The female figurines from Răucești

Narration text

Compare these figurines from Răucești, in Neamț County, with the older ones you have already seen. Here, in the Cucuteni B phase, the female body becomes almost a sign. The figurines are flat, the arms are reduced to two stumps, and the head is a disc with perforations.

Anatomical detail no longer matters; what matters is a recognisable silhouette, almost like a letter of an alphabet. Why the holes? Specialists believe ornaments or threads were attached to them, perhaps even miniature clothing.

Figurines like these are found in large numbers in Cucuteni settlements, inside houses, beside the hearth or in pits. They were probably used in household rituals, to protect the home and family, for fertility or for rich harvests. To us this stylisation looks strikingly modern, close to the work of twentieth-century sculptors who also prized the power of simple forms.