Photos of the Beautiful Ancient Greek Cycladic Doll Figurine excavated from Archaeology sites on the Cyclades Islands Greece. Photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)
Photos of the Beautiful Ancient Greek Cycladic Idol Figurine
Photos of Cycladic Doll Figurine votive idols c. 3300 to 1100 BC. The ancient Cycladic culture flourished in the islands of the Aegean Sea from c. 3300 to 1100 BC.
The best-known Cycladic art of this era are the marble figurines usually called “idols” or “figurines”. Neither name though is exactly accurate: the term” “idol” suggests a religious function which is by no means agreed on by experts. The term “figurine” does not properly apply to the largest Cycladic Dolls which are nearly life size.
EARLY CYCLADIC 1 (Grotta-Pelos Culture, 3300–2700 BCE). The Pelos type figurines are different than many other Cycladic figurines as for most the gender is undetermined. The most famous of the Pelos type figurines are the “violin”-shaped figurines.
On these figurines there is an implied elongated head, no legs and a violin-shaped body. One particular “violin” figurine, has breasts, arms under the breasts, and a pubic triangle, possibly representing a fertility goddess.
EARLY CYCLADIC II (Keros-Syros culture, 2800–2300 BCE). The Spedos type, named after an Early Cycladic cemetery on Naxos, is the most common of Cycladic figurine types. It has the widest distribution within the Cyclades as well as elsewhere, and the greatest longevity.
The group as a whole includes Cycladic doll figurines ranging in height from miniature examples of 8 cm to monumental sculptures of 1.5 m. With the exception of a statue of a male figure, now in the Museum of Cycladic Art Collection, all known works of the Spedos variety are female figures.
Spedos Cycladic doll figurines are typically slender elongated female forms with folded arms. They are characterized by U-shaped heads and a deeply incised cleft between the legs.The Kapsala variety is a type of Cycladic figure of the Early Cycladic II period. This variety is often thought to precede or overlap in period with that of the canonical Spedos variety of figures.
Kapsala Cycladic doll figurines differ from the canonical type in that the arms are held much lower in the right-below-left folded configuration and the faces lack sculpted features other than the nose and occasionally ears.
The Dokathismata type is a Cycladic doll figurines date the end of the Early Cycladic II period of the Bronze Age. With characteristics that are developed from the earlier Spedos variety, the Dokathismata figures feature broad, angular shoulders and a straight profile.
The Chalandriani variety is a type of Cycladic doll figurine from the end of the Early Cycladic II period of the Bronze Age. Named for the cemetery on the island of Syros on which they were found, these figures are somewhat similar in style and mannerism to the Dokathismata variety that preceded them.
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