The gate of the year

Facsimile of a terracotta statuette representing a female figure with human and animal traits: the head recalls that of a bear, as well as that of the child she holds in her hands. The transformation of a woman into a bear and the association of the animal with a female goddess shall be widespread motifs during successive periods, particularly in Ancient Greece. The object has been found at Vinca, near Belgrade (Serbia), one of the largest Neolithic settlement discovered in Europe and dating to the VI millennium B.C. The original is in the National Museum of Romanian History (Muzeul National de Istorie a României), Bucarest, Romania.

[Image: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64159141/vinca-bear-masked-mother-and-child]




Human-Animal Transformation

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Facsimile of a terracotta statuette representing a female figure with human and animal traits: the head recalls that of a bear, as well as that of the child she holds in her hands. The transformation of a woman into a bear and the association of the animal with a female goddess shall be widespread motifs during successive periods, particularly in Ancient Greece. The object has been found at Vinca, near Belgrade (Serbia), one of the largest Neolithic settlement discovered in Europe and dating to the VI millennium B.C. The original is in the National Museum of Romanian History (Muzeul National de Istorie a României), Bucarest, Romania. [Image: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64159141/vinca-bear-masked-mother-and-child]