Anthropological and Archeological Analysis of the Neolithic Symbols in Kurdistan

Since the Neolithic era, the symbols of the snake, the mother goddess, and the agriculture are the three main symbols in Kurdish culture. The concept of agriculture and fertility lies in the center of the structure of these three symbols. At the top of it rests the snake symbol which is the guardian of the mother goddess and donates the symbolic knowledge of agriculture to her. The Snake is the god (goddess) of wisdom, which in the symbolic structure (symbolic system) vouchsafes the human beings the knowledge of the sedentary agriculturalist way of life. The meaning of these symbols and their structure are associated with the concept of the triad and the number three. The data presented in this article are gathered by field research in parts of Kurdistan, Kermānshāh, and Urmia (Orumiyeh), and also by archival research method.