Unique in its chaîne opératoire, unique in its symbolism: undressing a figurine from the 6th Millennium BC Körös culture, Hungary

• We examined the chaîne opératoire of a Neolithic horned figurine.
• Petrographic, phytolith, CT, LA-ICP-MS and XRD analyses were applied.
• The figurine was made through three building stages.
• A complex biography of the figurine is identified.

In the southern part of the Danube–Tisza interfluve (Hungary), a dense Early Neolithic, Körös culture settlement was identified during the excavation of Szakmár-Kisülés. Among several unregistered finds was a unique, mostly intact, clay horned figurine often referred to as a clay horn, bull representation. However, female genitalia is represented on the figurine, indicating that the objects is a female symbol. The practice of cattle keeping and secondary products are important economic topics in the Early Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin. The broken base of the figurine suggests that at one time the object was attached to a four-legged altar. Importantly, its base reveals that the figurine was created with multiple layers of clay. The various techniques for characterizing the figurine open new avenues of interpretation concerning how the object was made.A broken section of the figurine shows three distinct layers of manufacture and in order to better understand its construction computed tomography (CT), ceramic petrography, geochemical analyses (LA-ICP-MS and XRD), and phytolith analysis were applied.The results indicate that the figurine was made from three clearly identifiable layers, created during three distinct manufacturing episodes. The results suggest that after each manufacturing episode the figurine was fired again, implying that it also was utilized after each building phase. The raw materials from the different manufacturing episodes are similar petrographically and geochemically, indicating that the figurine was made from similar raw materials. Nevertheless, the raw materials of the different manufacturing episodes show differences in organic temper supporting our contention that the figurine had three distinct manufacturing episodes. The utilization of multiple interdisciplinary methods highlights the complex biography of the figurine.