Figurines, Fertility, and the Emergence of Complex Society in Prehistoric Cyprus Author(s): Diane Bolger Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), pp. 365-373 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2744358 . Accessed: 09/09/2011 14:22

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Paleolithicevidence (Fifty-fourth James Arthur Lecture on POPE, GEOFFREY G. I989. Bambooand humanevolution. Natu- "The Evolutionof theHuman Brain,"1984). New York:Amer- ral History,October, pp. 48-56. ican Museum ofNatural History. SHEA, JOHN J. I988. Spearpoints from the MiddlePaleolithic of . I988a. "The species-specificevolution and contextsof the Levant.Journal of Field I5:44I-50. the creativemind: Thinking in time,"in The creativemind: . I989a. "A functionalstudy of the lithicindustries associ- Towardsan evolutionarytheory of discovery and innovation. ated withhominid fossils in the Kebaraand QafzehCaves, Is- Editedby E. 0. Wilson,pp. II6-I9. Journalof Social and Bio- rael,"in The humanrevolution: Behaviorial and biologicalper- logicalSciences I I. spectiveson the originsof modern . Edited by P. . )i988b."The Neanderthalsand thehuman capacity for Mellarsand C. Stringer,pp. 6II-25. Edinburgh:Edinburgh Uni- symbolicthought: Cognitive and problem-solvingaspects of versityPress. Mousteriansymbol," in L'hommeNeandertal: Actes du Col- . I989b. A new perspectiveon Neanderthalsfrom the Le- loque International,I986, Liege,vol. 5, La pensee.Edited by vantineMousterian. Anthroquest 4I:I4-I8. M. Otte,pp. 57-9I. Liege: Universit6de Liege. . I990. A furthernote on Mousterianspear points. Journal . I989. Evolutionof the capacity: The symbolicevi- ofField Archaeology I7: I I I-I4. dence.Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 32:I-34. STRAUS, LAWRENCE G. I989. Age ofthe modern Europeans. Na- . I990. "Earlyhominid symbol and evolutionof the hu- ture342:476-77. man capacity,"in The emergenceof modern humans. Edited . I990. "The EarlyUpper Palaeolithic of SouthwestEu- by Paul Mellars,pp. 457-98. Edinburgh:Edinburgh University rope:Cro-Magnon adaptations in the Iberianperipheries, Press. 40 000-20 000 BP," in The emergenceof modern humans. Ed- . iggia. A replyto Davidsonon Mania and Mania. Rock itedby P. Mellars.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ArtResearch 8:47-58. WHITE, RANDALL. i982. Rethinkingthe Middle/UpperPaleo- . iggib. The femaleimage, a "time-factored"symbol: A lithictransition. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 23:I69-92. studyin styleand modesof image use in the EuropeanUpper . I989. "Productioncomplexity and standardizationin Palaeolithic.Proceedings of thePrehistoric Society 57:I7-3I. earlyAurignacian bead and pendantmanufacture: Evolutionary . I99ic. The rootsof civilization.Mt. Kisco,N.Y.: Moyer implications,"in The humanrevolution: Behavioural and bio- Bell. logicalperspectives on the originsof modern humans, vol. I. . iggid. "The originof language: An anthropologicalap- Editedby P. Mellarsand C. Stringer,pp. 360-99. Edinburgh: proach,"in Languageorigin: A multidisciplinaryapproach. Ed- EdinburghUniversity Press. itedby J.Wind et al., pp. 42I-48. (NATO ASI SeriesD, Behav- . i992. Beyondart: Toward an understandingof the origins ioraland Social Sciences,6i.) Dordrecht:Kluwer Academic ofmaterial representation in Europe.Annual Review of Anthro- Publishers. pology2 I 537-64. I992. "The analyticalproblems of subjectivity in the . I993. "Technicaland social dimensionof 'Aurignacian makerand user,"in The limitationsof archaeological knowl- age' bodyornaments across Europe," in BeforeLascaux: The edge.Edited by T. Shayand J.Clottes, pp. i8i-2io. Liege:Uni- complexrecord of theEarly Upper Paleolithic. Edited by H. versit6de Liege. Knecht,A. Pike-Tay,and R. White.Boca Raton:CRC Press. . I993. Correctdata base: Wrongmodel? Behavioral and ZIAEI, M., H. P. SCHWARCZ, C. M. HALL, AND R. GRUN. BrainSciences I6:767-68. "Radiometricdating of the Mousteriansite at Quneitra,"in . I994. Commenton: Symbolingand the Middle-UpperPa- Quneitra:A Mousteriansite on the Golan Heights.Edited by leolithictransition, by A. MartinByers. CURRENT ANTHROPOL- N. Goren-Inbar,pp. 232-35. Monographs of the Institute of Ar- OGY 35:386-87. chaeology,Hebrew University of Jerusalem,3I. . I995. "Maszyckaiconography: A studyof the dispersed symbolsystems of the Magdaleniena navettes,"in Maszycka. Editedby StefanK. Kozlowski.Jahrbuch des Romisch- GermanischenZentralmuseums 40. . I996a. "Paleolithicsymbol and imagein the Near East: An internalanalysis and comparisonwith the EuropeanUpper Figurines,Fertility, and the Paleolithic,"in Beyondart: Pleistocene