Cycladic Female Figure Many Ancient

Cycladic Female Figure

Many Ancient Cultures celebrated the female figurine. Most of these representations focus on breasts and vulva (usually an inverted triangle). These figurines are quite characteristic of many Ancient civilizations and even prehistoric art. The representations of the naked female body celebrating nudity, sexuality and the ability to birth (broad hips) are common. Femininity is expressed not just through fertility, but through seduction, pleasure, and charm (Female Figure, 2008). In fact, nude female figurines have been dated to about 25,000 years ago and appear fairly regularly in the archaeological record through the beginnings of civilization around 10,000 BCE. These early figurines, often carved out of soft stone, bone or ivory, or even made of clay and fired and some of the oldest works of prehistoric art. They are quite important because of the commonality to later figurines, and follow certain lines of style: lozenge shaped, two tapering terminals (head and legs), with the widest point being their hips. Certain parts are exaggerated, abdomen, hips, breasts and thighs, and this finds its way into Egyptian, Greek, Minoan, and other Aegean civilizations (Witcombe, 2008).

Cycladic Civilization -- the Cycladic culture was an Early Bronze Age civilization that was centered in Greece, the Aegean Islands, and the Cyclades. These islands are located southeast of the Greek Peloponnesus, just west of modern Turkey, and north of Crete. The civilization spanned about 1,000 years, from about 3000 to 2000 BCE. It was a significant late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age civilization best known for its flat female idols carved out of the pure white marble from the islands done centuries prior to the Minoan civilizations. The civilization itself was based on wheat, barley and animal husbandry. Diet was also supplemented from the sea. When Minoan civilization rose, Cycladic civilization was either amassed or in cultured into the larger and more complex society -- a convergence for most archaeologists. While the origins of the civilization remain somewhat controversial, and the literal meaning of the artwork only interpreted since there were no robust records left, it is clear that much of the heritage of the artwork's arose out of the advancing seafaring cultures of the area (Samson, 2011).

Cycladic Art -- Both Cycladic art and culture tended to evolve in three phases based on their involvement with other Aegean civilizations. Closer to 2000 BCE both become far more like Minoan, evidence of a broadening of trade between the cultures. Most of the recovered art from the civilization was visual: pottery and sculpture. This, of course, may be misleading in that it is all that has survived of been discovered. The uniqueness of the composition and the type of marble available on the islands, particularly Naxos and Paros, made it the primary choice of material. At present, almost all the information known about the Neolithic Art of the Cyclades comes from the excavation of Saliagos off the island of Antiparos; however, there are a number of finds on many of the other islands like Paros, Antiparos and Amorogos (Higgins, 1967). Two primary characteristics of Cycladic art of all three periods are the representations of women and those sculptures that depict fairly stylized representations of animals and certain activities (weaving, playing the harp, etc.).

The Cycladic Female Figurine- Most of the Cycladic sculptures are similar in tone to many of the Stone Age pieces found in the Aegean, Near East and Western Europe. They represent nude women with their arms folded across their abdomens. They have been found in many sizes ranging from a few inches to almost life-size, in graves, settlements, and even in places suggesting idolatry or religious activities. However, some modern scholars think that the term figurines or idols is not really correct. Idols imply a religious function that has not been confirmed and figurines do not fit with some of the larger figures. However, because of the distribution of these pieces of art, we can tell they were popular among the people of Crete and Mainland Greece as well; and their distribution suggests they were produced not just for the wealthy, but had a broader appeal (Doumas, 1969).

The feminine figures, regardless of size, are stylized representations of the human form. They have a more flat, geometric quality than many of the Neolithic Venus figurines, which tended to be round or oblong shaped. It is likely that the originals were brightly painted. Like Neolithic female art, the Cycladic Female was nude, with arms folded across the stomach, lending many to find that they are similar in tone to the Goddess of Mother Nature and simply continue the tradition formed during prehistory (Gimbutas, 1991, p. 203).