Collection record · Objects & craft
Vinca Idol
The collection record classifies this work as ceramic. It is dated 4500–3500 BCE. Recorded culture or place: Serbia, Vinça culture, Neolithic Era.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Vinca Idol
- Date
- 4500–3500 BCE
- Culture / origin
- Serbia, Vinça culture, Neolithic Era
- Materials and technique
- fired clay with paint
- Dimensions
- Overall: 16.1 cm (6 5/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 2000.201
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
This statuette, probably a cult idol, dates to the Neolithic Era which saw the development of farming and human technology. It is extraordinarily well preserved and derives from the settlement at Vinca in modern Serbia. This flourishing culture was the largest known in Europe at that time, extending along the Danube into the Balkans and Central Europe. Thousands of clay statuettes have been discovered in the region's Vinca settlements suggestive of the intense magic-religious practices within the Vinca culture. This statuette is anthropomorphic, or human-shaped, and is presumed to have been used for ritual purposes. The use of red paint is typical of Vinca Neolithic figurines, and few have survived in such excellent condition.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Bruce Ferrini · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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