*

BSPh VIb, SU 122, Surface F24 (Fig. III.27).

H 5.8cm, Wd (av.) 2.2cm, Th (av.) 1.9cm.

Clay: 5YR 5/6 yellowish red, very well sorted, 5%, many small white, some small dark and many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: Slip: 5YR 6/2 pinkish grey (originally pink/buf?), paint: 5YR 4/4 reddish-brown, burnished, red on white.

Left leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, right side slightly irregular, left side straight; foot slightly protruding beyond the leg; sole fattened, attachment to the body preserved; red horizontal band in the upper part around the entire leg.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 180, no. 125.

Fig. VI.16 PM0651. Left leg of a seated anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner, photo: K.-V. von Eickstett)

*Fig. VI.17. PM0640.*

BSPh VIb, SU 126, between Surface F23 and F24 (Fig. III.27).

H (pres.) 4.1cm, Wd 2.3cm, Th 1.5–1.7cm.

Clay: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, core 2.5Y 7/1 light grey, 2.5%, very well sorted, fne white inclusions, many sparkling inclusions. Surface: 2.5YR 5/6 red slipped, burnished, one narrow side coarse.

Cylindrical, slightly oval leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine; underside fattened; interior side, to which the second leg may have been attached, has a fattened, rougher surface.

Cf. Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2009, 119, fg. 21; Karamitrou-Mentessidi et al. 2013, 40–41, fgs. 9–10 (Pontokomi-Souloukia/western Macedonia) = Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2002, 628–629, fg. 32.

Fig. VI.17 PM0640. Cylindrical, slightly oval leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: S. Horwath)

*Fig. VI.18a–b. PM0621.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 126, between Surface F23 and F24, close to PM0620; 2.5m from north (Fig. III.29).

Lg 6.2cm, Wd (upper part) 4.1cm, Wd (lower part) 3.3cm, Th 1.5cm.

Clay: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, dark-grey core, well sorted, 5%, small reddish-black and white inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, partly wiped, partly smoothed.

Completely fat, schematised anthropomorphic fgurine without head; back fat, front has belly slightly indicated; lower part of the back slightly rounded; arms slightly visible as folded horizontally, legs indicated as protruding stumps; thin incised line on the top and slightly roughened surface may indicate that a head had been attached.

Fig. VI.18a PM0621. Complete fat schematised anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.18b PM0621. Complete fat schematised anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.19a–c. PM0645.*

BSPh VIb, SU 126, between Surface F23 and F24 (Fig. III.27).

H 6.7cm, Wd (upper part) 4.2cm; Wd (lower part) 3.6cm; Th 2.2cm.

Clay: 7.5YR N7 light grey, 1%, fne white and fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 7/6 reddish-yellow slip, powdery.

Complete (?) anthropomorphic fgurine, without head (missing?); body fattened, back slightly rounded, arms and legs indicated as fattened, rounded angular ends; top and base characterised by a deep groove over the entire width which may have served for inserting the head and lower body; however, since the groove has a slip, it is possible that it was not intended to have a head inserted.

Fig. VI.19a PM0645. Complete (?) anthropomorphic fgurine, without head, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.19b PM0645. Complete (?) anthropomorphic fgurine, without head, from BSPh VIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.19c PM0645. Complete (?) anthropomorphic fgurine, without head, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.20. PM1014.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 126 (Fig. III.29).

H (pres.) 3.5cm, Wd (pres.) 2.8cm, Th 0.4–1.3cm.

Clay: 2.5YR 4/4 light red, very well burnished, 1–2.5%, very well sorted, many fne white and sparkling inclusions, very few darker inclusions, pores in the form of channels. Surface: black on red. Paint: 2.5YR 4/4 reddish brown (now looking whitish) on 2.5YR 5/6 red surface, exterior burnished, interior smoothed.

Fig. VI.20 PM1014. Lower part of an animal head attachment, from BSPh VIb (drawing: R. Exarhou, photo: K.-V. von Eickstett)

*Fig. VI.21. PM0620.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 126, between Surfaces F23 and F24, close to PM0621; 2.15m from north, 3.35m from east (Fig. III.29).

