An unpublished Early Bronze Age anthropomorphic figurine from Tell Ezero, Upper Thrace

Abstract

This article is dedicated to a previously unpublished ceramic anthropomorph from the Early Bronze Age layer of Tell Ezero in Upper Thrace. It was discovered during the excavations at the tell site in the 1950s and was erroneously logged in the catalog of the Nova Zagora Museum of History as a handle fragment of a ceramic vessel. Only the lower part of the flat figurine is preserved. Dot punctations seem to show a single anatomical detail – the navel – as well as a necklace and probably folds of a garment such as a skirt or dress. This artifact belongs to a small group of decorated figurines from the Early Bronze Age of Bulgaria. Its closest parallels can be found in Western and Central Anatolia, at the sites of Alacahöyük, Alişar Hüyük, and Kocumbeli. The relative dating of the figurine is thus based on its parallels in the second phase of the Early Bronze Age.