AV 63, 2012: Martina BLEČIĆ KAVUR

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK

ARHEOLOŠKI VESTNIK 63, 2012

Martina BLEČIĆ KAVUR

The Lady from Čikat

Abstract

The article presents a reinterpretation of the small anthropomorphic statuette from Čikat on the island of Lošinj. This unique find is the only ceramic figurine discovered on the territory of the Iron Age cultures along the eastern coast of the Adriatic. The Lady from Čikat is a frontal, abstract, and motionless figurine. Due to her pose and stance, her attributes, the characteristic hairstyle, and possible aesthetic elements, which might be interpreted as jewellery, as well as her decent or sacral nudity, it should be treated as a figurine equipped with part of the specific attire set used at that period in the stylistic concepts of anthropomorphic art. Consequently, it is compared with prominent examples of ceramic figurines whose forms, and schematic and symbolic classifications, demonstrate a close connection to the art of the Etrurian part of the Orientalizing koiné and its dissemination during the 7th century BC. Its characterization, as a part of a ritual ex voto object, is comprehended in the sense of a mourning priestess whose lamenting lasted for all the hours, and in this manner created the eternity of the burial ritual for an important deceased individual. According to the analogies, the Lady from Čikat could have been deposited in a local, but rich and important female tomb.

Keywords: Croatia, island of Lošinj, Čikat, Early Iron Age, small anthropomorphic figurine, Orientalizing style, Etruscan sculpture, iconography, social status, ritual

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