paleolitische en neolithische vrouwenbeeldjes

[willy]

Female Figure of the Early Spedos Type



Cycladic, 2600 - 2500 B.C. Marble.

Reclining with her arms crossed, this female figure is typical of the sculpture of the Cyclades in the mid-2000s B.C.
Scholars have divided Cycladic sculpture into groups or types indicating stylistic and chronological developments.
Named for a cemetery on the island of Naxos, the Spedos type figure developed out of the preceding Kapsala type.
This early example of a Spedos figure shows the typical traits of elongated proportions, a lyre-shaped head, and a deep cleft, only partially cut through, between the legs.
The horizontal groove across the belly is unique.
Today most Cycladic figures appear to have only minimal facial features or other details.
This figure's painted facial features, hair, and jewelry, however, convey the original decorated effect.
Rows of red dots running across the forehead and both cheeks may be tattoos.
A line of dots under the nose might be the mouth, a very unusual feature.
The same red pigment is preserved in the line of the backbone and in the crease where the neck joins the head and shoulders.

[willy]

Female Figure of the Late Spedos Type



Attributed to the Steiner Master
Cycladic, 2500 - 2400 B.C. Marble.
14 5/16 x 10 5/16 in.

Reclining with her arms crossed, this female figure is typical of the sculpture of the Cyclades mid-2000s B.C.
Scholars have divided Cycladic sculpture into groups or types indicating stylistic and chronological developments.
Named for a cemetery on the island of Naxos, the Spedos type was the most common of Cycladic figures: a slender elongated female with folded arms characterized by a U-shaped head and a deeply incised, but not cut-through, cleft between the legs.
The figure's relaxed, slanting feet indicate her reclining position.
This late example of a Spedos figure shows the further characteristic trait of a straight profile with little bend in the knees.
This piece is unusually large and finely carved for a late Spedos figure.

[willy]

Female Figure of the Kilia Type (“Stargazer”)



Chalcolithic, Anatolia / Turkey, 2800 - 2200 B.C.
Marble / Height: 14,2 cm.

In the third millenium B.C., female figures were made throughout the Mediterranean, including the area of modern Turkey previously known as Anatolia.
This figure represents a highly stylized standing nude female with flipper-like arms. Her bulbous head, long neck, and flat body are characteristic of the Kilia type of female figurines, named after the village in Turkey where the first examples were found.
The facial features are only schematically rendered, but areas such as the eyes would originally have been enhanced by paint.
The ears and nose, by contrast, are defined by carving.
Chalcolithic female figures were probably connected with the cult of a fertility goddess; on this example, the pubic area is emphasized by incision.

[willy]

Female statuette of baked clay



End of the 6th millenium B.C. / Anatolia.
Height 9.6 cm.
(front view & side view)








Edited By admin on 14 augustus 2003 at 22:28

[willy]

Figurine of a Woman



Konya-Karahoyuk Middle Bronze Age, first quarter of 2nd mill B.C.
Baked clay.
Konya Archaeological Museum.

This is the figurine of a woman in the form of a hollow vessel.
Legs are bent at the knees, giving the impression that the woman is seated.

[willy]

Woman / Collier en Y




Saint-Sernin / Aveyron

Principals engraved or sculptured signs on a Rouergue menhir-statue are: the face (eyes, nose, tatoos) but the mouth and ears are almost never represented, members (arms, hands with fingers, legs, feet with toes), the breast (for female statues), accessories (belt, belt-buckle), weapons (bow, arrow, hatchet...), the "objet" which is certainly a flint or copper dagger in its case and sustained by a shoulder-belt (for male statues) or a collar with an Y form (for female statues only).
About 30 menhirs-statues are still raised in département of Tarn and especially near the town and villages of Lacaune, Murat sur Vèbre and Moulin-Mage.
Engraved or sculptured 5000 years ago, these stones offer to you a superb travel in Prehistory









Edited By admin on 14 augustus 2003 at 22:39

[willy]

Iraq: Tell Asmar, Trench D
Ur III / Isin-Larsa Period, ca. 2100-1800 B.C.
Baked clay / 16.5 cm H, 6.2 cm W
Excavated by the Oriental Institute, 1935-6

Figurines like this one have been found in the excavated remains of Mesopotamian houses, temples, and other public buildings of the early second millennium B.C.
They have no definite divine attributes and their exact function is not known.
This female has characteristic broad, flat hips, a large and elaborately incised pubic triangle, and prominent breasts with applied disk-shaped nipples.
The multiple holes pierced at the sides of her head may have held metal earrings or served to fasten the piece to a separate material, such as cloth.

