14 March 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

5000-year-old female figurines found in a Ukrainian cave

Archaeologists discovered five clay female figurines hidden inside a hole in a wall in Verteba Cave, in the Borshchiv Region of western Ukraine.

Ritual hoard found in Verteba Cave from around 5,000 years ago illuminates the ritual life of the mysterious Cucuteni-Trypillian culture.

These stylized figurines, which date from the first millennium BC, have been linked to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, which dominated a large swath of Eastern Europe during the Late Neolithic period and the Copper Age (6,000 to 2,750 BC).

The Vertaba cave contains up to 8 kms of passageways used as a Sanctuary by the Cucuteni-Trypillia Culture.

The discoveries were made in March by archaeologists from the Borschivskyy Local History Museum in Ukraine, led by Sokhatskyi Mykhailo, a leading scholar of the Trypillian culture and director of the museum.

Female figurines found in previous excavations at Verteba Cave. Photo: Mykhailo Sokhatskyi
Female figurines found in previous excavations at Verteba Cave. Photo: Mykhailo Sokhatskyi

The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture is known to have been highly developed for its time, the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic. Some of their settlements were extraordinarily large; they farmed and husbanded domestic animals and had pottery and metallurgical skills.

Each individual dwelling site had a lifespan of roughly 60 to 80 years, and the regular destruction or burning of settlements was a mysterious aspect of the culture. Experts still debate the reason behind the burning of these settlements.

The religious practices of the Cucuteni-Trypillia Culture are poorly understood, and examples of ceramics discovered are extremely rare. Archaeologists excavating in Verteba Cave, on the other hand, have discovered a massive clay storage jar containing a white organic material (yet to be analyzed).

The figurines were most likely used in Trypillian rituals. These statuettes have been identified by archaeologists as totems, which are sacred objects that can protect people from harm. In this case, the figurines were placed inside the cave wall and covered with an unusual seal for equally enigmatic reasons.

Beautifully ornamented Trypillian pottery found in Verteba Cave. Photo: Mykhailo Sokhatskyi
Beautifully ornamented Trypillian pottery found in Verteba Cave. Photo: Mykhailo Sokhatskyi

“Female figurines are not rare in Trypillian contexts , and hoards of figurines are known,” confirmed Sokhatskyi Mykhailo, a scholar of the Trypillian culture and the director of the Borschivskyy Local History Museum, in an interview published in Haaretz. “But these were sheltered by the tusks of a wild boar.” He emphasized that this arrangement was unique, having never been seen before at any Eastern European archaeological site.

Boar remains are generally scarce in Trypillian complexes. Although some Early and Middle Trypillian graves contained their tusks, the rituals of this culture appeared to have been more centered on domesticated animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and dogs. Typically, bears or deer are used to represent wild animals.

The archaeologist explains that Verteba is a “late Trypillian” and that this find is unique in that context. In Verteba, the team discovered jewelry and tools (for pottery production) made of boar teeth, as well as a small clay boar figurine in 2016.

The boar may have played an important role for the people in the cave for some reason. Sokhatskyi noted that the Trypillians had a habit of resurrecting old cultural traditions. They were known to reuse pottery ornamentation styles periodically, and the scholar speculates that some remnant of an ancient boar-worshipping culture may have been preserved by the people who occupied Verteba Cave.

Cover Photo: Mykhailo Sokhatskyi

Related Articles

8000-year-old with balcony architectural structure belonging to the Prehistoric period found in Anatolia

31 October 2021

31 October 2021

During the excavations in Domuztepe mound, it was revealed that an architectural structure thought to be 7-8 thousand years old...

The identities of the occupants of the unspoiled 4th-century BCE Royal Tombs at Vergina in northern Greece have been identified

26 January 2024

26 January 2024

The identities of the occupants of the unspoiled 4th-century BCE Royal Tombs at Vergina in northern Greece have been identified....

Central Turkey’s largest Byzantine mosaic structure found

28 October 2021

28 October 2021

A 300-square-meter (3,330 square feet) ​floor mosaic belonging to the Late Roman-Early Byzantine period was discovered during excavation work in...

1,800-year-old Bronze military medal with Medusa head found in southeastern Turkey

5 October 2022

5 October 2022

A military medal believed to be almost 1,800 years old has been found by archaeologists in Turkey. The discovery was...

Will the Siloam Inscription be returned to Israel?

12 March 2022

12 March 2022

During the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey, the claim that he wanted the Siloam Inscription, one of...

1500-year-old Medallion Rescued From Treasure Hunters on Display in Çorum Museum

3 May 2021

3 May 2021

A 1,500-year-old gold medallion portraying a figure of Jesus Christ has been exhibited at a museum in Turkey’s northern province...

The largest embalming cache ever found in Egypt unearthed at Abusir

10 February 2022

10 February 2022

Archaeologists from the Czech Institute for Egyptian Science have discovered a cache of artifacts related to the practice of Egyptian...

8,500-year-old marble statuette found in Çatalhöyük

28 December 2021

28 December 2021

In the 29th season of the excavations in Çatalhöyük, one of the first urbanization models in Anatolia, in the Çumra...

Archaeologists Uncovered a 1,600-Year-Old Rare Mikveh and Synagogue in Ostia Antica, Near Rome

13 March 2025

13 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological discovery, researchers have unearthed a 1,600-year-old rare mikveh (ritual bath) and an ancient synagogue at the...

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, interiors of which covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

7 April 2023

7 April 2023

Archaeologists of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms made...

Rare discovery: Ancient Egyptian burial reveals Ovarian Teeth in Oldest Example of Teratoma

13 November 2023

13 November 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed the oldest documented example of a teratoma discovered within the 3,000-year-old burial chamber of a young woman...

Al-Aqiser Church, Disappears in the Depths of The Iraqi Desert

10 May 2021

10 May 2021

In a country that has been devastated by successive conflicts and economic crises, Al-Aqiser, like the numerous Christian, Islamic and...

Homo Sapiens are older than we previously thought

16 January 2022

16 January 2022

Researchers have discovered that Omo I skeletons, previously thought to be less than 200,000 years old, are 230,000 years old....

A Gold Belt Weighing 432 Grams Unearthed During Excavations in Ani Ruins is on Display

2 July 2024

2 July 2024

The gold belt discovered 22 years ago during excavations in the ancient city of Ani, often referred to as the...

Archaeologists find Viking Age shipyard in Swedish island

15 June 2022

15 June 2022

Archaeologists from Stockholm University have discovered a Viking Age shipyard at Birka on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren,...