From the Early Neolithic village of Favella comes a set of pottery statuettes with a special emphasis on the sexual aspects of the motherhood. The focus on genitalia resembles clearly the ‘Pregnant Vegetation Goddes’ as defined by M. Gimbutas

Morphology of the object:

The statuette representing a female figure was recovered mutilated at the basin level. The sexual-attributes are emphazised by the engraved representation of the female’s genitalia and of a large bottom. The statuette has a standing posture, as shown by the position of the left legs.

-

-

The statuette belongs to a broader group of figurines from the same site of Favella and to others of the same facies (as from Rendina) completing the iconographic knowledge on this kind of artefacts. The fragmentary state of the other figurines lacked the upper part of the bodies. The lower part of the bodies of the other statuettes recovered show a seated or crouched position (typical of a large Neolithical Cultural area which extends from the Near East regions to the Balkans and the Aegean) that can easily be linked to birth. Usually emphasized by the female’s genitalia dilatation positioned in the lower part of the seated body instead of in the pubic area. Other examples seem to depict standing figures, with genitalia emphasized by its disproportionate size representations. Recently another statuette was recovered at Favella settlement: this figure, which is preserved from the wasi level, shows us the resemblance of the upper part of the statuettes’ body. The Favella figurine also bears generic resemblance to many typologies of female images common in the Neolithic Period in Italy: it is an old and widespread kind of iconography in regard to its main characteristics. It is however possible to determine some patterns linked to specific cultural spheres even if difficult to perceive because of the rareness of the finds. Proof of the cult of mother-goddess with marked naturalistic features have been found in the South-East region of Italy (Favella and Rendina) within the Early Neolithic Period. While figurines from the Adriatic- Central Italy area (middle culture Adriatic) have schematic features( as in Monterado). The statuette belongs to a broader group of figurines from the same site of Favella and to others of the same facies (as from Rendina) completing the iconographic knowledge on this kind of artefacts. The fragmentary state of the other figurines lacked the upper part of the bodies. The lower part of the bodies of the other statuettes recovered show a seated or crouched position (typical of a large Neolithical Cultural area which extends from the Near East regions to the Balkans and the Aegean) that can easily be linked to birth. Usually emphasized by the female’s genitalia dilatation positioned in the lower part of the seated body instead of in the pubic area. Other examples seem to depict standing figures, with genitalia emphasized by its disproportionate size representations. Recently another statuette was recovered at Favella settlement: this figure, which is preserved from the wasi level, shows us the resemblance of the upper part of the statuettes’ body. The Favella figurine also bears generic resemblance to many typologies of female images common in the Neolithic Period in Italy: it is an old and widespread kind of iconography in regard to its main characteristics. It is however possible to determine some patterns linked to specific cultural spheres even if difficult to perceive because of the rareness of the finds. Proof of the cult of mother-goddess with marked naturalistic features have been found in the South-East region of Italy (Favella and Rendina) within the Early Neolithic Period. While figurines from the Adriatic- Central Italy area (middle culture Adriatic) have schematic features( as in Monterado).

The figurine belongs to the motif of seated or standing female figures with emphasized sexual- attributes, known in the early facies of the Italian Neolithic Period. Neolithic art is mainly characterized by female statuettes, common in most continental and Mediterranean areas of Europe, the Balkans and the Aegean, while male and animal figurines are fewer in numbers. Compared to the statuettes of the “Venus” from the Upper Paleolithic Period some representation themes persist, such as the aspect of female fertility. Thanks to the new forage economy during the Neolithic Period a stronger link to the fertility of the earth seems to be mentioned. The location of the find, and probably the context of use of the object, suggests a use connected to domestic structures. The icon, or talisman, as a representation of a divine power protector of the inhabitation or the family usually befell the same fate of the structure and is found in its debris levels. Other statuettes were instead positioned under the hut floor during the foundation ritual

CIPOLLONI SAMPÒ M., 1982, Scavi nel villaggio neolitico di Rendina (1970-‘76). Relazione preliminare. Origini, XI, pp.183-323 TINÈ S., TINÈ V., TRAVERSO A., 1994, Il villaggio di Favella della Corte e la neolitizzazione della Sibaritide, Atti XXXII Convegno di Studi della Mgna Grecia, Taranto 1992, pp.85-102 TINÈ V., (a cura di), 1996, Forme e tempi della neolitizzazione in Italia meridionale ed in Sicilia, Atti del seminario, Rossano Calabro 1994 TINÈ V., 2002A, Il Neolitico in Calabria, Atti XXXVII Riunione Scientifica Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, pp.115-143. TINÈ V., 2002B, Il Neolitico, in Donne, Uomini e animali. Oggetti di arte e di culto nella preistoria. Catalogo della mostra - Roma, Museo “L.Pigorini” 2001 TINÈ V., NATALI E., STARNINI E., 2000, Il villaggio neolitico antico I di Favella (Cosenza), in PESSINA A., MUSCIO G., (a cura di), La neolitizzazione tra Oriente e Occidente, Atti Convegno di Udine 1999.