[url=http://asmar.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OIM_A17892_72dpi.html]http://asmar.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/
HIGH/OIM_A17892_72dpi.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:57

[willy]

Syria: Tell Judaidah
Early Bronze Age
(Amuq Phase G), ca. 3100-2900 B.C.
Bronze with silver-rich alloy
14.6 cm H, 3.9 cm W
Excavated by the Oriental Institute, 1935-6

Archaeologists found these three statuettes in a cache that contained three male and three female figurines.
They are the earliest known metal castings of human figures in the round from Syria. The males wear broad belts and helmets covered with a silver alloy; they probably once held weapons in their upraised hands.
The naked females' hair is held in place with a headband and bound in the back in an elaborate chignon.
They cross their arms and grasp their breasts in their hands - a common ancient pose that probably connotes fertility.
The statuettes were intended to be mounted in some fashion, for a tang projects below the feet of each one.
The skill with which these unique pieces were modelled and the technical knowledge that was needed for their casting reveal surprisingly high standards of artistic and technical achievement in Syria at the beginning of the third millennium B.C.

[url=http://asmar.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/HIGH/OIM_A24008_72dpi.html]http://asmar.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/
HIGH/OIM_A24008_72dpi.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:57

[willy]

Stylized female figurine carved from mammoth ivory



22th-21th millenium BC
H 8.9 cm
Mal’ta settlement, Siberia

Paleolithic art of Europe and Asia falls into two broad categories: mural art and portable art.
Mural art is concentrated in southwest France, Spain, and northern Italy.
The tradition of portable art, predominantly carvings in ivory and antler, spans the distance across western Europe into North and Central Asia.
It is suggested that the broad territory in which the tradition of carving and imagery is shared is evidence of cultural contact and common religious beliefs.
Some of the most well known examples are the so-called Venus figurines.
One such figurine, illustrated here, is from the site of Mal'ta and dates to around 21,000 B.C.
It is carved from the ivory of a mammoth, an extinct type of elephant highly prized in hunting that migrated in herds across the Ice Age tundra of Europe and Asia.
Like most Paleolithic figurine carving, the image is carved in the round in a highly stylized manner.
Typically, there are exaggerated characteristics such as breasts and buttocks, which may have been symbols of fertility.

[willy]

Els, als u meer wilt weten over de "Witte Dame-stijl" is hier een URL.

[els]

Zo, eindelijk wordt de email die ik van Willy heb binnengekregen even geupdate.

Zittende vrouw die een kruik op haar hoofd draagt.

Gezien haar opvallende geslachtskenmerken, heeft dit beeldje misschien te maken met een vruchtbaarheidsritueel.
De Neolithische mens bewerkte en versierde allerlei objecten uit het dagelijkse leven, en veranderde ze tot ware kunstwerkjes.

4e millennium v.C.
Museum van Israël, Jeruzalem.

[els]

Beeldjes in de "witte dame-stijl" hebben altijd betrekking op de dood.
Dit exemplaar is gevonden bij het Griekse Sparta.
In Neolithische graven in Zuidoost-Europa zijn er vele gevonden.
Het heeft een kaarsrechte houding, met gevouwen armen, en een grote driehoekige schaamstreek?
(Is dit wel de juiste afbeelding bij deze tekst?)

Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

Willy

[els]

Van Willy:

Het gezicht van een godin, met daaromheen meanderlijnen, kijkt vanuit een gestileerde vulva op wat een altaar of een troon moet zijn geweest.
Dit exemplaar is gevonden in Zuidoost-­Hongarije (in Svegvár-Tüzköves) en dateert uit het vijfde millennium v. Chr.

