Clay hand-made vase decorated with incised spiral and zig-zag motives. The tripartite structure (neck-belly-base) and the horned handles recall a human figure.

Morphology of the object:

Small elegant incised vase of reddish clay with high cylindrical neck and small conical base/foot. Two peculiar solid curved handles are attached symmetrically to the shoulders. They begin at the middle of the belly and open upwards, like wings as high as the middle of the neck. At the base of the neck these handles are pierced horizontally. The belly is spherical, a bit compressed, and its peculiarity lies in the two pointed protrutions, each formed symmetrically between the handles. The small base, hollowed underneeth, has been attached separately and looks rather unstable to support the vase. It has also been pierced with a pair of holes which correspond with those of the handles.

The vase has been decorated with incision. Apart from the smooth undecorated neck, the body, the handles and the base are covered with a system of deep incisions or grooves: the zig-zag pattern has been formed on the lower body and the handles; the uper part on both faces between the handles has been embellished with three spirals, the middle one being smaller than the others. The base is decorated with dense parallel oblique lines. Traces of white pigment in some lines proove that there was an infill of white pigment inside all the incisions. The result must had been exquisite, with the warm red surfase looking as embroidered with these white symmetrical and neat patterns. The lack of decoration on the neck could be an indication – though without parallels - that there existed a lid which covered it up to the handles.

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The Late Neolithic phase II at Thessaly (4800-4500 BC) has been also called ‘the Dimimi Culture’, from the neolithic settement of Dimini. This site was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century and for the next 50 years became the most important reference site to the study of the Late Neolithic period in prehistoric archaeology in Greece and the Balkans. Οne of the most characteristic elements found in the layers, was the two pottery types, the two ways of decoration of the vases. The one is the Painted and the other is the Incised Pottery. The decorative motives in both were elegant geometric designs, the meander, the checkered, densed parallel / succesive lines and the stepped motif. In addition to the above, during this period the prevailing new motif was the spiral, which, in some cases, presence is irrelevant and intusive to the basic decoration, as in the pinted phiale (photo) no. 5920 from Dimini.

This small vase can not be considered as a common utensil. Actually, it must have been special even during its time. Its tripartite structure recalls human body in abstraction, as it has been described above. One could go further and suggest that this anthropomorphic vase renders a female figure, based on two factors: the pointed protrusion at the middle of the body / belly of the vase, and the three incised spirals on this protruded surface. The spiral motif, when found on figurines is placed usually on the belly or on the brests ( photo no M 2749,Volos Museum). Thus, this small vase must represent a female figure and such rendering is in accordance with the fashion practised during the Late and Final Neolithic periods, in which a lot of anthropomorphic vases were created (photos 5933 Dimini, and Diros D.640), most probably for ritual ceremonies.

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