H (pres.) 5.2cm, Wd (max.) 2.5cm, Wd (leg) 1cm, Th (max.) 2.7cm, Th (leg) 1.1cm.

Clay: 7.5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, very well sorted, 5%, many small white, few dark inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 7.5YR 6/2–5/2 pinkish grey, smoothed, incised.

Thin left leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine ending in a globular buttock, probably of a standing fgurine; cylindrical, straight leg with indications of the upper and lower leg, ending in a small foot with a fat sole; front and outer side decorated with short, horizontal incisions, leg separated from the body by two thin incised lines; inner und upper part shows rough surface attached to the body.

Forming details: leg and buttocks were formed and half-dried as one piece, to be attached to the body; core was covered by a thin layer of clay.

Cf. Chourmouziadis 1994, pl. 29 (Otzaki Magoula/Pref. Larissa); Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 205, no 148; E. Skafda, in: Papathanassopoulos 1996, 299, no. 204 (Early Neolithic).

Fig. VI.21 PM0620. Thin left leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.22. PM1013.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 127 (Fig. III.29).

Diam. (vessel interior) 13cm, Th 0.5cm.

Clay: 5YR 4/1 dark grey to 7.5YR 4/2 dark brown, 5%, well sorted, many fne and small white inclusions and sparkling inclusions. Surface: 7.5YR 5/2 brown, interior burnished, exterior well burnished, shiny.

Body sherd of an anthropomorphic vessel, decorated with the lips of a face, upper lip less plastic than lower.

Cf. Tsountas 1908, 299–300, fg. 228 (Sesklo/Pref. Magnesia); Gimbutas 1989, 242, no. 125, pl. 7.13 (Achilleion/Pref. Larissa, Phase IVa); Orphanidis – Malakasioti 2011, 147, no. 29 (Karamourlar/Pref. Magnesia); Nanoglou – Pappa 2009, 254, 255 drawing 5a (Makriyalos I/central Macedonia); Nanoglou – Pappa 2009, 255 drawing 5b, 257 (Makriyalos II/central Macedonia).

Fig. VI.22 PM 1013. Body sherd of an anthropomorphic vessel, from BSPh VIIa (drawing: R. Exarhou, photo: K.-V. von Eickstett)

*Fig. VI.23. PM0577.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 132, directly above Surface F23 (Fig. III.29).

H (pres.) 3.3cm, Wd (pres.) 3.9cm, Th 1.6–2cm.

Clay: 7.5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, very well sorted, 5%, many small white rounded inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 7.5YR 6/2 pinkish grey, wiped.

Upper body of a female anthropomorphic fgurine with rudiments of the neck and the arms; front side with small pellets on both sides, indicating the breasts; cylindrical neck; arms probably horizontally orientated.

Fig. VI.23 PM0577. Upper body of a female anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIIa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.24a–b. PM0590.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 132, directly above Surface F23; 1.75 from north, 3.5m from west (Fig. III.29). Lg/H (pres.) 6.8cm, Wd (max.) 3.3cm, Th (max.) 3.9cm.

Clay: 7.5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, very well sorted, 2.5%, many small white and dark, rounded inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: slip: 7.5YR 8/4 pink, paint: 2.5YR 5/6 red, burnished, red on white.

Right leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, upper part ending in a quadrangular buttock, foot fragmented; interior and upper interior part rough so that it may have been glued to the left leg and to the body; furthermore, the right arm may have been placed on it; belonging to a standing fgurine; incised line along the upper part of the leg; painted with a vertical, red line on a buf surface.

Forming details: leg and buttock were formed and half-dried separately to be attached to the body; covered with a thin layer of clay, which has been burnished.

Cf. Fassoulas 2017, pl. 7, PRO 25 (Prodromos/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.24a PM0590. Right leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.24b PM0590. Right leg of an anthropomorphic fgurine, from BSPh VIIa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.25a–b. PM0591.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 132, directly above Surface F23; 0.9m from south, 1.28m from east (Fig. III.29). H 6.3cm, Wd 3.7cm, Th 1.8cm.

