# The anthropomorphic vessel from Trușești

> Stop 11, Cucuteni Eneolithic Art Museum 'Gheorghe Dumitroaia'

At first glance it looks like an ordinary pot. But look at it as a body: it has shoulders, a rounded belly and hips. Archaeologists call it an anthropomorphic vessel, meaning a vessel in human form.

- Where: Room 2: the painted vessels
- Period: Cucuteni A (c. 4600–4050 BC)
- Material: Painted pottery
- Audio recording (1:10): https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.tesseramo.com/media/neamt/audio/muzeul-arta-eneolitica-cucuteni/en/cuc-11.mp3
- Stop page: https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.tesseramo.com/ghid/cucuteni-vasul-antropomorf-de-la-trusesti?lang=en
- On the indoor map: https://museu-cucuteni.neamt.tesseramo.com/harta-interioara?stop=cucuteni-vasul-antropomorf-de-la-trusesti&lang=en

## Narration

At first glance it looks like an ordinary pot. But look at it as a body: it has shoulders, a rounded belly and hips. Archaeologists call it an anthropomorphic vessel, meaning a vessel in human form. It comes from Trușești, in Botoșani County, one of the largest settlements of the Cucuteni A phase, excavated by the archaeologist Mircea Petrescu-Dîmbovița. For the Cucuteni people, the link between vessel and body was no accident. A pot held food and seed, just as a woman's body carries life. Many of their cult vessels recall female silhouettes, and some even have breasts or arms modelled in relief. The painted decoration follows the curves of the body, like a garment or perhaps a tattoo. In fact, Cucuteni figurines of the same period often carry exactly the same kind of incised or painted motifs on their bodies. Perhaps, for the people of that time, vessel and figurine spoke the same language.