Iberian Peninsula to the indus

C.A.
Bibliography
: thimme 1977; Sharp-Jokowsky 1996; 
takaog˘lu 2005; duru 2008; Atakuman 2017.
2
Neolithic cultic place with relief wall 
decorations, Göbeklitepe, Sanliurfa, 
Southeast Turkey, X millennium BC
Following pages
Excavations at Kültepe, Kayeri, 
Cappadocia, Turkey,
late III–II millennia BC

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150
ELIMINARE QUANTO SEGNALATO

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153
152
36
aBStract ScHeMatic figure
Kusura type
Western Anatolia
Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age
(3300–3000 BC)
Marble or calcite, H. 20 cm, W. 14 cm
Private Collection, Germany
This dynamic abstract composition, 
carved from a thin translucent 
plaque, is constructed with a disc and 
two rectangles – one vertical, one 
horizontal – finely proportioned to 
each other, in a simplified vision of a 
head, neck and body. Both sides are 
plain, but a small circle incised off 
centre on one side of the body may 
be a mark added in the course of the 
“life” of the figure before deposition.
C.A.
Reference: 
Thimme 1977, no. 488.
37
aBStract ScHeMatic figure
Kusura Beycesultan type
Western Anatolia
Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age
(3300–3000 BC)
Marble or calcite, H. 11 cm, W. 7.2 cm
Private Collection, Germany
The composition assembles simple 
geometric shapes, disk and half disc 
divided by a cone constructed with an 
attention to rhythm and proportions. 
It is subtly animated and brought 
to life by the diminutive arms that 
conclude the semi-lunar body, and 
the suggestions of hair or horn on 
one side of the disk head breaks the 
symmetry.
C.A.
Reference: 
Thimme 1977, no. 513.
38
violin figure
Beycesultan type
Western Anatolia
Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age
(3300–3000 BC)
Marble, H. 16 cm, W. 7 cm
Ligabue Collection, Venice
Bibliography:
Ligabue, Rossi-Osmida 
2006, p. 119.
A typical and harmonious example of 
the Beycesultan type, characterized by 
the long stalk neck and two shortened 
horizontal arms. The “bag-shaped” 
body is a feature shared with the 
Kusura type. In all these examples, 
the two sides of the plaque figure are 
identical, as opposed to other types 
like, for instance, the Alaça Hüyük, 
Troy or Kilia, which are oriented: they 
have a back and a front side animated 
by eyes, nose and mouth, possibly by 
breasts and sex triangle. The question 
of the orientation of the schematic 
figures is important for a better 
understanding of how they functioned 
and were handled during their life.
C.A.

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154
39
Kilia figure
Western Anatolia
Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age
(3300–3000 BC)
Marble, H. 10.3 cm, W. 3.7 cm
Private Collection, UK
(courtesy RWAA)
Named from a site in the Gallipoli 
peninsula, the Kilia figures (
cat. 39–41
) 
were distributed over a large part 
of western Anatolia during the third 
millennium. Recent research at 
Kulaksizlar brought to light the close 
relation with the Cyclades in the 
production of marble vessels and 
anthropomorphic statuettes by highly 
skilled and specialized artists. The 
Kilia are the only Anatolian figures 
of the Chalcolithic Early Bronze Age 
I to be distinctly anthropomorphic 
and female, tending to an idealized 
but realist vision, as opposed to the 
abstract schematic aesthetic of the 
Kusura or Beycesultan types. Like 
these hematic figures however they 
were found, often in fragments, in 
both funerary context and in public 
domain.
Kilia artists created slim figures with 
sharp contrast between the flat body, 
contoured in a lozenge, and the often 
heavy, three-dimensional head, tilted 
backwards, hence the description 
of “star gazer”. The joint feet are 
protruding from the plane of the body 
and are too small to allow the figure 
to stand by itself. Like the Cyclades 
figures, they were probably meant to 
be reclining on their back. The arms 
are typically reduced to a sort of 
triangular wing, sharply cut away from 
the torso. Within this general type, 
there are many subtle variants, the 
work of individual artists who were 
free to play with the proportions and 
a number of small details, like the 
length of the nose, the placement 
of minute button-like ears and eyes; 
in a few instances, realistic forearms 
are depicted along the torso. These 
figures present fragile parts, especially 
the high and thin neck, too thin for 
the heavy head; and the tiny feet 
projecting forward. These fragile parts 
are very often found broken, whether 
deliberately or not is unclear; the three 
exquisite Kilia statuettes presented 
here are all missing their feet.