EARLY NEOLITHIC ANTHROPOMORPHIC FIGURINES. A NEW DISCOVERY AT LIPNICA, WIELKOPOLSKA VOIVODESHIP

A fragment of clay figurine was found in a Band Pottery Culture pit at Lipnica near Szamotuły during rescue excavations o f the Y amai gas pipe ( 1996). It was probably painted and ornamented by vertically incised lines. Its compositional and formal attributes make us believe that this is a fragment of anthropomorphic, freestanding and realistically represented figurine without steatopygic features. It was either an early Neolithic idol or toy. The figurine shows similarities to alike artifacts from Central European oecumene of the Band Pottery culture (in particular in the Lower Silesia and Germany), which are characterized by their slenderness and incised ornamentation. Additionally, the painting decoration is indicative of influences from south-eastern centers of the LBK (Ukraine and Moravia)