Iberian Peninsula to the indus

Mosphilia 
figurines suggest that the stone ones would have been clutched in the hand, while 
the clay ones, which were free-standing, may have been used as teaching aids in 
puberty rituals concerned with pregnancy and birthing. the Kissonerga-mosphilia
 
cache indicates that specific rituals would have been performed during the filling of 
the pit with objects. intentional breakages noted on the round-house model and on 
the figurines themselves, as well as the application of a secondary coating of clay 
slip used to conceal the model’s painted decoration and the final burial of the cache 
point towards the performance of some kind of closure ceremony.
there is a notable absence of anthropomorphic figurines and pendants from late 
chalcolithic contexts, although picrolite pendants continued to be produced in other, 
non-anthropomorphic forms. these developments in the island’s material culture 
seem to re
flect social transformations that occurred during the late Chalcolithic, such 
as the intensified cultural interaction with communities beyond Cyprus. At the end 
of the third millennium BC, following a 500-year hiatus, figurative art reappeared in 
Cyprus, taking however entirely different forms and styles and linked with different 
ideologies and social conditions. 
A.E. 
4
Woman giving birth
Kissonerga-Mosphilia, Cyprus
IV millennium BC
Painted clay
Department of Antiquities Cyprus, 
Nicosia, inv. KM 1451
Bibliography
: dikaios 1934, pl. Vi:1, p. 16; dikaios 
1953, fig. 98; Caubet 1974; Vagnetti 1974; Vagnet-
ti 1975; Peltenburg 1975, p. 35, fig. Vi right; Kara-
georghis 1977; Peltenburg 1982b; swiny H.W., swiny 
s. 1983; morris 1985; Peltenburg 1989, pp. 115–116; 
goring 1991a, p. 158; goring 1991b; Karageorghis 
1991, pp. 1–43, figs. i–XViii; Peltenburg 1991a; 
Peltenburg 1991b, p. 114, fig. 1(C); Peltenburg 1991c; 
Xenophontos 1991; Campo 1994; le Brun 1994; man-
tzourani 1994, p. 32, fig. i, pl. V.2; goring 1998; reese 
1999, pp. 49–50; guilaine, Briois 2001, p. 51; Bolger 
2003, pp. 101–102; goring 2003; guilaine 2003, p. 
334; goring 2006, p. 75; Peltenburg 2006; mcCartney, 
manning, sewell, stewart 2007, pp. 35–36; mcCartney, 
Croft, manning, rosendahl 2010; Peltenburg 2011; 
mcCartney, manning, stewart 2012, p. 81, fig. 2(A); 
simmons 2012, fig. 6; Knapp 2013, p. 239; Alphas, 
Zachariou-Kaila 2015, pp. 26–35; Bolger 2016, pp. 
52–53; georgious 2016; mina, triandafyllou, Papa-
datos 2016; mcCartney 2017, p. 53, fig. 9.

---

129
128
clay tWo-necKed
planK-SHaped figurine 
red poliSHed - verify!!!
Cyprus, Deneia, no provenance
Middle Bronze Age I (2000–1850 BC)
Department of Antiquities Cyprus, 
Nicosia, inv. 1943/IV-13/4
(cat. 35, detail)
eArly And middle BronZe AGe 
cypruS
T
he reappearance of the anthropomorphic representation dates according to 
our present knowledge to the end of the early Bronze Age, a period marked 
by major innovations and associated with new settlers, who arrived from 
the Anatolian mainland. these innovations, which changed social realities, included 
changes in domestic life, new ways of cooking, spinning and weaving, childcare 
practices, agricultural techniques and equipment, the reintroduction of cattle, as 
well as the systematic exploitation of the island’s rich copper resources. from the 
beginning of the early Bronze Age the use of extramural necropolises and rock-cut 
chamber tombs with multiple, sometimes secondary burials, became widespread 
in cyprus.
the human figure, along with the animal figure, appears attached on the shoul-
ders of clay vessels and on models in red polished ware – the pottery fabric 
par 
excellence
of this period – composed of figured representations connected with 
religious rituals as well as everyday life. Additionally, freestanding human figures, 
in the same pottery fabric, make their appearance, which are referred to in the lit-
erature as “plank-shaped”. Stylistically, they are all very similar, in that they have 
flat rectangular bodies and long rectangular necks. Apart from the nose, which is 
shown in relief, and the perforated ears, the facial features (eyes, nose, mouth) and 
hair on the back are incised and filled with white paste. other motifs on the face 
probably denote a form of tattoos or paint. elaborate incised decorative motifs on the 
torso indicate garments with woven patterns and adornment decorating the neck, 
arms and fingers, such as multi-stranded beaded necklaces, bracelets and rings.
the numerous picrolite and faience beads found in funerary contexts were probably