Neolithic Blind Statues and Balkan Folklore of the Blind

Abstract

PREHISTORIC representations of divinities present some problems and phenomena which have not been sufficiently scientifically analysed and understood. This group includes certain blind statues (idols) of the Neolithic epoch of the Central Balkans. We shall try to analyse them from a paleoethnological point of view, and draw comparisons with the attitude towards blindness in modern Balkan folklore. Blind idols of the Neolithic epoch in the Central Balkans, as far as we know, mostly originate from Kosovo and especially Titova Mitrovica (sites Karagai at itkovac, and Fafos), and from the Pavlovac site in South Serbia. One statue of a blind idol or god was found on the Karagac site at Titova Mitrovica (Figure 1). It was made in a naturalistic-realistic style, and its realistically shaped head has the following characteristics: blunt nose with wide nostrils; wide, open mouth; eyes sunken into their sockets; top and back of the head slightly gnarled; broad, oval chin. The whole face is oval and long, and this is the statue of an old blind person, with wide forehead and without modelled ears. It has a strong neck.' Archaeologists give special importance to this statue; among other things, it has been pointed out that this terracotta is an example of the best free realistic style in the Neolithic Age in the Balkans. Its head is modelled with 'a surprising freedom unique in prehistoric art' of this area, with no flat surface, 'since the whole mass moves freely and is very elastic.' The basic structure of the head, with eyebrow arches, eye sockets, cheekbones and jaws, is of primary importance, and all other details are subordinate to it. Special effects of light and dark were achieved by the sculptor. This use of shadows represents impressionistic characteristics in this statue from Karagac. The blind statue from Fafos site at Titova Mitrovica (Figure 2) is of similar naturalistic-realistic style, and has the following features: neck, chin, open mouth, nose with formed nostrils, cheekbones slightly fallen in, small eyes sunken in their sockets and with visible eyelids, medium forehead, one partially formed ear, and hair covering the top and back of the head; this starts from the top of the forehead up to the half of the top of the head, where it is separated by a wreath from the second part of the hair, spreading vertically over the whole head and framing the face and the back of the head to the neck. The statue is made of terracotta in various colours: grey, dark grey, reddish, and sooty on the face. At Neolithic sites at Pavlovac in South Serbia, statuettes of the blind were discovered by chance. They were heads and torsos of both men and women, mainly in naturalistic-realistic style. They have a realistic-looking neck and chin, but they have no mouth, and the nose is without nostrils; the cheekbones are slightly fallen in; the eye-sockets are small and fallen in, and are more strongly marked on the male than on the female statuettes, with eyebrows and eyelids clearly formed; medium forehead; the top and back of the head are covered by hair. One, the statuette of a blind woman, shows the following anthropological elements: nose, fallen-in eyes placed almost under nose, hair covering top and back of the head. One blind statuette made of fine, pure terracotta, representing a blind goddess with a long oval face with no mouth, is the one we would like to point out (Figure 3). It is a