Clay: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, moderately sorted, 15%, many smaller and larger white inclusions, few small dark inclusions, many fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, worn, probably originally wiped.

Eight-shaped, fat fgurine, complete; upper part with well-rounded lobes, lower part more angular; on the top and the underside of the fgurine are thin incised lines, which may be residual traces from inserting the head and legs, irregular incised line on the back of the fgurine.

Pub.: Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 405, no. 354.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 402, no. 351; 403, no. 352: both of stone (Deleria 1/Pref. Larissa).

Fig. VI.25a PM0591. Eight-shaped, fat fgurine, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.25b PM0591. Eight-shaped, fat fgurine, from BSPh VIIa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.26. PM1020.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 127 (Fig. III.29).

H (pres.) 2.2cm, Wd 1.8cm, Th 1.4cm.

Clay core (entire fracture): 5YR 6/1 light grey, exterior 5YR 7/4 pink, very well sorted, 5%, many small white and sparkling inclusions, few reddish-grey inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, burnished, but matt, red monochrome.

Quadrangular end of a plaque or bar, front side at its edges with two lines of vertical zigzag incisions; upper side with two lines incised on each side; back side plain.

Cf. Nancy Krahtopoulou, personal communication: Makrychori, Kambos area/Pref. Karditsa; reconstruction as fgurine: Hansen 2007, pl. 110.1–5, 7–8 (Körös and Starčevo sites); 137, fg. 51 (Zăuan/Rumania).

Fig. VI.26 PM1020. Quadrangular end of a plaque or bar, from BSPh VIIa (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: R. Exarhou)

### *Fig. VI.27/37a–c. PM0912.*

BSPh VIIa, SU 134, layer of fre destruction directly above SU 133 and below Surface F22 (Fig. III.29).

Clay: 7.5YR 4/2 to 10YR 4/1 brown-dark grey, very well sorted, 5%, some small (<0.3mm) and many fne (<0.1mm) silver sparkling inclusions. Surface: 10YR 4/1 dark grey, fgurines, objects and interior surface of the house model smoothed, fgurines incised with short lines, occasionally with dots, incised lines partly flled with brown paint, in some cases tops of the heads painted brown (7.5YR 4/6 strong brown to 5YR 4/6 yellowish red) and burnished.

Pub.: Gallis 1985b, 20–24; Gallis 1990; Gallis 1992b, 206–207; Marangou 1992, 36–37; K. Gallis, in: Papathanassopoulos 1996, 328–329, no. 266; Gallis 2001, 140–141.

Fig. VI.27–37a PM0912. House model with fgurines in situ, from BSPh VIIa (photo: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.27–37b PM0912. House model with fgurines in situ, from BSPh VIIa (photos: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.27–37c PM0912. PM0912. House model with fgurines in situ, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.27a–d.*

H 6.05cm, Wd 3.5cm, Wd (neck) 1.25, Th 3.4cm.

Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs, no sex indicated; complete; one leg placed in front, one at the back and two at the sides of the fgurine; long neck growing out of the legs and the lower, conical body; triangular, beaked head with applied cofee-bean eyes; under the eyes, three short, diagonal lines; mouth indicated by a thin incision; upper side of the head fattened and burnished; hair indicated on the back side by vertical, incised short zigzag lines; cylindrical neck decorated with fve horizontal, intermittent incised lines; front with two horizontal v-shaped ornaments as well as a vertical line of incised dots; legs decorated with three diagonally running incised lines; underside of the fgurine with impressed cavity.

Cf. Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 370–380, nos. 319–330. Western Thessaly: Gallis – Orphanidis 1996, 372, no. 321 (Sofades/Pref. Karditsa); 373, no. 322 (Astritsa/Pref. Karditsa); Nanoglou 2004, II.235 (Astritsa/Pref. Karditsa); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 31, MP14 (Megalo Pazaraki/Pref. Karditsa); Hamilakis et al. 2017, 466, pl. II, chapter 6, fg. 8 (Koutroulou Magoula/Pref. Phthiotida); Alexiou 2018, 188, fg. 11 = Alexiou 2020, fg. 3α–γ and below (Magoula Sykeon/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.27a PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.27b PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.27c PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.27d PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.28a–d.*

H 7.35cm, Wd 3.7cm, Wd (waist) 2.15cm, Th 2.75cm; incised lines flled with reddish-brown pigment.

Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine; complete; triangular, beaked head with applied coffee-bean eyes; under the eyes three short diagonal lines; beaked face; head fattened, red slipped and burnished on the upper side; hair indicated on the back by short, incised lines at the edge of the head and vertical incised short zigzag lines hanging down to the neck; short neck decorated with two horizontal, intermittent incised lines; cylindrical body, back fattened, front slightly rounded; decorated in front and in the back by three vertical incised lines; applied protruding pellets indicating the breasts and separated from the body by incised lines; upper arms lifted horizontally, hands placed underneath the breasts; arms decorated with vertical incised lines, fngers indicated by incised lines; bell-shaped lower part of the body, broadening to the back and fattened on the back which is decorated by two incised, v-shaped lines; around the lower part, a band consisting of four horizontal intermittent incised lines; on the front side, a number of irregular, vertical incised lines, which may indicate the legs or feet; underside of the fgurine with deeply impressed cavity.

Cf. Orphanidis – Gallis 2011, 288–289, 615 (PMZ, stray fnd).

Fig. VI.28a PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.28b PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.28c PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.28d PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.29a–b.*

Lg 6.9cm, H 1.35cm, Th 1.1cm.

Oblong object; complete, minor damage on one of the sides; quadrangular section, narrowing and lifting to its ends, which terminate in elevated points; upper side with three rows of short linear impressions, which overlap the edges of the upper side.

Fig. VI.29a PM0912. Oblong object from the house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.29b PM0912. Oblong object from the house model, BSPh VIIa (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.30a–c.*

H (pres.) 4cm, Wd 2.2cm, Th 1.8cm; incised lines flled with red pigment.

Small standing female anthropomorphic fgurine; head missing, arms worn; upper body with plastically formed breasts and incised points indicating the nipples; around the neck, two horizontal, intermittent, incised lines; between the breasts and on the back, two vertical, intermittent incised lines; under the breasts, on a fat bulge, three incised lines, indicating the arms and hands; conical lower body, around the lower part, two horizontal intermittent incised lines; on the front side, below the horizontal lines, four short vertical incisions, perhaps indicating the legs; backside fattened, underside slightly indented.

Fig. VI.30a PM0912. Small standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.30b PM0912. Small standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.30c PM0912. Small standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.31a–b.*

H 2.7cm; Wd/Th 1.5cm; incised lines flled with red pigment.

Cf. Gallis 1982, 72, 114, pl. 21, lower row, left (cemetery of PMZ, cluster E21); Alexiou 2018, 188, fg. 10α (Magoula Sykeon/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.31a PM0912. Small asexual standing anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.31b PM0912. Small asexual standing anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.32a–b.*  H 2.9cm, Wd 1.6cm, Th 1.7/1.2cm.

Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, plain; complete, nose slightly damaged; cylindrical, short body with two irregular, protruding pellets indicating the breasts; arms indicated as faint diagonal bulges; back fattened; underside indented; triangular head with cofee-bean eyes, upper side fattened, leaned to the back; on the left side, an incised line; beaked nose; a few irregular incised lines visible on the body.

Fig. VI.32a PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.32b PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.33a–b.*

H 2.6cm, Wd 1.3cm, Th 0.7cm.

Small fattened anthropomorphic fgurine, upper and lower part broken; front and back of the body decorated with fve vertical incised lines; on the top, small part of a head with beaked face preserved; small depression on the sides of the head may be provided for inserting the eye; sides with diagonal incised lines.

Fig. VI.33a PM0912. Small fattened anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.33b PM0912. Small fattened anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.34a–b.*

H 2.76cm, Wd 1.8cm, Th 1.8cm.

