Vita, the largest Vinca culture statuette discovered so far presented: Invaluable cultural treasure

Photo: Ministry of Culture and Information

The largest statuette of the Vinca culture discovered so far, Vita, has been restored and presented in Aleksandrovac. It was found in August 2019 at the Vitkovacko Polje site.

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The statuette Vita is 54 centimeters tall, and is about 7,000 years old, rather than 6,000 as initially assumed.

The discovery of Vita, both its parts and remains of a prehistoric household, confirmed what was until then assumed - a large settlement and the center of Vinca culture was located near Aleksandrovac.

Vita was discovered half a century after the excavation of three figurines representing the Venus of Zupa, which are considered accidental finds. That is why the conservation of this statue was approached for the first time in a multidisciplinary and non-invasive way, the same way as great works of art in museums around the world.

"Our excitement was great when during the conservation process itself, on a certain number of fragments, the head and the body, we found all the fingerprints of the sculptor who created it, it was an exceptional discovery. These are some new pages in world archeology that will be published," archaeologist and conservator Vesna Rogic told RTS, and added that the structure of the ceramics from which the statuette is made and the colors that were used are being explored.

"Academician Borislav Jovanovic said that if Vitkovacko Polje as a site was archaeologically opened before the Vinca site, the culture would have been called Vitkovacka and not Vinca. He wanted to express the significance of the Vitkovacko Polje site, because the most monumental specimens of figures were found in Vitkovacko Polje," said senior curator and archaeologist Sanja Crnobrnja Krasic.

She said that geo-physical surveys of the terrain followed, in order to prepare the basis for exploration, and that the head of this effort will be Dr. Adam Crnobrnja from the National Museum in Belgrade.

With 8.5 million dinars, the Ministry of Culture and Information supported not only the conservation of the statuette, but also the reconstruction of the Zupa Homeland Museum, as well as exploration of the 120-hectare site, which will continue in May.

"This invaluable cultural treasure will contribute to better visibility and recognition of Aleksandrovac as an important archaeological site, as was previously done thanks to figures found about half a century ago: Miladija, Ruzica, Grozdana, Madame de Vencac, who simultaneously celebrate women and land, and who have represented this area in the British Royal Museum, the Royal Danish Museum, the Tera Amata Museum in Nice, and numerous other cultural institutions around the world. I am convinced that no less interest will be shown in this newly discovered gem," said Minister of Culture and Information Maja Gojkovic.

The home of Zupa figurines, the renovated Homeland Museum in Zupa, will have all the conditions for their preservation and conservation.

(Telegraf.rs)