Hongaars Nationaal Museum
Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

De kikker-godin is een belangrijk Oud-europees archetype voor het geven van leven en voor de wedergeboorte.
Door de perforaties zat deze amulet van zwarte steen uit Thessalië waarschijnlijk aan iets vastgebonden.

Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy:

Dit kaarsrechte naakte beeldje van marmer staat bekend als de "stijve witte dame".
Het is een van de beroemde Cycladische beeldjes van het eiland Syros.
Ze houdt de armen gevouwen en draagt een masker met een grote snavelachtige neus zonder mond.

Nationaal Museum, Athene
Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy

De slang-godin zit als een yogi, met gebogen armen en benen, en heeft een brede mond.
Ze draagt een kroon en heeft een opgerolde slang als symbool.

Men zag haar als de beschermster van de continuïteit van het leven; daarom kreeg zij een ereplek op het huisaltaar.
Haar afbeelding kwam voor tot in de Brons- en IJzertijd.
In de Europese folklore zijn de slang en de vogel vaak beschouwd als de reïncarnatie van voorouderlijke geesten; dit geloof dateert uit het Neolithicum.

Deze Neolithische slang-godin van gebakken klei is gevonden op Kreta.
Van onderen zien we een slangenlichaam, maar het gezicht is menselijk.

Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy

De vogel-godin komt voor als sculptuur of geschilderd op aardewerk vanaf 7000 v.C. (Neolithicum).
Er zijn ook vazen aangetroffen in de vorm van een vogel en vogelvrouwen, evenals modellen van tempels met daar bovenop een afbeelding van de vogel-godin.

Deze heeft een snavel of een puntneus, een lange nek, een gedetailleerd weergegeven haardracht of kroon, borsten, vleugels en soms een overdreven dik achterwerk.
Ze wordt op diverse manieren gesymbo­liseerd door waterstromen en regen: horizontaal evenwijdige lijnen afgewisseld met verticale lijnen; V-tekens, die waarschijnlijk verwijzen naar de vrouwelijke schaamstreek; en meandermotieven.

De vogel-godin op een troon.
Dit beeldje behoort tot de Vinca-cultuur en is gevonden in Bariljevo, bij het Servische Pristina.
Het grote masker heeft grote ogen en geen mond.
Het medaillon aan haar V-vormig halssnoer geeft haar status aan.
Haar benen en troon zijn afgebroken.

Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy

Een albasten beeldje uit een graf van de Samarra-vindplaats Tell es-Sawwan uit het zesde millennium v.C.

De ogen zijn benadrukt door ingelegd aardhars (bitumen).
Iraaks Museum, Bagdad.
Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy

Deze "godin" van terracotta, opgegraven uit de bovenste lagen van Munhata in de Jordaan-vallei, dateert uit het zesde millennium v.C.
Sommige trekken zijn kenmerkend voor beeldjes van de gehele Levant uit het eerste deel van het zevende millennium: de overdreven billen, het verlengde achterhoofd en het benadrukken van de ogen.
De angstaanjagende verschijning is typerend voor beeldjes uit Munhata.

Israël Museum, Jeruzalem
Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgevers, 1994.

[els]

Van Willy

‘Ain Ghazal, gelegen in Jordanië, was gedurende de 2000 jaar dat het bestond, getuige van een bijzondere periode in de culturele ontwikkeling van de mens.
De nederzetting was gesticht als een kleine vaste verblijfplaats in 7250 v.C. en de bewoners combineerden landbouw, jacht en veeteelt om zich te verzekeren van een gevarieerde en constante voedselvoorziening; daardoor werd een bevolkingsgroei bereikt zoals nog nooit ergens mogelijk was geweest.
Terwijl het gedurende de eerste 750 jaar voortdurend groeide, kende: ‘Ain Ghazal een plotselinge bevolkingsexplosie in de eeuwen vlak voor en na 6500 v.C.
Waarschijnlijk was dit het resultaat van nieuwkomers die hun nederzettingen in de omgeving verlieten omdat het land uitgeput raakte.
In 6000 v.C. besloeg het dorp 12 hectare, waarop 2000 mensen woonden.
Beelden en bustes vormden het middelpunt van gemeenschappelijke activiteiten; ze waren gemaakt van bosjes riet die bepleisterd werden en versierd met rode verf en aardhars.
Ze stonden waarschijnlijk in speciale gebouwen, althans bij speciale gelegenheden.
Dit beeldje kan de "moedergodin" van een dorp voorgesteld hebben.