Small asexual standing anthropomorphic fgurine with *pointillé* incisions, head damaged; conical body with beaked head; one incision indicating an eye (?), upper side (nose?) decorated with four *pointillé* incisions; upper back part of the head surrounded by two rows of incisions; a tiny protrusion points to the possibility that they surrounded the upper head; in the back, two vertical lines of *pointillé* incisions, probably indicating a vertical band; along the base, two, partly three horizontal lines of *pointillé* incisions; lower part slightly triangular, underside slightly indented.

Fig. VI.34a PM0912. Small asexual standing anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.34b PM0912. Small asexual standing anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.35a–c.*

H 5.3cm, Wd (upper part) 2.4cm, Wd (lower part) 2.1cm, Th (lower part) 1.7cm; incised lines flled with red pigment.

Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine; complete; triangular, beaked head with applied coffee-bean eyes; under the eyes, three short, diagonal incised lines; beaked face; head on the upper side fattened, brown slipped and burnished; on the back, at the edge of the head, hair indicated by short, incised lines and, hanging down to the neck, by short diagonal incised lines; neck decorated with two horizontal, intermittent incised lines; upper body with two protruding pellets as breasts which are partly separated from the body by incised lines; nipples indicated by dot incisions; on the front, between the breast, two, on the back three vertical lines; arms bowed horizontally, hands placed on the belly under the breasts; arms decorated in front as well as in the back by vertical incised lines; fngers indicated by three incisions; conical lower body, broadening to the back; fattened on the back, decorated by three horizontal intermittent lines, flled with white paste (?); in front, below them, short vertical lines, continuing on the underside of the fgurine; underside of the fgurine indented.

Fig. VI.35a PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.35b PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.35c PM0912. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.36a–c.*

H 5.3cm, Wd 2.7cm, Th 2.1cm; incised lines flled with red pigment.

Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs, no sex indicated; three of the four legs damaged; legs placed at the sides of the fgurine; long neck growing out of the legs and the lower, conical body; triangular, beaked head with applied cofee-bean eyes; under the eyes, three short, diagonal lines; upper side of the head fattened, painted with red, abraded slip and burnished; hair indicated on the back side by vertical, incised, short zigzag lines; cylindrical neck decorated with four horizontal, intermittent incised lines; on front side, a long vertical line from the neck to the area between the legs; along the legs, two diagonal lines, partly flled with red colour; underside of the fgurine with impressed cavity.

For parallels see Fig. VI.27.

Fig. VI.36a PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, as placed in the house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.36b PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, BSPh VIIa (photos, 3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.36c PM0912. Standing anthropomorphic fgurine with four legs from house model, BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

### *Fig. VI.37a–k.*

Lg 17cm, Wd 15.2cm; H (front) 5.5cm.

Open house model, sides damaged; house model consisting of a thick coarse plaque of clay on which low sides have been added as slightly curved plaques; interior smoothed, sides coarser, underside rough with impressions of chaf, in the corners of the underside, low ridges; front with 2.8cm-wide entrance; in the left corner, a quadrangular bench with small vertical incisions on its edges; in the centre, an oblong, barrel-shaped oven with a semi-globular roof and a slightly bulging opening; entrance of the oven supplied with a narrow bench; foor of the oven slightly declining to its interior; foor of the interior slightly declining to the sides and featuring shallow depressions.

Cf. Gallis 1992a, 128, fg. 14: fragment of an open house model with oven and bench from Kastro (Magoula Aliphaka/Pref. Larissa, A.T.A.E. 9); Marangou 1992, 204. See also Gimbutas 1956, 103, fg. 56 (Popudnia/western Ukraine); Garašanin et al. 1971, no. 82 (northern Macedonia); Todorova 1974, 39–46 (Ovčarovo/Bulgaria); Renfrew et al. 1986, 216, fg. 8.20, pl. XL.1a–d = Theocharis 1973, 340, fg. 290 (Sitagroi/eastern Macedonia); Ziota 2011, 218, fg. 11 (western Macedonia).

