Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Cuman Baba

The Archaeological Museum in Kraków is the oldest archaeological museum in Poland. It was founded by a group of intellectuals and academics who belonged to the Kraków Scientific Society (TNK) during the Partitions of Poland. The foreign rule prohibited the existence of Polish patriotic organizations except for the learning societies like the TNK. The founding act was signed in 1850. Later the Museum started its own archaeological research and thus gained further exhibits (today more than 770.000). This is a "Cuman Baba". The name “Baba” refers to statues created on the steppe of Europe and Asia from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. The creators of the statue are the Cumans, a nomadic people which in the 11th century traveled to the steppe of contemporary Ukraine and Russia. The stone stele represents a standing woman of natural size but of a disproportionate physique. She is dressed in a caftan reaching down to her knees and a tall hat. Her face details were removed for unknown reasons. The statue, found in Stadnytsya (near Kyiv), is from c. the 12th/13th century.