image and symbol.Ed- itedby M. W. Conkey,0. Soffer,and D. Stratmann.Berkeley Emergenceof Complex Society and San Francisco:University of CaliforniaPress. . I996b. "Okiuzini:Variabilit6 de categoriedans l'imagerie in PrehistoricCyprus symbolique,"in Fouilles a Okiizini,un site pal6olithiquefinal au sud de la Turquie.Edited by I. Yalcinkayaet al. L'Anthropo- logie IOO:586-94. DIANE BOLGER . n.d.a. BerekhatRam: An Acheuliancarving from the Le- vant.MS. Universityof Maryland, UniversityCollege European . n.d.b."Image and symbolat Okiuzini,"in Okiizini:A Division, Grueneburgweg8i, 60323 Frankfurt, last hunters'site in Anatolia.Edited by M. Otte et al. Antiq- Germany.9 VIII 95 uity.In press. MEIGNAN, L. I988. "Un exemplede comportementtechnolo- figurines, gique diff6rentialselon les matierespremieres: Marilla, cou- The interpretation of anthropomorphic ches 9 et IO," in L'hommede Neandertal,vol. 4, La tech- whetherfrom Upper Paleolithic Europe or fromlater nique. Editedby M. Otte. Liege: Universit6de Liege. prehistoricperiods of the Mediterraneanregion, remains MELLARS, PAUL. I99I. Cognitivechanges and the emergenceof one of the most elusive and problematicalareas in the modernhumans in Europe.Cambridge Archaeological Journal study of early representationalart. Perhaps more than I(I):63-76. MUNDAY, F. C. I979. LevantineMousterian technological vari- any othertype of artifactfrom the prehistoricpast, the ability:A perspectivefrom the Negev. Paleorient 5:87-IO4. female figurehas persistentlyelicited a prioriconcepts OLIVA, M. I993. "The Aurignacianin Moravia,"in BeforeLas- concerningthe natureof early religion and gender-biased caux: The complexrecord of theEarly Upper Paleolithic. Ed- views concerningthe roles of women and men in early itedby H. Knecht,A. Pike-Tay,and R. White,pp. 37-55. Boca Raton:CRC Press. societies. For the Abbe Breuil,the "Venuses" were man- Paleoanthropologistslaunch a societyof their own. i992. Science ufacturedas eroticparaphernalia, providing "pleasure to 256:128i-82. Paleolithic man duringhis meals" (Ucko and Rosenfeld 366 1 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

I973: I i9). A recentreview of college-levelanthropology boundup withthat precious resource (Gale i99i), and textbookshas shown thatestablishment views have not thereis evidence forpopulation increase and emerging changed substantiallyover the years,often settling for social stratification(Peltenburg I99I, BolgerI994). At monolithicconcepts of "fertility"or "eroticism"to en- this time as well therearose a highlydistinctive sculp- compass them all (Nelson I993). These conclusions are tural traditionfor which the Chalcolithic periodin Cy- commonly based on fragmentaryevidence, with little prus is perhapsbest known,comprising representations regardfor details of spatial and temporalcontext or for offemales in potteryand stone (fig.2). Like theirprecur- the socioeconomic components of the cultures that sors of Upper Paleolithic Europe, these figurineshave manufacturedand used them. For the later prehistoric traditionallybeen interpretedas "mothergoddesses" or periods,figurines assumed to representpregnant females "fertilityfigurines," the latter being a particularlyat- are known fromsites in the Mediterraneanregion, in- tractiveconcept in Cyprus,the mythologicalbirthplace cludinga substantialgroup of ceramic and stone exam- and chief cult center of Aphroditein Classical times. ples fromChalcolithic and Bronze Age Cyprus.Obsta- The temptationamong scholarsto "read back" fromthe cles such as the difficultyof establishingwhether the Greco-Romandeity to the periodof her supposedorigins figurinesdo indeed representpregnant females and the has thus been seductive and compelling,and many in- lack of secure contextualevidence have preventedeven terpretationstreat the Chalcolithic figurinesprecisely those critical of the "Venus" theoryfrom developing in this way, as prototypesof Aphrodite,normally re- more socially based interpretivemodels (e.g., Vagnetti ferredto as the "Great Goddess" or "Mother" (e.g., J. I 980: 53-5 7; OrphanidesI 990). A recentdiscovery at the KarageorghisI977; V. KarageorghisI99I:I-3; Maierand Chalcolithic site of Kissonerganear Paphos has opened KarageorghisI984:34, 40). The vague,generic image of up the problem again by offeringimportant new evi- a "mothergoddess" embodyingall aspects of "fertility" dence forinterpreting female figurines within a contex- from sexuality and fecundityto procreation,mother- tual framework.This in turnmakes it possible, forthe hood, and lifein generalmay be contestedon theoretical firsttime in Cyprus,to beginto understandthe