Boek: Mensen in de Steentijd, Kosmos Uitgeverij, 1994.

[els]

Zo, deze had Willy mij dus allemaal ge-mailed, en ik wil ze niemand onthouden.

Ik heb ze wel wat kleiner gemaakt. Ook een paar andere plaatjes op deze pagina heb ik wat gecomprimeerd, want het kwam allemaal bijna niet meer binnen.

Ik heb nog eens dat Spartaanse 'witte dame'-beeldje vergeleken met de Namibische. Ik heb eigenlijk het gevoel dat deze benaming voor het Spartaanse beeldje wat overdreven is. Het lijkt een poging om alle witte vrouwenbeeldjes aller tijden in één bij elkaarhorend genre onder te brengen. Ook al het feit dat erbij staat dat 'alle beeldjes in wittedamestijl met de dood te maken hebben'. Dat lijkt me heel interessant, dus ik vraag me af hoe dat is aangetoond, en door wie.

Maar het beeldje zelf blijft natuurlijk mooi.

[willy]

Badari



Exemple d'idole féminine en ivoire trouvée parmi les vestiges de la culture badarienne, Egypte.

[willy]

Ivory statuette 4000 BC. (Nagada)
And tattoos from a priestess' mummy 2100 BC.

[willy]

Período Guerciense
(Nagada II) 3600 B.C. - 3200 B.C.
Musée du Louvre

[url=http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Bridge/1663/EpocaPreDin.htm]http://www.geocities.com/Athens/
Bridge/1663/EpocaPreDin.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:58

[els]

Ingestuurd door Willy

Als hij in 1894 op de ter­reinen van Nagada op­gravingen doet, legt de Engelse archeoloog Flin­ders Petrie een grote ne­cropool uit het 4e millen­nium v.C. bloot.

Nadat hij ongeveer 3000 graven nauwkeurig heeft on­derzocht, kan hij een begin maken met de eer­ste studies van de Egyp­tische prehistorie en een chronologie opzetten van de predynastieke perioden.

Ivoren beeldje uit het predynastieke Egypte dat aan de Nagada-cultuur wordt toegeschreven (Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery).

[els]

Ingestuurd door Willy

Ivoren vrouwenfiguur (20 cm hoog) uit de Nagada-cultuur (Egypte)

(4000 v.Chr.).

[els]

Ingestuurd door Willy



Beeldje van een vrouw uit de predynastieke periode omstreeks 3000 v.Chr. (Egypte).

(Londen, British Museum).

[willy]

Ivory figure of a woman with incised features



From Badari, Egypt
Badarian culture, around 4000 BC, Predynastic period
Height: 14 cm

Perhaps a fertility figurine

This type of figure is found in burials of both men and women of the Badarian culture (around 4000 BC), the earliest identifiable culture of the Predynastic period.
This is a fine example and is one of the earliest known sculptures from Egypt.
It is made from one of the lower canines of a hippopotamus, an animal that could still be found in Egypt at the time.
Ivory and bone were used extensively from the Predynastic period onwards for small objects such as beads, needles and combs.
The figure appears to be crudely made, but the carving is precise and the limbs are well formed and smoothly finished.
The emphasis on the eyes, breasts, hips and pubic area are stylistic rather than due to poor execution.
Similar figures, all of which focused on these areas, were made of clay, wood and stone.
This suggests that the figures might have been linked with sexuality, rather than being dolls, as was once supposed.
It now seems likely that these figures were linked with the rebirth and regeneration that the deceased hoped would transfer them to the Afterlife.
So-called paddle dolls probably fulfilled the same function in the Middle Kingdom (2040-1750 BC).

