14 July 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

Millefiori Glass Plateques From the 5th Century AD Discovered in the Ancient Lycian City of Myra

9 September 2024

9 September 2024

One of the six leading cities of ancient Lycia and the birthplace of Santa Claus (or Sinterklaas in Dutch), the...

The 6,000-year-old settlement found in island of Corsica

2 May 2023

2 May 2023

Archaeologists in a French municipality recently excavated the slopes of Punta Campana (island of Corsica) in preparation for a construction...

Gravitational Wave Researchers Shed New Light on the Mystery of the 2,000-Year-Old Computer Antikythera Mechanism

28 June 2024

28 June 2024

Astronomers from the University of Glasgow who specialize in studying tiny ripples in space-time have shed new light on the...

A 3,300-year-old tablet found at Büklükale from Hittite Empire describes catastrophic invasion of four cities

11 March 2024

11 March 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed a 3,300-year-old clay tablet depicting a catastrophic foreign invasion of the Hittite Empire in Büklükale, about 100...

Evidence of Intentional Roman Use of Narcotic Seeds, Found in Bone Vessel in the Netherlands

8 February 2024

8 February 2024

Archaeologists have discovered the first conclusive evidence of the existence of a hallucinogenic and poisonous plant thought to have been...

The Oldest “Book” of Europe: Derveni Papyrus

4 September 2022

4 September 2022

The Derveni papyrus is considered Europe’s oldest legible manuscript still in existence today. It is an ancient Greek papyrus roll...

Unique 2,000-year-old Decorated Roman Sandal Discovered in Spain

20 October 2023

20 October 2023 1

A 2,000-year-old Roman sandal was discovered during archaeological excavations at Lucus Asturum (modern-day Lugo de Llanera) in Asturias, northern Spain....

Ancient Christian Mosaics Unearthed in İznik as Pope Leo XIV Prepares Historic Visit

18 May 2025

18 May 2025

A set of remarkably preserved mosaics, believed to date back to the early Christian era, have been discovered during foundation...

Roman Canal and Road Uncovered in The Netherlands near UNESCO heritage sites

30 July 2021

30 July 2021

Dutch archaeologists that a canal and gravel road thought to have been built and used by the Roman military have...

Unique Viking Age sword found in Norway

14 June 2022

14 June 2022

A piece of a sword was found last year on a farm in Gausel, in Stavanger, on Norway‘s west coast,...

Archaeologists discovered a sunken prehistoric fort in Clew Bay island

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

A sunken prehistoric fort has been discovered on Clew Bay island off the north Mayo coast, Ireland. It has been...

A small temple discovered in the ancient city of Selinunte, one of the largest and most important ancient Greek cities in southern Italy

9 August 2024

9 August 2024

Recent excavations in the ancient Magna Graecia city of Selinunte in southwestern Sicily have revealed the presence of a new...

In Lowbury Hill Mystery of Anglo-Saxons buried 1,400 years ago may soon be solved

8 March 2023

8 March 2023

The mystery surrounding the remains of two Anglo-Saxons buried 1,400 years ago in south Oxfordshire, identified as a man and...

Ground-penetrating radars reveal hidden passages, described in Leonardo’s drawings

16 January 2025

16 January 2025

As part of a PhD thesis, an innovative technological investigation conducted by the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with the...

The earliest human remains 11,000-year-old discovered in northern Britain

25 January 2023

25 January 2023

An international team of archaeologists at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has discovered 11,000-year-old human remains in the Heaning...