simple facts
Name: Tumba Majali Great Mother
What is it: clay sculpture
Birthplace: Skopje, North Macedonia
Creation date: 6th millennium BC
In 1981, a clay sculpture called the Great Mother was discovered in an ancient village in North Macedonia known as Thumba Majali. The unusual cubic shape of the woman’s lower body is thought to mimic the design of the Stone Age home she was intended to protect some 8,000 years ago.
The Great Mother was discovered in a house in the Tumba Majali settlement, which archaeologists believe was in use between 5800 and 5200 BC. This square structure was approximately 26 x 26 feet (8 x 8 meters) in size and was built in traditional Neolithic style. Branches were woven into the wooden pillars and covered with a layer of clay. Near the center of the house, where the hearth and oven were located, archaeologists discovered a statue of the Great Mother, along with dozens of completed ceramic pots, cups, and pitchers.
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The Great Mother’s lower body is box-shaped, similar to the house in which she was discovered. She looks like she’s up on the house. This placement suggests that she watches over the house, and the house is also a part of her. The hollow base suggests that the carving was used as a type of altar on which to burn offerings of incense, dried herbs, or grain.
According to the Archaeological Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia, where artifacts from Thumba Maddjali are on display, “women’s role as childbearers and mothers was equated with fertility worship and the worship of the Great Mother Goddess.”
Other “Great Mother” figurines have been found at Neolithic sites in Europe and the Near East. However, the unusual form of Tumba Majali sculpture, which reflects the symbiotic relationship between the mother goddess and the home, is found only in the Balkans.
For more amazing archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archive.
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