Gift of the British School of Archaeology in Egypt
[url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ52]http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ52[/url]


Els ik heb deze afbeeldingen al geplaatst maar met veel minder gegevens. Deze zijn volgens mij natuurlijk beter, u als administrator zou een van de twee voorbeelden kunnen verwijderen daar tweemaal hetzelfde geen enkele zin heeft. De keus is volledig aan u. Mijn verontschuldingen voor de last die ik veroorzaak. (Ze mogen wel wat verkleind worden)




Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:54

[willy]

Bone figure of a woman



From Upper Egypt
Early Predynastic period, Naqada I, 4000-3600 BC
Height: 11.4 cm

The earliest three-dimensional representations of humans from ancient Egypt have been found in graves of the Predynastic period (sixth millenium - about 3100 BC).
In the majority of cases they were found singly, but groups of up to as many as sixteen have been recorded.
This example is one of a type of statue which shows a female figure with the arms either folded below the breasts or hanging down beside the body.
Some examples were carved from limestone, but they are mostly of bone or ivory.
From their nakedness and from their emphasized sexual organs it has long been assumed that these figures were placed in the grave to act as concubines to the deceased in the Afterlife.
However, they have not been exclusively found in burials of men but also of women and children, which suggests that their purpose was more generic.
It is now thought that their presence was to provide magical support for the owner's rebirth and regeneration.
The large and striking eyes are inlaid with lapis lazuli.
The use of this rare material bears witness to the extensive trade network that must have existed in the Near East at this early a date, for the nearest lapis lazuli quarries are to be found in modern-day Afghanistan.

[url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ52]http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ52[/url]




Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:54

[willy]

[url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/naqadan/sculpture.html]http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/
naqadan/sculpture.html[/url]



Edited By admin on 20 augustus 2003 at 16:55

[els]

Ik heb de afbeeldingen gewoon maar wat kleiner gemaakt, Willy.
Zoals je ziet had ik ook nog de laatste van je mails geupload. Ik moet er nog één doen, maar die ging niet zo snel, dus dat komt nog.

[willy]

Els hartelijk bedankt voor het aanpassen van de afbeeldingen die reeds op uw site stonden. Het is toch normaal dat het betere in de plaats van het mindere komt. Nogmaals bedankt.

Groetjes, willy

[willy]

[willy]

Naqada II-III



Clay figurine with stone inlays.

[url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/archaeology/ARY2002/Egypt/02.ED.htm]http://www.utexas.edu/courses/archaeology
/ARY2002/Egypt/02.ED.htm[/url]





Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 19:57

[willy]

Toevoeging aan: Stylized female figurine carved from mammoth ivory 14 augustus 2003, 16:26

The Armless Lady



Neither the lack of arms nor the anonymous face and the round, bald head detracts from the visual richness of the piece -- a richness due primarily to the choice of ivory (probably from a mammoth) as a medium.
Closer to the "classic" model of other Venuses from Western Europe, the piece seems to have been executed in an almost mechanical manner.
There is particular emphasis on the fleshy parts such as the buttocks, breasts and stomach.
Also visible, on the back, is a fine line marking the spinal column.
The various colours and textures on the mutilated lower legs indicate very ancient fractures as well as more recent ones.
Finally, the many small longitudinal fissures visible on the figurine are characteristic of ivory when it ages.

Carved on a fragment of ivory, the figurine is 67.6 millimetres high.

[url=http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/palf3eng.html]http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/
paleofig/palf3eng.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:18

[willy]

Toevoeging aan: Stylized female figurine carved from mammoth ivory 14 augustus 2003, 16:26

Dit is een foute vergelijking die ik gemaakt heb en hiermee dus rechtzet, het zijn twee verschillende beelden hoewel zij sterk op elkaar lijken, vandaar ook mijn vergissing, sorry.

The Ochre Lady



So called because of the ochre coating that colours its unspoiled surfaces, this figurine is typical of Gravettian statuary from Western Europe.
It has the characteristic overfullness of the buttocks, stomach and breasts.
The artist seems to have given special attention to the treatment of the various body parts the headdress or hair still bears traces of fine wavy lines.
The demarcation of the pubis is also pronounced, which is unusual in statuettes from the Balzi Rossi and France.
Finally, a perforation has been hollowed out from the back and sternum, indicating that this figurine was used as a pendant.

