Cucuteni
Cucuteni is a culture from the beginning of the Neolithic and which spread over an area of 350,000 km2 on an area where today are found Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.
The nomenclature of Cucuteni is given by the village near the municipality of Iași where the first vestiges of this civilization were discovered in 1884. This culture appeared around 5800 BC and experienced a decline 3000 years later.
In the region of Romania there are numerous archeological sites regarding this Neolithic civilization, and among the most important can be listed: Cucuteni, Isaiia, Trusesti, Poduri, Izvoare. The most remote area where Cucuteni culture witnesses were found is Ariușd locality from Covasna county.
The most distinctive feature is represented by Cucuteni Ceramics. The vessels and ornaments that this civilization made have priceless value and are unparalleled on the European continent. The spiral, along with lines, dots and other geometric figures were the most used motifs. The most commonly used colors were red, white, black and various variations depending on the temperature at which the vessels were burned.
Another interesting feature of the Cucuteni was that repeatedly, most likely ritually, they burned their settlements and homes, and after burning they built a new settlement in the same place or moved completely to another location. The lack of graves or necropolises led researchers to consider that civilization would have resorted to burning the house of the deceased with his body inside.
What is certain is that the Cucuteni civilization was a cult in which beliefs about divinity were for a female entity. Cucuteni, through the symbolism and the figurines they created over time, considered that the source of life was represented by the Great Goddess who gives and takes life.
Cucuteni is 45 km from Iasi, and in the city you can find more details about this civilization at the University Museum from Tuesday to Friday between 9:00 and 16:00. Admission is free and you will be accompanied by a guide. You can see the Cucuteni Ceramics, what a settlement looks like or the interior of a house, silhouettes and figurines or what is the technique of excavating the remains and many other features of this culture over 7000 years old.
