Govrlevo - Home to one of the 10 biggest World Discoveries, a Neolithic Man's Torso

 

It is called Adam of Govrlevo, a Neolithic sculpture, one of the 10 biggest World Discoveries. The village Govrlevo is located 15 km away from Skopje, behind the southern slopes of Mount Vodno. In the past, the village used to be populated; however, today it is almost abandoned with less than 10 people living in it.

Adam of Govrlevo

In 2010, the archeologist Milosh Bilbija with his coworkers at the archeological locality Cerje found the fascinating figure of a man’s torso known for the public as Adam оf Govrlevo or Adam of Macedonia. After its discovery, the sculpture got the epithet “the discovery of the millennium”. The creator of this sculpture made an impressive artwork portraying the body parts in details with defined muscles, spine and stomach. The sculpture is in a seated position with a broken phallus. Researchers had been pointing out that the sculpture delivers one important message, practices for meditation.

Adam of Govrlevo

The sculpture is made of clay and is proven to be more than 6.000 years old, the oldest one found in the region and among the oldest 10 in the world. That this sculpture is one of the oldest 10 in the world was mentioned at the world symposium in 2002 held in Croatia.

Cerje

Cerje, the archeological locality is located around 1.5 southeast from the Village Govrlevo. It is spread on over 5 hectares of land. The Neolithic settlement was discovered in 1981. This locality with years keeps millenniums old secrets and untold stories. Many discoveries and artifacts have been found but still not enough to solve the puzzle how the people used to live eight millenniums ago. The excavations had proven that the town was founded more than 8.000 years ago yet for some unclear reasons the town existed up to 4.000 years B.C.

Големата Мајка

Another imposing discovery found at the locality is the sculpture of the Golemata Majka (the Great Mother), a cult of fertility. It is a place of many intrigue and stunning discoveries revealing bits of the past life on this territory. Researchers connect the Great Mother divinity with the Adam’s, equality between the sexes. Големаѕа Мајка

To conclude, Adam of Govrlevo has a priceless value. It has been listed as a registered monumental master piece with a vital historical importance.  However, many questions regarding this miraculous sculpture has been unanswered, it remains as a puzzle that needs to be solved.

The sculpture can be seen in the Museum of the city of Skopje.  The old railways station houses the Museum of the city of Skopje since 1970. 

The Museum of the City of Skopje

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