The piece was made from a fragment of bone or ivory and shows many signs of deterioration, ancient and recent.
It is approximately 75 millimetres high.

[url=http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/palf4eng.html]http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/
paleofig/palf4eng.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:18

[els]

Bedankt voor al die toevoegingen, Willy.
Die beeldjes die je verwarde lijken inderdaad nogal op elkaar. Toch komt die ene van 14 augustus van Malta, Siberië.
Deze beeldjes schijnen van 'Balzi Rossi' aan de Frans-Italiaanse kust te komen. Dit zegt me helemaal niets. Hier nog twee pagina's van dezelfde website, waar iets over deze vindplaats wordt meegedeeld.

[url=http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/pal03eng.html]http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/
pal03eng.html
[/url]
[url=http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/pal02eng.html]http://www.civilization.ca/archeo/paleofig/
pal02eng.html[/url]

[willy]

Two female figures engraved on a bone plate



This outstanding art of the Magdalenian hunter-gatherers is dated between 17 000 and 11 000 BP.
Origin : Isturitz cave, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Musée des Antiquités nationales, Saint-Germain-en-Laye

[willy]

Steatopygous female figure



ca. 4500–4000 B.C.
Neolithic Cycladic; Greece, Cyclades
Marble; H. 21.5 cm

This figure, now missing its head, is a masterful example of a rare type known as steatopygous, which is characterized by particularly full buttocks.
The ample upper torso has rounded outlines and pendant breasts, and is framed by the arms which meet at the chest.
The incised fingers have been nearly obliterated by weathering.
The massive three-dimensional lower body shows a bulging abdomen and buttocks, undoubtedly indicative of fertility.
The groin and knees are indicated by grooved creases, and the legs, carved separately only near the bottom, end in small stumpy feet.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/02/eus/ho_1972.118.104.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
ho/02/eus/ho_1972.118.104.htm[/url]


[url=http://www.ou.edu/finearts/art/ahi4913/aegeanhtml/cyscl3.html]http://www.ou.edu/finearts/art/
ahi4913/aegeanhtml/cyscl3.html[/url]



Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 19:59

[willy]

Limestone female figure



Neolithic, about 4500-3200 BC
From the island of Kárpathos, Aegean Sea
The earliest stone sculpture from Greece in the British Museum
The size and style of this ungainly figure is unusual for the Neolithic period in Greece, though it does have features which link it both to smaller counterparts in clay, and to the later marble Cycladic figurines.
The arms are represented as stumps, perhaps because of limitations in the sculptor's technique, while the legs do not appear at all.
This may be explained by a connection with seated Neolithic figure types, where the legs are tucked so closely to the body that they effectively disappear, though again it might be partly explained by technical limitations.
While the stylized appearance of the face, blank apart from the rather beaky nose, is similar to Cycladic sculptures, the sexual characteristics of the figure are more noticeable on this figure.
This used to be interpreted as evidence of the early worship of a 'Great Mother' goddess; though now it is clear that this is a simplistic explanation for many different phenomena.
However, it is possible that the significance of the figure may have been connected with female fertility.
Height: 66 cm

[url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/world/europe/western/western.html]http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/world/
europe/western/western.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:20

[willy]

'Violin' figurine



Early Bronze Age, around 2800 BC
From the island of Amorgos, the Cyclades, Aegean Sea

An example of the schematic figurine
Throughout the Early Bronze Age in the Cyclades (approximately the third millennium BC) marble figurines were produced in two basic types: schematic and naturalistic.
Schematic types, like this example, are most common in the earliest period of figurine production, though they continued to be made in parallel to the naturalistic examples.
This figure, with its characteristic outline, belongs to the so-called 'violin' type.
Many 'violin' figures are completely plain, but in this piece the addition of breasts, arms and the pubic triangle makes the relationship to the human body more obvious. The head is simply an elongated prong, a very common form among the schematic figurines.
The legs are not apparent at all.
There are many seated or squatting female figures among the Neolithic predecessors to this type, and they frequently have legs that are diminutive or tucked away completely.

