Earth Mother figurines

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tjj T
tjj Dec 10, 2011 23:30:50
Replying to Megalithics

Megalithics wrote:
Resonox wrote:
The tapered "cone head"....I wonder if something was designed to slot over this in the style of bobble-head figurines of today???
This figurine is very similar to those found in Malta from about the same timeframe. A lot of care is taken with the styling of the bodies but the head is often rudimentary, sometimes non-existent, or just a stump nipped between finger and thumb to give a crude shape.

Strangely, on Malta they also have "bobble head" figurines, Known as "fat ladies "these are later and are mostly depicted as seated and wearing skirts, there is a hole in the neck area where interchangeable heads with spigot bottoms can be fitted and secured with a pin. These figurines have very detailed faces and hair.

The later figurines are defintely concerned with reproduction, as babies are often shown behind or underneath the skirt.

Do you have a link for your post about the Maltese figurines - the Somme figurines are intriguingly odd when compared to the Venus of Willendorf which is dated 24,000 - 22,000 BCE (just over 4 inches of 11cm high) and clearly a whole female. I understand not local stone so possibly brought to Austria where it was found from somewhere else.

A Annexus Quam
Annexus Quam Dec 11, 2011 10:48:46
Replying to tjj

Similar figurines which have been found in vast numbers all over the Balkans, as popularized by Gimbutas in the 70s belong to a far wider Mediterranean Early Neolithic 'goddess' tradition, which inevitably may have its most extreme contemporary counterparts in the far north of France, judging from other cultural connexions between the Somme and the Med/Languedoc neolithic cultures.

http://slowmuse.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/gimbutas-old-europe/

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~gloria/Goddess.html

Gimbutas' book is the classic in this respect, though still highly debated, yet it shows a wide collection of figurines in its pages:

http://www.amazon.com/Living-Goddesses-Marija-Gimbutas/dp/0520229150/ref=pd_sim_b_1

M Megalithics
Megalithics Dec 11, 2011 17:28:56
Replying to tjj

tjj wrote:
Do you have a link for your post about the Maltese figurines -
Sorry, no general link on the Maltese "fat ladies", we found out about these from reading and several visits to the Archaeological Museum in Valletta, they have an extensive collection of the figurines on display.

We have photographed nearly all of the exhibits in the museum, but at the moment the only figurine we have up is an early "rudimentary head" figurine found at Mnajdra temple 2.

http://megalithics.com/europe/malta/mnajdra/mnajdra2/mnj2ffig.htm

Although this figurine has emphasised breasts and belly there are some early examples with more normal proportions.

M&K