The reconstructed bottle-shaped vessel forms a rather strongly stylized human figure.

Morphology of the object:

The reconstructed bottle-shaped vessel forms a rather strongly stylized human figure. The neck of the pottery is cylindrical, widening at the shoulders and gradually narrowing towards the bottom. On the neck two faces can be seen opposite each other, probably made with the same technique. One of the faces was not damaged when the object came to surface, the other one was reconstructed according to the decorational pattern of the pottery. The anthropomorphic characteristics of the vessel are emphasized by the two knobs placed on the shoulders, which can be interpreted as stylized arms. The four symmetrically placed knob-decorations comply with the facial decoration; their existence could be deduced from one of the plaster marks that remained on the body of the pottery.

On the lower part of the cylindrical neck, above the shoulders of the vessel, an „M”-like incised line, with the stems running outwards, frames the triangular face. The nose and the two connecting eyebrows above the eyes are in relief, while the eyes and the mouth are incised with short lines. The neck, under the characteristic „M”-like line, was decorated with interchanging red and yellow painted zigzag stripes. Remains of red and yellow painting is also discernable on the face. Above the face on the rim of the pottery two deeply incised parallel lines can be found, which could be a simplified headdress. Below this, on both sides of the brow, outward curving parallel lines depict either the hair or a part of the headdress. Likewise, the wavy-line decoration deeply incised on both sides of the face could also represent hair or perhaps a stylized veil. On the shoulders, above the knob-decoration representing hands, run three deeply incised parallel line-patterns which could remind one of a necklace. As with the facial design, the flank of the vessel is decorated with bunches of three lines running parallel to one another divided by notches, characteristic of the Zselíz phase. The centre of the decoration is a spiralling bunch of lines, enfolded by two bunches forming two concentrical circles. This motif is reminiscent of a stylized representation of the embryo within the womb.

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Vessels with facial representations appear in the younger phases of the Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture in the Transdanubian region. The particularly characteristic incised „M”-like motif framing the face is similar from the southern part of the Carpathian Basin right until Middle and Western Germany. Besides the spherical segment and rare human figured vases appearing in the Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture, among the most common bottle formed vessel-types only this pottery from Biatorbágy and another one from Budapest, Békásmegyer could be totally reconstructed, which two objects were proven to be bifacial examples. The bifacial vessels excavated in Vinča, and in the Bucovaţ group in Bánát indicate the southern relations of this type of object. The closest parallels to the facial vessels of the younger Transdanubian Linear Pottery culture are to be found in the Szakálhát culture of the Alföld (Hungary). The mutual intellectual relationships are proven by not only the forms of the pottery, but also the „M”-like incised sign framing the face, and the red and yellow paint applied to the surface.

Facial vessels presumably formed part of the ritual paraphernalia in connection with fertility cults. Based on the fragmentary state of the known examples so far it cannot be discerned with certainty whether the bifacial decoration of such pottery was generally used, or just a variant of the facial vessel type. In the latter case, the pottery might have carried a different meaning. Beside the several possible interpretations, the vessel from Biatorbágy can be connected to fertility rituals based on the pattern incised on the flank of the pottery; the doubling of the face could have been intended as a stimulation of the vessel’s magical powers. In other cases, for example, the duality of human existence and their relations (of this world and the netherworld, woman and man) could have been depicted on one and the same vessel. The „M”-shaped incised line, which appeared widely with similar use as part of the facial decorations, has been interpreted in various ways. Some believe that the sign is a rather extremely stylized human figure, which thus duplicated was intended as an emphasis of the anthropomorphic characteristics more or less inherent in the form of the vessel itself. Other opinions simply regard the „M”-like line framing the face as an element used to bring out the face and neck more. Like other facial vessels, the pieces of this pottery were found in a refuse-pit. It seems generally true that the vessel, originally placed in the cult corner of the domestic „sanctuary”, was deliberately broken to pieces after it had fulfilled its function. The vessel having lost its importance was simply discarded of in refuse-pits, or its broken pieces were scattered in certain places, perhaps in the fields.

Kalicz, Nándor: Figürliche Kunst und bemalte Keramik aus dem Neolithikum Westungarns. Budapest, 1998; -Raczky, Pál – Anders, Alexandra: The internal relations of the Alföld Linear Pottery culture in Hungary and the characteristics of human representation. In: Jerem, E. – Raczky, P. (Hrsg.) Morgenrot der Kulturen. Frühe Etappen der Menscengeschichte in Mittel- und Südosteuropa. (Festschrift für Nándor Kalicz zum 75. Geburtstag) Budapest, 2003. 155-183; -M. Virág, Zsuzsanna: Neuere anthropomorphe Darstellungen der Linienbandkeramik aus der Umgebung von Budapest. In: Fl. Drasovean (ed.), The Late Neolithic of the Middle Danube Region. Timisoara, 1998. 67-89; -M. Virág, Zsuzsanna: Anthropomorphic Vessels of Transdanubian Linear Pottery Culture. In: St. Hiller-V. Nikolov (Hrsg.), Karanovo Band III. Beitrage zum Neolithikum in Südosteuropa. Wien, 2000. 389-405.