Height: 11.1 cm

[url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/world/europe/western/western.html]http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
world/europe/western/western.html[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:24

[willy]

Els als u vindt dat ik moet stoppen met afbeeldingen te plaatsen laat mij dat a.u.b. weten. Er zijn nog wel vrouwenbeeldjes, maar dan van ± 1000 v.C. Is dat nog paleolithisch en neolithisch?

Groetjes, willy

[willy]

Female Figure



End of 3rd millennium B.C.
Ecuador; Validivia
Ceramic; H. 11.7 cm

Some 4,000 years ago, ancient people living along the coast of Ecuador produced the earliest representational images in the Americas.
Small, solid figures of fired clay, between three and five inches high, were made similar in form to works in stone that had been produced in the region previously. Constructed of two rods of clay pressed together to form the main portion of the figure, the hair—often elaborately styled—was added as a separate caplike slab of clay.
This feature is well illustrated by the figure here, as the hair is so grandiose that it almost entirely obscures the face.
Validivia figures are noted for their simplicity of representation, conveying a sense of the figure without a wealth of detail.
Predominantly female in image, and unclothed, the figurines have prominent breasts and are often said to be fertility figures.
Their precise purpose remains unknown.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/02/sa/ho_1980.83.15.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/
02/sa/ho_1980.83.15.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:28

[willy]

Standing female figure wearing a strap and a necklace



3rd–early 2nd millennium B.C.; Bronze Age
Southwestern Arabia
Sandstone, quartzite; H. 27 cm

This image may have been used in connection with fertility rituals.
It represents the beginning of a long sculptural tradition in southwestern Arabia, characterized by extreme simplification and by the containment of the figure within a rectangular space.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/02/wap/hob_1998.380.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
ho/02/wap/hob_1998.380.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:13

[willy]

Eye idol



3500–3100 B.C.; middle–late Uruk period
Excavated at Tell Brak, northeastern Syria
Alabaster (gypsum); H. 3.5 cm

This type of figurine, made of stone and having incised eyes, has been excavated at Tell Brak, where thousands were found in a building now called the Eye Temple. Many are incised with multiple sets of eyes, others with jewelry, and still others with representations of "children"—smaller eyes and body carved on the body of the larger idol.
The idols are thought to be offerings—wide eyes demonstrate attentiveness to the gods in much Mesopotamian art.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/02/wae/ho_1988.323.8.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/
02/wae/ho_1988.323.8.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:27

[willy]

Statue of Memi and Sabu



Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, ca. 2575–2465 B.C.
Egyptian; Probably from Giza
Painted limestone; H. 62 cm

Pair statues, usually depicting a husband and wife, were frequently placed in a serdab, the hidden statue chamber often found in nonroyal tomb chapels of the Old Kingdom.
The Egyptians believed that the spirit of the deceased could use such a statue as a home and enter it in order to benefit from gifts of food that were brought to the offering chapel of the tomb.
The inscription on the front of this statue identifies these individuals as the Royal Acquaintance Memi and Sabu.
Although the text does not specify a relationship, they were probably husband and wife, as is common for pair statues where a relationship is recorded.
The pose is unusual because Memi is returning Sabu's embrace by draping his arm around her shoulders.
This restricting gesture may account for the fact that he stands with his feet together, rather than striding forward in the normal masculine pose.
Until recently, this statue was dated to Dynasty 5, but the figures have many features in common with Fourth Dynasty statues found in the nonroyal cemeteries surrounding the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) at Giza.
In addition, the pose has only two known parallels, both from Giza and both datable to Dynasty 4.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/02/afe/hob_48.111.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/
02/afe/hob_48.111.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:06

[willy]

Furniture support: female sphinx with Hathor-style curls



1820–1740 B.C.; Old Assyrian Trading Colony period
Probably Acemhöyük, Central Anatolia
Ivory (Hippopotamus), gold foil; H. 12.7 cm

