THE EVOLUTION OF FIGURINE ART IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, NORTHERN BALKANS AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
D. CYPRUS
Cypriot material has been found in houses, near burials but not directly connected to them. It is distinctive and different from that of neighbouring areas. Early Neolithic (Neolithic I) yielded copious zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines, which did not belong to steadily repeated types. They were schematic (violin-shaped, flat, etc.) made of stone or clay and seldom had genitalia. Schematism generally continued throughout Neolithic II, even though a tendency towards greater naturalism could be discerned. Phallus-shaped and twin figurines may be indications of some kind of cult.
