Neolithic clay figurine
Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
Collection of Prehistoric Antiquities, inv. no. Π 5947

Provenance: Neolithic settlement of Sesklo in Magnesia, Thessaly
Dimensions: Height 6,5 cm.
Date: Early Neolithic (6500-5800 BC)
Display location: Room 5, Showcase 9.

A peculiar clay figurine of a «centaur» seems to reveal a supernatural aspect to the perception the Neolithic inhabitants of Thessaly had of the world. Among the clay Neolithic figurines from that area, the homeland of the Centaurs in historical times[1], this non-natural being, stands out. The village societies of Thessaly have left behind a large variety of miniature human figure representations, in which the female gender prevails, followed by the male one, while asexual figures and figures exhibiting both male and female features are also present. The visual microcosmos is completed by models of animals, houses and objects. Despite the wealth of all this detailed representational evidence, the meaning and function of figurines in the ritual life of neolithic settlements, their common place of provenance, cannot be determined with certainty. Did they symbolize deities or humans in a non-verbal code of communication?

In any case, the emphasis on the features of the human body that relate to fertility (pregnancy, breast-feeding, phallic symbols) indicates the primary purpose of society, its survival and proliferation, to overcome, among other things, the physical dangers and limitations. In this effort, supernatural and magical powers are evidently mobilized, judging from the hybrid creatures depicted on figurines[2].

Integrated into this context is the figurine of a «centaur» from the Neolithic settlement of Sesklo, at the foothills of Mt Pelion. The characterization «centaur» was assigned by the excavator himself, Christos Tsountas, in the excavation notebook[3] and further discussed in the publication[4], where the figurine is illustrated in drawing. It depicts a figure whose upper body is human -probably male- and the lower one that of a four-legged animal, not though of a horse, as in historical times. After all, no bones of equines have been identified in Neolithic Thessaly.

Handmade of grey off-white clay, the figurine from Sesklo is not preserved intact, the left hand missing from the elbow and the right one from the shoulder down, the hind legs fully preserved, but the biggest part of the front limbs is missing. On the worn face, the eyes stand out in relief. The hair, arranged, in five locks falls down the shoulders and the back. The human torso is perpendicularly attached to the horizontal part, which ends in four arched cylindrical legs, the front being shorter than the hind. A sloping mass of clay unites the human torso with the animal’s back legs.

The figurine resembles those of seated on stools, usually male, figures with the hands on the thighs, from Thessaly[5], in which the human legs merge completely with the front legs of the stool. A stronger resemblance appears in the cases where the back legs of the stool, instead of straight, are arched. However, there are certain differences: in the human figures, seated on stool, the body is clearly delineated from the seat and the four legs are equal in height.

The seated human figure is thought to symbolize a scene of social ceremony, power and authority. The hybrid form of the «centaur» magically combines the human with the animal force of Nature, necessary for long-term survival, but also an opponent to be reckoned with, probably of apotropaic character, as well.

[1] Bronze figurine of Centaur of historical times in the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum (HNAM X 6680):  Alexandra Chatzipanagiotou, «That monstrous host of double form, man-joined to steed…», exhibit of the month, June 2021.

[2] For example, Neolithic clay protome half-human and half-animal from Vrasteri Magoula in Thessaly (Toufexis 2003, fig. 29.4).

[3] The figurine was found on 25 July 1901 and in the notebook the excavator cites a brief description of it: «Near the place, where the figurines were found yesterday, there was also unearthed another clay one, not complete, peculiar, because it looks like a Centaur figurine» (Notebook 4, 143, for the numbering of Christos Tsountas’ notebooks kept in the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum, see Manteli 2020, 312, note 22).

[4] Τσούντας 1908, 293-294, pl. 33a and b.

[5] Two figurines from Thessaly of seated male figures on a stool with arched cylindrical legs (Θεοχάρης 1981, 62-63, figs 22-23). The same Thessalian type was also introduced in Neolithic Macedonia (Χρυσοστόμου 2024, 84, fig. 3).

Dr Katia Manteli

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dönmez, 2018. S. Dönmez, “Hybrid beings and representation of power in the prehistoric period”, Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi (TAD) 64, 97-124.

Θεοχάρης 1981. Δ. Ρ. Θεοχάρης, Νεολιθικός Πολιτισμός. Σύντομη επισκόπηση της Νεολιθικής στον ελλαδικό χώρο. Athens: National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation.

Manteli 2020. K. Manteli, “Christos Tsountas in the Cretan State in the early 20th century: through the archives of the National Archaeological Museum”, in M. Lagogianni-Georgakarakos and T. Koutsougiannis (eds) These are what we fought for. Antiquities and the Greek War of Independence. Athens: Archaeological Receipts Fund, 306-313.

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Toufexis 2003. G. Toufexis, “Animals in the Neolithic art in Thessaly”, in E. Kotjapopoulou & Y. Hamilakis (eds) Zooarchaeology in Greece: Recent Advances, British School at Athens Studies 9, 263-271.

Τσούντας 1908. Χρ. Τσούντας, Προϊστορικαί Ακροπόλεις Διμηνίου και Σέσκλου. Athens: The Archaeological Society at Athens.

Χουρμουζιάδης 1994. Γ. Χουρμουζιάδης, Τα Νεολιθικά ειδώλια. Thessaloniki: VANIAS Publications.

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