Tumba Madzari site Skopje
Tumba Madzari (Тумба Маџари) is the most significant Neolithic archaeological site of the Skopje area located in Čento (Ченто) settlement on the left side of the highway Skopje – Kumanovo – Veles. The life of population of the Tumba Madzari locality was highly spiritually rich and experienced its peak from 5800 to 5200 BC with cultural values of the Early Stone Age. The Tumba Madzari site represents the Anzabegovo-Vrsnik culture group discovered in the villages of Stenche, Dolno Pelcishte, Mirshevci, Lopate, Nikushtak, Anzabegovo, Gorobinci, Damjan, Resava, and Vranishte….
The Tumba Madzari site was discovered in 1961 when the first rectangular house was excavated with further discoveries of numerous stone and bone tools, remains of various sophisticated figurines made of clay, stone and bone, sacrificial tables and several fully preserved pottery artifacts and items. The archaeological excavations in Tumba Madzari site were carried out since 1978 by the Museum of Macedonia. Excavated houses at the Tumba Madzari feature dimensions from 4,50 x 6 meters to 9 x 9 meters and were constructed by compacting wooden piles connected and supported by stones and with roofs built of straw on wooden construction. Pottery from the earliest phases of the Anzabegovo-Vrshnik group is recognized by the so-called floral style with black decorative painting. The cult of the Great Mother goddess – the oldest intact sacrificial cult of the Magna Mater type is represented by the role of woman as child bearer and mother was equated with a fertility cult and her inter-connection with the house.
