The Iconographic Type ‘Face of Demeter in a Square Field’ and the Cubus from Kosturino as its Prehistoric Paradigm

The starting point of this study is the ceramic cubus from the Neolithic settlement near “Ornice” – the village of Kosturino (Strumica, R. of N. Macedonia). The presentation of the find is followed by an overview of its analogies, first the prehistoric ones, close in terms of form, chronology and territory, and then those from Early Antiquity, corresponding to an iconographic level, i.e. according to the depiction of eyes and eyebrows inscribed in a quad-rangle. Emphasis is placed on votive objects from the 5th and 4th centuries BC deposited in sanctuaries of Demeter at Eleusis and in Zone. As a separate category of iconographic parallels, presented within the study are also stone stelae with the indicated motif from two different archaeological complexes – the Bronze Age cultures of France and Spain, and the cultures from the first centuries of the new era from the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. The interpretation of the presented objects is based on previous studies, according to which their quadrangular contours would indicate the earth’s plate, while the face inscribed in them would be a form of its deification, i.e. its presentation as a divine woman – as a birth-giver and nurturer. To support this assumption, the authors present several components. Firstly, it is the snake as a zoomorphic classifier of the earth and the underworld, present on the Kosturino object through the wavy motif that goes around it. Presented in support of this are examples of rock cliffs from Aegean Thrace and Macedonia where, through the carving, i.e. the indentation of the eyes and mouth, a representation similar to the ones discussed here was obtained. In this case, instead through the quadrangular shape, the element “earth” is present on a material level – as the rock cliff itself which is part of it. As a second component, the authors point to the aquatic meaning of the wavy motif as a representation of the cosmic waters that encircle the earth’s plate, equated with the snake as their zoomorphic symbol. They point out the presence of this element in the encircling bordures of the stelae from France, as well as on the gold funeral masks from Macedonia from the 6th–5th century BC with the intention to identify the deceased with the Mother Earth as the patron of death and its overcoming. In such a context, the initiation ritual of the Pheneatians is also analyzed, referring to the mask as an important attribute of their goddess Demeter Cidaria. At the end, a comparison is made between the cubus from Kosturino and the Neolithic anthropomorphic house models and miniature table models, pointing out the mutual relations regarding their genesis, semiotics and cultic, i.e. religious purpose.