Iberian Peninsula to the indus

parts of similar ornaments as well as the metal jewellery pieces. moreover, some 
plank figures feature two incised oblique lines running along the figure’s shoulders 
to the waist line, which are often described as “arms”, but could also be interpreted 
as metal pins with plain shaft, or toggle pins with eyelets in the shafts, similar to 
those found in Cypriote rock-cut chamber tombs throughout the early and middle 
Bronze Age. since those pins often occur in pairs, it has been suggested that they 
were used to hold the garment in place. these motifs find their parallels in the near 
eastern 
tudittu 
in the form of ornamental toggle-pins with a hole through which a 
material was threaded through. Variants include two or three headed plank figures 
(cat. 35
) as well as figures holding infants in cradles (
kourotrophoi
) and freestanding 
cradled infant figures. 

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the majority of the plank-shaped figurines were found in funerary contexts; the 
unprovenanced figures are also undoubtedly from tombs. Some fragmentary exam-
ples have been recovered in settlement deposits at marki, Alambra and politiko and a 
complete one was excavated in the doorway of a pottery workshop at Ambelikou. the 
distribution of provenance red polished plank-shapes shows a large concentration 
on the north coast and in the centre of the island. the excavations at lapithos Vrysi 
tou Barba
1
necropolis revealed the largest number of these figures and provided the 
full range of anthropomorphic types. this suggests that lapithos was the production 
centre. lapithos was an important site of the early and middle Bronze Age and was 
clearly dominant on the north coast with regards to the distribution and export of 
copper. the other find spots – apart from Bellapais-Vounous 
–
are sites like deneia 
and nicosia-Ayia paraskevi, with which lapithos had close contact; villages close to 
copper mines such as marki, Alambra, politiko and Ambelikou were all within lapi-
thos’s copper procurement network range. it is noteworthy that the plank-shaped 
figures from lapithos were found in large tombs, associated with metal objects, such 
as pins, rings, knives, daggers and axes and sometimes accompanied with precious 
objects made of gold, silver and faience materials. 
the identity and function of the red polished plank-shaped figurines have been 
much debated with suggestions ranging among others from representations of a fer-
tility goddess to individual women and men or from ancestors to symbols of fertility, 
group identity, social status or gender. it is obvious that their interpretation is not 
an easy straightforward task. the absence of any clear gender-oriented features on 
the figurines themselves, as it is apparent from the chalcolithic period, since they 
are not naked, apart from some figurines that bear breasts, cannot easily support 
an interpretation connected to fertility. Additionally, there are no obvious codes – at 
least to us – to engender them. necklaces and other forms of jewellery, for example, 
according to the archaeological evidence, do not indicate an exclusive association 
with either sex, but more probably linked to the portraying of social status.
A closer look at the burial assemblages of lapithos Vrysi tou Barba offers valu-
able insightful information: the contextual evidence of the tombs suggests that the 
red polished plank-shaped figurines were associated with mortuary ritual activity. 
Although there is a lack of evidence that suggests they were exclusively created 
and intended for use in funerary practices. A ritual activity is also observed on the 
terracotta model from Bellapais – Vounous: a circular enclosure with a number of 
human figures apparently engaged in ritual activities, two pens with cattle and bulls’ 
skulls mounted on the walls of the enclosure. Similar ritual activities are depicted on 
two important finds from recent excavations of the department of Antiquities at the 
necropolis of Agia paraskevi in nicosia. particularly, model 2 from tomb 50 depicts 
a plank-shaped figurine, as the cult idol (