Fig. VI.37a PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (photo: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37b PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (photo: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37c PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (photo: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37d PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37e PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37f PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37g PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37h PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37i PM0912. The open house model in an empty state, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37j PM0912. The open house model, empty, highlighting the depressions in its ground, from BSPh VIIa (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.37k PM0912. The open house model, highlighting the depressions in its ground and the position of the fgurines in them (3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.38a–b. PM0327.*

SU 168, flling of Early Bronze Age pit 167.

H (pres.) 5.2cm, Wd 2.15cm, Th 2.3cm.

Clay: 7.5YR 6/4 light brown, grey fring cloud, very well sorted, 7.5%, many small white and reddish-black rounded, few fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 7.5YR 6/6 reddish yellow, wiped, back side burnished.

Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, head missing; quadrangular body; back fattened, sides and front slightly rounded; arms indicated faintly as horizontal protrusions along the sides of the body; breasts formed plastically; neck on its front side with parallel vertical lines (necklace?); underside slightly indented.

Cf. Gallis 1982, pl. 21, lower row, right (cemetery of PMZ, cluster ΣΤ 27); Alexiou 2018, 187– 188, fgs. 9, 10ε.

Fig. VI.38a PM0327. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from flling of Early Bronze Age pit (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.38b PM0327. Standing female anthropomorphic fgurine, from flling of Early Bronze Age pit (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

*Fig. VI.39. PM0329.*

SU 168, flling of Early Bronze Age pit 167.

H (pres.) 3.1cm, Wd 2.5–2.9cm, Th 2.1cm.

Clay: 7.5YR N4–6/2–5/2 dark grey to brown, well sorted, 5%, many fne sparkling inclusions, some small-large angular white inclusions. Surface: 7.5YR N4–6/2–5/2 dark grey to brown, worn, partly wiped, partly unfnished.

Lower part of an anthropomorphic fgurine (?); cylindrical, slightly fattened leg, underside indented.

Cf. Kyparissi-Apostolika 2000b, 198, no. 1 (Theopetra Cave/Pref. Trikala).

Fig. VI.39 PM0329. Lower part of an anthropomorphic fgurine (?), from flling of EBA pit (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: S. Horwath)

## *Fig. VI.40a–b. PM0016.*

Topsoil.

H (pres.) 4.4cm, Wd 1.7–2.1cm, Th (upper body) 0.8cm, Th (legs) 0.9cm.

Clay: grey ware: 10YR 6/1 grey, very well sorted, 1%, fne sparkling silver inclusions, few fne white inclusions. Surface: 10YR 6/1 grey, burnished.

Forming detail: Breakage on neck shows that the surface layer was applied to an oblong core.

Cf. Hauptmann 1981 (Otzaki/Pref. Larissa); Phelps 2000, 202, SF219 (Servia/western Macedonia); Nanoglou 2004, I.80 (Paliambela/western Macedonia); Hansen 2007, pl. 101.16 (Rachmani/ Pref. Larissa); Karamitrou-Mentessidi 2011, 86–87, fg. 10 (Grevena region/western Macedonia); Alexiou 2020, fgs. 1e; 10 (Magoula Sykeon and Mavrachades/Sofades, Karditsa); Nancy Krahtopoulou, personal communication: all in grey ware (Mavrachades Tartaria in the Kambos region/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.40a PM 0016. Half-standing, fat anthropomorphic fgurine, from topsoil (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.40b PM 0016. Half-standing, fat anthropomorphic fgurine, from topsoil (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, 3D-model: M. Börner)

VI.7.2 Table and Miniature Bowl

### *Fig. VI.41. PM0935.*

BSPh Vc, SU 92, below Surface F28 (Fig. III.23).

H (pres.) 3.5cm, Wd (leg) 1.8cm, Th (leg) 1.4cm.

Clay: 5YR 7/6 reddish yellow, very well sorted, 5%, many small and fne white, many fne sparkling silver and golden inclusions. Surface: 5YR 6/4 light brown, burnished.

Leg of a circular table, leg with round-oval section, ending in the attachment to a probably circular bowl.

