SUVOROVO, BULGARIA—Archaeology in Bulgaria reports that a six-inch-long fragment of a ceramic figurine depicting a woman’s torso has been unearthed at the site of a workshop in northeastern Bulgaria, near the coast of the Black Sea. The complete statue is thought to have stood about a foot tall when it was crafted sometime in the brief Middle Chalcolithic period, between 4700 and 4600 B.C. Vladimir Slavchev of the Varna Museum of Archaeology said few anthropomorphic figures dating to this period have been found in the region. A piece of the figurine that had been attached to its belly area had broken off, which suggests to Slavchev and his colleagues that the sculpture may have been intended to depict a pregnant woman. “It is very richly decorated with stamped lines on the front and on the back,” Slavchev said. “Various geometrical motifs were encrusted, which most probably convey the decoration of the clothing.” The figurine may have represented a priestess or Mother Goddess, he added. To read about a Paleolithic "Venus figurine," go to "World Roundup: Russia."
