The World of Figurines in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Aegean: The case of Uğurlu Höyük on Gökçeada (Imbros) (original) (raw)

– Karina Croucher Exchanges of Identity in Prehistoric Anatolian Figurines

2016

This paper examines exchange imagery and ideology of the human body manifested through figurines from prehistoric (7 th –6 th millennia BC) Anatolian contexts. These figurines document local, regional and interregional communication of identity, use of materials, ideologies and skills. Taking a new approach to understanding the assemblages, this paper suggests four key themes of analysis: materials and materiality; fractured bodies; gender spectrum; and ambiguities and relationships.

Beyond gender: Approaches to anthropomorphic imagery in prehistoric central Anatolia

Gender transformation in prehistoric and archaic societies, 2019

Prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines are probably one of the most widely discussed and possibly the most poorly understood archaeological objects of all. The engendering of Anatolian prehistory using figurines and visual representations of people has not progressed much beyond defining which figure is male or female or, in most cases, which figure represents a god or goddess. This article aims to take apart the Mother Goddess theory and discuss how it was created and why it is problematic for feminist scholarship. Many interpretations of figurines have been proposed in previous decades; they incorporate such concepts as embodiment, materiality, and gender. As a case study, this paper concentrates on Köşk Höyük, a central Anatolian Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic site, with the aim to have a broader look at the visual imagery. The anthropomorphic representations on relief-decorated pottery and the figurines found at Köşk Höyük have typically been interpreted as representations of gods and goddesses, despite ongoing critiques of the Mother Goddess theory. This paper analyses representations of gendered identities, based on visual media, in order to gain a better understanding of the function and use of such representations. Keywords: Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Anatolia, figurines, Mother Goddess, performativity, gender

A Study Of Anthropomorphic Figurines In The Neolithic Of Southwest Asia And Southeastern Europe

2013

Anthropomorphic figurines resemble people, very often the people who created them. Thus, these figurines stand to provide insight into their cultures perhaps from the perspective of the original members of the culture. Researchers in figurine studies often speculate on the purposes of figurines and attempt to interpret their meanings. This study attempts to examine anthropomorphic figurines of the Neolithic in Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe through cataloged and compared physical characteristics of the figurines themselves gathered from published data into a relational database. Figurine data are then imported into statistical software for analysis. The data produced in this study support the early hypothesis that a disproportionate number of figurines are representative of the female sex compared to male. The data also strengthen newer hypotheses that asexual figurines are equally disproportionate. The results reveal trends in representations of sex and suggest perhaps figurine creators may not always have been end users.

Southeast European Neolithic figurines: beyond context, interpretation, and meaning (2017)

Published in In T. Insoll (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines, pp. 823-50. Oxford: Oxford University Press., 2017

In this article, I review recent work on figurines from Neolithic southeastern Europe and suggest an alternative approach. I argue that we should abandon searches for explanation and for meanings of figurines as pieces of the past. The alternative is to work with figurine material in the present, disarticulated from prehistory, and to make new work that recognizes figurines’ position in the present.