Anavlochos mountain

This is The Anavlochos mountain range, located in the Lasithi, Crete. This naturally defensible ridge controls the major communication axis linking Central and Eastern Crete...

Between 1200-1100 BC, small settlement sites were scattered all along the ridge. At around 1100 BC most of them have been abandoned and a large settlement that remained continuously occupied until around 650 BC started developing in the highest part of the central valley...

oldeuropeanculture

Archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati, are currently involved in the excavation of the site known as Deposit 1, a bedrock outcrop with deep crevices. 3D animated model of Deposit 1 showing some of the teracottas...

There, they have discovered huge number of figurines and moulded plaques embedded deep in the crevices of the bedrock.

All were depictions of women or female sphinxes...

What is interesting, is that Anavlochos was settled between 1200 and 650 BC. The figurines date between 900 BC and 350 BC, which means that many of them were deposited after people left the settlement..

Which means that people considered the actual ridge bedrock sacred...And sacrificed to it. Or should I say to her...Mother Earth...Cause:

Great pic by @another_barbara Bedrock is in the Balkans known as "živi kamen, živa stena" (living stone, living rock) because it is believed to be still part of the living body of the Mother Earth which gives birth to all life...I talk about this in my post "Living stone"...

Again this ritual deposit site from Crete proves that people saw symbolic link between earth and female fertility. 

Among Slavs, the last sheaf of wheat was commonly called Baba. 

This word means grandmother, mother, midwife, birth giver...In some places the woman binding the last sheaf the last sheaf of wheat is also called Baba...

I talked about this link in my posts "Baba - the last sheaf of wheat" and "Baubo"...

I talked about the link between the veneration mountain peaks and female and earth fertility in Minoan Crete in my post "Sanctuary rhyton", about this amazing rhyton, discovered in the palace of Zakros, the most isolated of all the Minoan Palaces and was dated to 1550-1500 BC. The decoration on the rhyton depicts a "mountain sanctuary". Were these mountain sanctuaries centres of Ibex "goat of rain" cult? 

As we can see, it seems that this veneration continued after the collapse of the Minoan civilisation...

As we can see from the type of figurines deposited in the bedrock, people saw symbolic link between female lactation and earth producing spring water...

How do I know this? Rain, Water magic was among Slavs always female magic. I talked about this in my post "The last megalithic ritual in Europe", about a ritual which was until recently performed during severe draughts in Belarus to appease the Slavic Sun God Dabog (Giving god) who was also known as Daždbog (Rain giving god). 

And in my post about the "Weather stones", stones used in weather magic...

I talked about women being in charge of weather magic in Europe in my post "De Lamiis et Pythonicis Mulieribus" about this depiction of the two witches conjuring a hailstorm from a medieval manuscript on witchcraft. 

BTW, did you know that the sudden climate change which resulted in the medieval mini ice age was blamed on the weather controlling witches and was the excuse for the subsequent witch-hunt? 

I also talk about this in my post "Pozoj" about male and female dragons from Slavic folklore. In South Slavic folklore, it is a female dragon, ala, that brings hailstorms and unseasonably cold, wet weather during summer months, which destroys crops...In South Slavic folklore, cold, wet weather is "feminine"...

So Mother's milk = symbolically = Mother Earth's spring water...

More about Anavlochos excavation project can be found here.

PS: Just remembered I wrote about this a year ago in my post "Goddess of Myrtos" in which I analysed this 3rd millennium Minoan rhyton in the form of a female deity with pitcher.

Goddess of Myrtos

This is the so called "Goddess of Myrtos". Rhyton, in the form of a female deity with pitcher. Found on Crete, near Ierapetra, Fournou Korifi, in the earliest house shrine found on Crete, dated to EM III, 2300-2200 BC. Currently in the Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos, Crete.

The jug the figure is holding is actually a miniature version of actual jugs found during the excavations...

Now I wonder why checkered square design all around the "belly" of the goddess and why checkered pubic triangle? Are these supposed to symbolise fields? Is this another "Mother of grain"?

I talked about this in my post "The oldest Demeter depiction" about Cycladic mother of grain, proto Demeter, dated to the 3rd millennium BC...And in my post "Mother of grain from Mari" about the (most likely) symbolic depiction of Inanna, also dated to the same period in the 3rd millennium BC. 

And the jug...Is this a jug of water? Is this symbolic linking between water and field fertility? I talked about this link in my posts "Minoan bull sacrifice" and "Agia Triada Sarcophagus"...

And in my post "Woman and pitcher" about this interesting vase with ivy and olive wreaths, in white and white flowers on neck. Cyprus, 400–323 B.C Currently in the Met museum...And symbolism linked to start of the rain season...

Or is the pitcher the pitcher of vine? Did Minoans make and drink vine? Most archaeologists concur that this Minoan artefact is one of the earliest depiction of people dancing. 

But is it? Is it people crushing grapes? 

I talk about it in my post "Shield of Achilles"...

I personally think that this is a depiction of a Mother Earth, the provider of both drinking water and grain, and that the jug was a water jug...Why? Because of all this stuff I discovered after I wrote this originally, and which I published in my post "Anavlochos mountain"...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...