THE ARCHITECTURE OF TEMPLES\SACTUARIES I BAAT AD

TRASYLVAIA DURIG EOLITHIC AD COPPER AGE PERIODS

by
Gheorghe Lazarovici, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici
Published in : „Arheologia spiritualiăţii preistorice în ţinuturile carpato-ponto-danubiene”,
Fundaţia „Rădăcinile Europei”, Constanţa 2009, p. 65-76.

Definitions, generalities
In our opinion, a temple is a monumental cult building that has several altars and sanctuaries,
domestic shrines where religious rituals were performed.

Fig. 1. Parţa cultic places: a) level 7c-6 ▲; b) level 5c

A typical temple example is Sanctuary or Temple 2 at Parţa (Banat culture: Lazarovici Gh. 1998,
10, 2/3: Lazarovici Gh. et alii 2001, 220, 226, 230-234, 237-238, 240, 240; C.-M. Lazarovici, Gh.
Lazarovici 2006a, 300 sq.) The Temple 2 was reconstructed in Banat Museum, at Timişoara. The temple
was in the central part of site, other cultic constructions are in different part (fig. 1).

The Sanctuary contents

in: Die Archöologie der prähistorischen Spiritualität in dem Karpathen-Pontus-Donau-Raum, Symposium 27-29 März 2007, Constanţa 2009 65
 Fig. 2 The Temples/Sanctuaries ▲ 1 and 2▼ from Parţa

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 Interior installations of different cult constructions of Neo-Eneolithic time show many analogies
between those from Near East and Anatolia and those from South-East Europe.
Generally, a Temple has a monumental statue, one or more monumental altars or cultic tables,
special places for burning products (fumigation), cultic grinding, blood offering (mactatio), liquid offering
and other (Lazarovici Gh. 1991, 13-19 and bibl.).
A new domestic altar has been noticed when we have reanalyze some pieces discovered at Gura
Baciului, in the Starčevo – Criş culture. The only domestic sanctuary might be P24 ( Gh. Lazarovici,
Maxim 1995, 109-111, 145-146, 186-187, fig. 13/4, 21/7; fig. 33 area M7). Here on the walking level we
have founded a stella made by a local sandstone (16,5 x 11 cm, 15 mm thin, but in the beginning it seems
to have about 25 cm), with inferior part broken. This represents a bust and the breasts are two orifices: this
stella is a schematic representation of the Big Mother. On the dorsal part it is a half moon, a lozenge
phallus head and two-three alveolus that suggest the sacred seed; this pieces is related with the fertility and
fecundity cult (Lazarovici Gh., Lazarovici C.-M. 2006).

Gura Baciului, Starčevo – Criş culture, phase II, domestic altar with stella

Fig. 3 Gura Baciului, Starčevo - Criş culture, House 24, stone stella
This stella was in house P24, where a stone head was on the top of an incinerated skeleton. The
problems related with skull cult and domestic sanctuary at Gura Baciului has been presented in other article
(Lazarovici Gh., Lazarovici C.-M. 2006).

in: Die Archöologie der prähistorischen Spiritualität in dem Karpathen-Pontus-Donau-Raum, Symposium 27-29 März 2007, Constanţa 2009 67
 Communitarian Shrine at Zorlenţu Mare

Fig. 4 Zorlenţu Mare, central place with shrine (L4)

At Zorlenţu Mare, in Vinča culture, phase A3/B1, in the central part of site, in the first level have
been discovered one house with a monumental human had, stocked on the wall. This house has any sort of
inventory, fact that seems very strange. One part of the house was suspended, the earth being in slope. We
believe that here it was a shrine.

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 Fig. 5. Zorlenţu Mare, Vinča culture, phase A3/B1, Fig. 6. Liubcova, leg from a monumental
monumental statue from a communitarian sanctuary altar or statue
Shrine at Parţa in P126
In house 126 at Parţa, over the ruins of a vault oven (with hearth in front of it) a domestic altar
was built. On the older hearth a rectangle post was set on which a clay bull head was modeled; a clay ear
similar with those from Sanctuary 2 was found. In the same building it was a conic idol (Lazarovici Gh. et
alii I.2, 2001, fig. 49/6), another conic idol with sacred signs such as lozenge, “W” or “M”, symbolizing
star constellations, Cassiopeia (Lazarovici Gh. et alii I.2, 2001, fig. 49/3 : database cod 151d, 189; 189e,
163: Lazarovici Gh. 2004, 49-55), a horn fragment maybe from the bull head, a stone tool and fragment
from four–five pots destroyed by clay sling balls. In the area of the building other 20 entire big clay sling
balls have been discovered as well as fragments from others.

