CONCLUSIONS

In summary, we can argue that all of the archaeological data thus far available concerning the European Neolithic anthropomorphic and theriomorphic clay figurines is compatible with an interpretation viewing them as cult images.

Since the production and use of images depicting worshipped beings is a characteristic of human culture, the interpretation offered can be viewed as justified. In addition, the European Neolithic also offers some evidence of sanctuaries and cult buildings. It follows that a concept of religion existed on the Continent at this time - and that it was strikingly similar to that known from the early states of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean area.

One can advance further with the interpretation of the size of the figurines. The largest - those measuring from 30 cm to 170 cm - make up only a very small percentage of the total, and it is possible that these (and only these) were the actual cult images. The vast majority of the figurines were less than 30 cm tall. If the larger ones were cult images, then the smaller ones could have been ex-votos related to such cult images. The irregular distribution within the settlement landscape means that they are clearly concentrated at particular places, and can in turn be used to support such an argument. The smaller figurines could, however, also have been used in “cultic corners” in domestic contexts, as the (admittedly limited) evidence suggests.

The size distribution of the figurines - with an abundance of small figurines, larger ones being quite rare - must be set alongside the relative rarity of the figurines as a whole. Given the relative scarcity of those cult buildings which have been proposed, it follows that European Neolithic religion was clearly dominated by a domestic or private character. The communities will have consisted of small groups: the inhabitants of a house, a family or a lineage.

It follows that there will not have been any need for a professional class of religious specialists which would explain the absence of any evidence hinting at their existence. It is striking that all of the cultures from which concentrations of figurines are known - the Vinca, Lengyel and Cucuteni Cultures - date to the developed Neolithic; all of the clear evidence of cult buildings is likewise derived from this same period. This not only testifies to an increase in the size of the communities, but also to an increase in the significance and complexity of religion over the course of the entire Neolithic. This development continued into the Bronze Age, with the early states of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean area.

These observations and interpretations also allow one to reflect on one particularly interesting issue relating to the history of religion, namely the beginnings of religion. The attitude that religion was a far more important part of earlier human cultures than in the modern age is incompatible with the observations on the European Neolithic. Instead, this evidence supports the opposite view, namely that in the beginning, religion had a very limited role and that it only became relevant very rarely and in special circumstances.

CONCLUSIONS

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