Around 1950 B.C., traders from the northern Mesopotamian city of Ashur established karums, or merchants' colonies, at a number of Central Anatolian cities, among them the site of Acemhöyük.
Assyrian merchants lived in a restricted area of these cities, trading textiles and tin from the southeast for silver but operating under the rule of local kings.
Acemhöyük is a large mound located south of Ankara near the Turkish town of Aksaray on the Konya Plain.
It lay on a route linking Anatolia with the East and seems to have been an important center for the copper trade and industry.
In 1965, a Turkish archaeological expedition found sealed bullae, inscribed clay tablets, ivories, and other objects outside the karum of Acemhöyük in two burned palaces on the highest part of the mound.
A group of ivories given to the Museum in the 1930s is thought to have come from Acemhöyük because of close similarities in style and subject to those known to have been found there.
Ranging in color from white to gray blue and a pinkish orange, they have been carved to represent the fantastic composite creatures important in the mythology of the ancient Near East.
This small female sphinx is a form borrowed from the Egyptians.
Her large almond-shaped eyes and spiral locks ultimately derive from the Egyptian goddess Hathor.
As with the later ivories from Nimrud, this sphinx, one of four in the Museum, was carved as furniture decoration.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/waa/hob_32.161.46.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
ho/03/waa/hob_32.161.46.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:07

[willy]

Nude female with birdlike face holding an infant



ca. 1450–1200 B.C.; Late Cypriot II; Base-Ring Ware Cypriot;
Said to be from Nicosia–Ayia Paraskevi
Terracotta; H. 20.8 cm

This standing nude female figurine with arms bent and hands resting against the stomach is typical of coroplastic art of the Late Cypriot II and III periods. Characteristically, it has a birdlike face, large nose, and large pierced ears with earrings in clay.
The pubic triangle is accentuated and the breasts are clearly shown, perhaps indicating that it is a fertility goddess.
In this particular instance, the goddess is holding an infant.
This type of figurine may be Syrian in origin; Cypriot sculptors, during this period, adopted the type and created their own variation.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/wae/ho_74.51.1542.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/
wae/ho_74.51.1542.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:34

[willy]

Stone seated female figure



Late 3rd–early 2nd millennium B.C.
Central Asia (Bactria-Margiana)
Chlorite or steatite, and limestone; 9.5 cm

Western Central Asia, now known as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan, has yielded objects attesting to a highly developed civilization in the late third and early second millennium B.C.
Artifacts from the region indicate that there were contacts with Iran to the southwest.
Among the few three-dimensional images assigned to this period in Central Asia are a group of stone female figures seated or squatting on a platform and wearing a robe decorated with a pattern, perhaps imitating sheep's fleece.
They are always composite figures of soft green chlorite or steatite, with heads of white limestone.
This example has a typical abstract form with an armless body and legs represented by a protruding ledge.
Excavated examples of this figure type come from sites in Margiana in southern Turkmenistan, a possible center of their production.
Similar seated females on cylinder seal impressions from southwestern Iran appear to depict royal figures.
On compartmented stamp seals from western Central Asia, a possible version of the female figure appears where she is sometimes flanked by or seated upon animals or mythical creatures.
These attributes could indicate a divine quality.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/nc/hob_1989.281.41a,b.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/
03/nc/hob_1989.281.41a,b.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:10

[willy]

Female Figure



12th–9th century B.C.
Mexico; Las Bocas (?)
Ceramic; H. 17 cm

Ceramic figures from central Mexico made during the late second millennium B.C. usually depict women.
Commonly described as fertility figurines, their attenuated limbs and occasionally disturbing facial features have been interpreted as abnormalities indicative of special access to the supernatural realm.
As there is a wide range of representation and type among these figures, such interpretations are not necessarily exclusive.
Certain figurines have details that may indicate social status, such as the earspools and hairstyle seen here, while others clearly relate to Olmec imagery.
Most of the details reflect regional traditions in which facial and body treatments can be recognizably precise.
The crisp narrow eyes and mouth of this figurine, for instance, recall the so-called pretty lady figures from Tlatilco, an early site in the Basin of Mexico, but the bodily proportions are less distorted than those of Tlatilco figures.
A possible source may be further to the south, as the figure is said to be from the site of Las Bocas in the present-day state of Puebla.

[url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/ca/ho_1983.424.htm]http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/
03/ca/ho_1983.424.htm[/url]




Edited By admin on 07 september 2003 at 20:22