Neolithic Figurine Unearthed in Bulgaria

VARBITSA, BULGARIA—Archaeology in Bulgaria reports that an unusual figurine has been unearthed at a Neolithic settlement in northeast Bulgaria. The 7,500-year-old figurine has its hands on its waist, and its eyes, nostrils, and mouth are all opened, and may depict a priestess in religious exultation. A pottery fragment from the same site had been decorated with a relief depicting a woman in a praying posture. The vessel had been used for storing grain, and the image may have been connected to a cult for the harvesting and preservation of crops. To read more about this period in Europe, go to “The Neolithic Toolkit.”