The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds

The Lengyel culture (4800–4100 calBC), covering Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, is a hotspot for figurative finds, with especially high numbers occurring in Lower Austria, Moravia and Transdanubia. After the end of the Linear Pottery Culture, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic...

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Main Author: Becker Valeska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2025-08-01
Series:Open Archaeology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0050
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author Becker Valeska
author_facet Becker Valeska
author_sort Becker Valeska
collection DOAJ
description The Lengyel culture (4800–4100 calBC), covering Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, is a hotspot for figurative finds, with especially high numbers occurring in Lower Austria, Moravia and Transdanubia. After the end of the Linear Pottery Culture, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, vessels and applications appear in huge numbers, which is in stark contrast to post-LBK phenomena further to the west, like Hinkelstein–Großgartach–Rössen and the Stroked Pottery Culture (SBK), where such finds are very rare. However, a more fine-grained analysis of the Lengyel culture figurative objects shows that they are not distributed evenly in the course of time. Rather, they appear in large numbers in the first 200 years of this cultural phenomenon and disappear almost completely after 4500/4300 calBC. The article aims to outline the origin, rise and decline of these objects and offers possible explanations for their appearance and fading, which may be related to larger societal changes.
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spelling doaj-art-1e1b0583e35a46209801a4e7e38b626b2025-08-20T03:44:00ZengDe GruyterOpen Archaeology2300-65602025-08-01111254510.1515/opar-2025-0050The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative FindsBecker Valeska0Saxo Institute, Copenhagen University, Karen Blixens Plads 8, 2300, København S, DenmarkThe Lengyel culture (4800–4100 calBC), covering Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, is a hotspot for figurative finds, with especially high numbers occurring in Lower Austria, Moravia and Transdanubia. After the end of the Linear Pottery Culture, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, vessels and applications appear in huge numbers, which is in stark contrast to post-LBK phenomena further to the west, like Hinkelstein–Großgartach–Rössen and the Stroked Pottery Culture (SBK), where such finds are very rare. However, a more fine-grained analysis of the Lengyel culture figurative objects shows that they are not distributed evenly in the course of time. Rather, they appear in large numbers in the first 200 years of this cultural phenomenon and disappear almost completely after 4500/4300 calBC. The article aims to outline the origin, rise and decline of these objects and offers possible explanations for their appearance and fading, which may be related to larger societal changes.https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0050lengyel cultureneolithicfigurinesepilengyelcopper age
spellingShingle Becker Valeska
The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
Open Archaeology
lengyel culture
neolithic
figurines
epilengyel
copper age
title The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
title_full The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
title_fullStr The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
title_full_unstemmed The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
title_short The Origin, Development and Decline of Lengyel Culture Figurative Finds
title_sort origin development and decline of lengyel culture figurative finds
topic lengyel culture
neolithic
figurines
epilengyel
copper age
url https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2025-0050
work_keys_str_mv AT beckervaleska theorigindevelopmentanddeclineoflengyelculturefigurativefinds
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