Cf. Theocharis 1973, fg. 13 after Wace – Thompson 1912, 99, 107, fg. 57g (Tsangli/Pref. Larissa); Gimbutas 1989, 207, fg. 7.65 (Achilleion/Pref. Larissa, Phase IIIb); Kyparissi-Apostolika 2000b, 225, fg. 14.11.1 (Theopetra Cave/Pref. Trikala); Fassoulas 2017, pl. 28, MT 6 (Magoula Theophani/Pref. Karditsa).

Fig. VI.41 PM 0935. Leg of a circular table, from BSPh Vc (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett, drawing: S. Horwath)

### *Fig. VI.42a–c. PM0641.*

BSPh VIb, SU 126; 2.18m from east, 1.07m from south, above Surface F24 (Fig. III.27). Complete conical miniature bowl with thick walls and incision decoration; underside coarse. Diam. (rim) 4.8cm, Diam. (base) 2.5cm, H 3.2, Th (upper part) 0.4cm.

Clay: thick core 5YR 5/1 grey, outer part 5YR 7/3 pink, very well sorted, 2.5%, small black and white, fne sparkling inclusions. Surface: 5YR 7/2 pinkish grey, fring cloud on the bottom, coarsely formed and slightly smoothed, in the outer, lower part of the bowl irregular, thin, short, vertical, incisions.

Fig. VI.42a PM0641. Complete conical miniature bowl, from BSPh VIb (photos: K.-V. von Eickstett)

Fig. VI.42b PM0641. Complete conical miniature bowl, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner)

Fig. VI.42c PM0641. Complete conical miniature bowl, from BSPh VIb (3D-model: M. Börner)

## **VII. The Ornaments**

*Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika*

### **VII.1. Introduction**

Ornaments usually constitute a limited category of small fnds in most Neolithic excavations, apart from cases like Franchthi Cave, which was right by the seashore and a higher number of ornaments made from the shells collected there was found.915 Late Neolithic Dimini, on the east Thessalian shores, is also an exceptional case, yielding ornaments (bracelets and beads) made from the shell *Spondylus gaederopus*. 916 The latter seem to travel to central Europe as exchanged products. The ornaments from PMZ constitute the smallest category of the total assemblage, but this is quite telling in its own right as regards the character of the site.917 Of course, one should take into consideration that Trench A under examination is a very small part of the total settlement and, further, more extensive research could provide a diferent picture.

### **VII.2. The Inventory**

In our inventory, there are 11 ornaments coming from the Neolithic deposit.918 Of these, three (PM0637, PM0638, PM0639) were not found in the storage boxes – but, as they are included in my dissertation,919 we have information about them.

The ornaments in PMZ are made of shell, stone, and clay, and one example is from the tooth of a wild animal. Below we will present these ornaments shared according to their material.

### VII.2.1. Shell

Eight objects are made of seashell. Of these, the most distinctive are made from the shell *Spondylus gaederopus*:

PM0379 (Fig. VII.1). The pendant is made of one valve of an elaborated *Spondylus gaederopus* shell, where two symmetrical holes are preserved, while two others were initially opened closer to the periphery, but these were broken. Part of its curved top is missing. Dimensions: 6.1 × 6.7cm, thickness: 0.4cm. Find spot: In the intermediary deposits between Surfaces F20 and F19, location inside the trench (coordinates): 0.20m (east) × 2.30m (north). BPh VIII, LN I.

915 Miller 1996; Perlѐs 2018, 5.

916 Kyparissi-Apostolika 2001.

917 I am grateful to Kostas Gallis, Eva Alram-Stern and Giorgos Toufexis for inviting me to participate in this publication, giving me the chance to see again, with a more experienced eye, the ornaments from PMZ after many years.

918 Ornaments which were found in the Bronze Age levels will be published in the volume on the Bronze Age stratigraphy and fnds of PMZ.

