6th Millennium B.C.E., H. 6.3 cm.
Carved from a small stone block of yellow/ochre base color spotted with black, the statuette represents a seated woman with rounded and generous shapes, like those of the so-called “steatopygic” Neolithic figures : the prominent belly, the full breasts and the rounded buttocks could indicate that the woman is pregnant. The figurine is whole, but the head was glued and small fragments are restored.
The folded legs of the woman form a sort of square and thick base that supports the straight, squat chest. The arms, slightly bent, are placed on the belly and on the left knee ; only small triangular stumps mark the hands. The low and massive neck is surmounted by a head with an elongated face, covered with a short hair held in place by a headband on the skull and by a thick chignon on the crown. Several anatomical details referring to the senses are indicated on the face : the long and triangular nose, the almond-shaped eyes and the small ear bumps. The navel is slightly engraved.
Disregarding the differences in the style and in the selected stone, our example belongs to a class of seated statuettes of reduced size, attested by a few other pieces (see, for example, the Menil collection, the Levy-White collection, the Schimmel collection, the Borowski collection).
One of the theories most commonly accepted places steatopygic statuettes in context with the religious sphere : they would be closely related to (or would represent) the Mother Goddess who, during the Prehistoric period, would have been a major mythological figure protecting human fecundity as well as fields and herds fertility ; this figure would have been worshipped in a very wide and varied area, ranging from Near East to Western Central Europe. The exaggeration of sexual characteristics and the generous shapes of the figurines are the best arguments in favor of this hypothesis, which has yet shortcomings : on the one hand, no concrete archaeological evidence does support the existence of this goddess and on the other, the fact that broken figurines were thrown rather than repaired makes it difficult to believe that these statuettes could represent a divinity.
Mostly modeled of terracotta (stone examples are rare), the figures of steatopygic women probably originated from Anatolia (Catal Hüyük, Hacilar), but they were largely spread over a vast area extending from northern Syria (Tell Bouqras) to the Aegean world.
Bibliography
MUSCARELLA O.W. (ed.), Ancient Art, The N. Schimmel Collection, Mainz on Rhine, 1974, n. 120.
The Menil Collection, Newly Updated Edition, New York, p. 17, n. 4.
VON BOTHMER D., Glories of the Past, Ancient Art from the S. White and L. Levy Collection, New York, 1990, p. 7, n. 3.
Kunst und Kultur der Kykladen, Karlsruhe, 1975, p. 560, n. 553-554 (coll. Borowski).
On the “Mother Goddess” :
LIGABUE G. (ed.), Dea Madre, Milan, 2006 (see especially pp. 112-113 and 132-133).