in: Die Archöologie der prähistorischen Spiritualität in dem Karpathen-Pontus-Donau-Raum, Symposium 27-29 März 2007, Constanţa 2009 69
Fig.7. Parţa: P 126, the hearth with the trace of the post▲, b) cult objects destroyed by sling
clay balls

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 Fig. 8.Parţa, P126, cult objects destroyed by sling clay balls, first part of the discovery

in: Die Archöologie der prähistorischen Spiritualität in dem Karpathen-Pontus-Donau-Raum, Symposium 27-29 März 2007, Constanţa 2009 71
 Pianul de Jos altar
At Pianul de Jos, in Petreşti AB layer a monumental table –altar have been discovered. This has a
triangle shape and was decorated on the border with an in relief garland. On this table it was several cult
pots (painted cups, pot-stand) and under the table was a big provision pot (in the sanctuary it was 10 pots).
Iuliu Paul who has discovered this table-altar also mentions a grinding stone and an anthropomorphic (Paul
1965, 5 ff., fig. 1-4, pl. I-II; 1992, 104-106, LII/2-3; DEAVR 1980, 297: Gimbutas 1984, 81, fig. 34:
Monah 1997, 34: Lazarovici Gh. et alii 2001 I.1, 268, 234).

Fig. 9. Pianul de Jos, altar, Petreşti culture

Other monumental pieces
Other monumental pieces from domestic or communitarian altars have been discovered by Sabin Adrian
Luca at Liubcova (Luca 1998, 209, fig. 43/5, 51 ff.). Some of them have strong analogies with those one
from house no. 5 (cult house) at Isaiia (Ursulescu, Tencariu 2006, pl. XI/6-7).

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 The three pieces are parts of big altars similar to
those discovered in other sanctuaries such as Véstő-Mágor
(Hegedűs, Makkay 1987, abb. 3-4, 7-8), Parţa (P154 or Oven
House/Casa cuptorului: Lazarovici C. M., Lazarovici Gh.
2006a, 266-267, fig. IIIb 70-71) or at Ruginoasa (excavation
M. & Gh. Lazarovici, not published yet). The pieces from
Ruginoasa are not so well fired, or they have just been backed
when the house was fired. Such pieces have been also
discovered at Parţa in “Casa cuptorului” and Uivar (W. Schier
presentation November 2007, Timişoara).
The mention pieces have analogies in Late Neolithic
at Véstő-Mágor. Here there are many monumental pieces
Fig. 10. Ruginoasa, pieces from
monumental altars (altars, big pots, throne-pots: Hegedűs, Makkay 1987, abb. 3-
4: Gimbutas 1991a, 3-27). At Véstő-Mágor, on the big altar
table we can see (fig.11a) another big table, with many foots.
This last has very strong analogies with a later piece
discovered in an domestic altar at Reci, Bodrogkeresztúr
culture (or a synthesis between this and Cucuteni: Bartok
2005, 62, 66, fig. 16) and with the quadrilateral pot from
Isaiia sanctuary 2 (Ursulescu 2001, 53-54; Ursulescu,
Tencariu 2006; Lazarovici C.-M., Lazarovici Gh. 2006a,
565).
Véstő-Mágor discoveries show the place these
pieces have been kept and the context of their use.
There are other many monumental pieces such as
thrones, throne-pots, big anthropomorphic pots, even

in: Die Archöologie der prähistorischen Spiritualität in dem Karpathen-Pontus-Donau-Raum, Symposium 27-29 März 2007, Constanţa 2009 73
 Fig. 11 a) Véstő-Mágor, Tisza culture▲, 11b) Reci ▼, Bodrogkeresztúr culture

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similar altars such as those discovered at Véstő-Mágor or others from Tisza or Szakálhát cultures (over 20
pieces: The Late Neolithic 1997, 14-17, 53, 55, 59, 72, 77, 78, 87, 91, 94).
Such monumental pieces there are even in Romanian territory during Copper Age: at Tangâru a
monumental statue was on a throne (Lazarovici C.-M., Lazarovici Gh. 2007. Capitolul Vc. Cultura
Gumelniţa); in the same building, the walls have been painted with white and brown on a red background;
a clay column was on the S part (Berciu D. 1961, 420-421; Marinescu-Bîlcu apud Ursulescu 1998, 103,
27/3; Andreescu 2002, 15).
In the last period we have written several studies related with sanctuaries and monumental pieces
(Lazarovici C.- M. 2003; 2004; Lazarovici Gh., Lazarovici C.-M. 2003; 2006a; Lazarovici Gh. Roma
2007) because they are very important to understand the religion and cult practices of the civilizations we
are investigating. Their life and activities have been very much related with sacred.

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