919 Kyparissi-Apostolika 2001, cat. nos. 704–706.

Fig. VII.1 PM0379: Pendant made of one valve of the shell Spondylus gaederopus, with two symmetrical holes for hanging. Two other holes, initially opened closer to the periphery, were broken (a. drawing: N. Kyparissi-Apostolika and C. Batzelas, b. photo: G. Dallas)

PM0637, PM0638 and PM0639 (Fig. VII.2). The three now-missing pendants mentioned above were consistent with the natural round and oval shape of the shell. They were found half broken. Each of them also had a pair of holes; in the third piece only one hole is preserved, but it is assumed that there were two. The valves used were much thinner than the one described above and almost fat. According to their natural characteristic features, namely the brightness of their interior surface, the size and the thinness of the walls, they could be made of shells of the family *Pteriidae*, possibly the *Pteria hirundo*, which live in Sporades close to Thessaly, in the north Euboean and the Saronic Gulf.920 Since these three ornaments are now missing, for the moment we cannot securely identify the family of the shell. Dimensions: 3.2 × 3.8cm, 4.6 × 2.6cm, 1.9 × 1.5cm. Find spot: SU 126, from deposits containing highly burnt pieces of clay resulting from the destruction of a potential auxiliary roofed area belonging to a house, location inside the trench (coordinates): 0.39m (north) × 0.52m (west). BSPh VIb, MN III.

920 Delamotte – Vardala-Theodorou 1994, 152, 246.

Fig. VII.2 PM0637, PM0638, PM0639: Drawing of the three missing-now pendants made on seashells with a couple of holes for hanging each (drawings: N. Kyparissi-Apostolika)

PM1001 and PM0467 (Figs. VII.3–4). Two parts of bracelets are made of the seashell *Spondylus gaederopus* but diferent:

PM1001 (Figs. VII.3a, VII.4b), made of the left valve of the shell, is thin with a trapezoidal section and decorative notches on both sides of the periphery. Length: 2.2cm, width: 0.6cm, thickness: 0.3cm. Find spot: SU 161, above Surface F20, depth: 4.65m. BPh VIII, LN I.

PM0467 (Figs. VII.3b, VII.4a) is less elaborate and could possibly come from a right valve. It retains small remnants of the natural cavities of the shell. Its broken edges are polished, and it probably continued to be used after it broke. Length: 5.1cm, width: 0.9cm, thickness: 0.5cm. Find spot: SU 152, in intermediary deposits between Surfaces F21 and F20, depth: 4.96m, location inside the trench (coordinates): 0.10m (north) × 0.72m (west). BSPh VIIc, LN I.

Fig. VII.3 a. PM1001, b. PM0467: Drawing of two bracelets made of the shell Spondylus gaederopus (drawing: N. Kyparissi-Apostolika and C. Batzelas, digital transformation: R. Exarhou)

Fig. VII.4 a. PM0467, b. PM1001: Two bracelets made of the shell Spondylus gaederopus (photo: G. Dallas)

PM0581 (Fig. VII.5). A sizeable barrel-shaped bead is made of *Spondylus gaederopus*. It is half-broken and totally black from burning. A transversal axis runs along its length. Length: 3.4cm, preserved thickness: 1.9cm (the other dimension is broken), wall thickness: 0.6–1cm. Find spot: SU 134, in intermediary deposits between Surface F22 and F23 and probably in an open-air area east of a potential building,921 depth: 5.25m, open-air fring, location inside the trench (coordinates): 1.40m (north) × 1.50m (east). BSPh VIIa, transition MN III/LN I.

The earliest known perforated shells made for adornment are known from Blombos Cave on the southern cape shoreline of the Indian Ocean, South Africa, and they are dated to 75.6 ± 3.4ka. Traces of fbre on the walls of the shell by the holes prove that they were hung.922 More recently, perforated marine gastropod shells at the western Asian site of Skhul and the north African site of Oued Djebbana indicate the early

use of beads by modern humans in these regions. The layer where the shells were found was dated between 90 and 135ka, about 25,000 years earlier than previous evidence for personal decoration by modern humans in South Africa.923 The practice of gathering and circulating shells in prehistoric Greece dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic of Epirus (sites Kastritsa, Klithi, Boila), since c. 22,000 BP,924 while from Klissoura Cave in the Argolid, shells are reported from a layer of the early Upper Palaeolithic dated to c. 40,000 BP.925 Additionally, a bored freshwater shell in Theopetra Cave is dated at c. 16,000 BP, after the Last Glacial Maximum.926