changing groundsas subjective,undifferentiated, ahistorical, and dynamicsof gender relations during the centuriesimme- gender-biased,much in the same way as have the Upper diatelypreceding the emergenceof state-levelsociety. Paleolithic"Venuses" (Conkey I99I, NelsonI993). The The Chalcolithic periodin Cyprus,which dates from very concept of fertility,in fact, is variable, since its the early 4th to the mid-3dmillennium B.C., was a pe- cultural meaning and social impact can only be deter- riod of social and economic transformation.While set- minedwithin the socioeconomicframeworks of particu- tlementsites (see fig. i) such as Kissonerga(Peltenburg lar societies (Mukopadhyayand Higgins i988). et al. n.d.), Lemba (Peltenburget al. i985), and Erimi Compounding the theoreticalproblems cited above (Bolgeri988) attest to continuitywith earlierarchitec- has been the lack of securelydated and provenancedma- tural conventionsand links to the past can be inferred terial.Until recently,most femalefigurines of Chalcoli- fromartifact types and agriculturalpractices, there were thic date were fragmentaryand derivedfrom unknown also markedchanges. Copper was used forthe firsttime or uncertain contexts. Figurineswith swollen bellies on the island whose laterprosperity and veryname were and large hips, sometimes seated on stools, were as-

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FIG. 2. Cypriotanthropomorphic figurines of the Chalcolithicperiod. Top, picrolite: left,Lemba LL300; right, Lemba LL152; center,ceramic: left,Kissonerga KM145T; right,Kissonerga KMI475; bottom,stone: left, KissonergaKMI471; center,Kissonerga KM1473; right,Kissonerga KMI474. sumed to be pregnant,although there was no real proof angular model door found leaning against the interior of this. During the I987 season at Kissonerga,however, wall ofthe vessel shows how actual entrywaysmay have important contextual evidence emerged when trial been constructed,and the bold painted designs on its trencheswere sunk in order to refinethe excavation interiorand exteriorwalls may imitateactual decorative strategyfor the remainingseasons. Near the wall of one features,since remains of painted plaster have been of the Middle Chalcolithic (ca. 3000 B.C.) buildingsand found inside several of the excavated structures.Eigh- cut down froman extensiveextramural surface immedi- teen anthropomorphicfigurines, ten of stone and eight ately below the building was an oblong flat-bottomed of pottery,were positioned in and around the building pit containingan unusual assemblage of artifacts,fire- model. One of the potteryexamples, and the most im- crackedstones, pebbles, and organicmaterial embedded portantfor the presentdiscussion, clearly depicts a par- in a matrixof soil and ash. Stratigraphyand contextual turientfemale. Although the figurineis broken offat evidence togetherconfirmed that these were deliberate the bottom,enough remainsto indicate that she sits on deposits rather than backfill (Peltenburget al. I99I: a birthingstool. Moreover,she is shown in the act of chap. i). givingbirth: an infant,painted in red,emerges between The centerpieceof the deposit was a painted vessel her parted legs (fig.2, center,left). By association, the lyingin situ at the bottomof the pit. To judge fromits otherfigures in the deposit,as well as similarexamples circularplan, rectangularentryway, central hearth, and fromother contemporarysites on the island, can now internaldividers, the vessel replicatesa standardChal- be linked to pregnancyand birthingritual. colithicbuilding (Peltenburg et al. iggi:chap. 2). A rect- A detailed studyby Elizabeth Goringhas revealedim- 368 1CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

portant stylistic and functional differencesbetween of the Kissonerga and Lemba evidence it may not be stone and potteryexamples fromthe Kissonergadeposit coincidentalthat the unlootedtomb richest in picrolites (Peltenburget al. 991i:chap.4). While all but two of the (tomb 3, with i 6) containedthe bodies of at least three stonefigurines are abstractand unadorned,with no clear adult females and an eight-year-oldchild. To date no indication of sex, all of the potteryfigurines are recog- picrolitehas been foundat any Chalcolithic site in the nizably femaleand were paintedwith elaboratedesigns. burial of an adult male. None of the stone figurinesis self-supporting,but all of The final figurinefrom the Chalcolithic period,this the ceramic examples are, and althoughthe posturesof one in limestone,extends the range of fertilityimages the stone examples are unknownin all but one case, the furtherstill. This is the well-known "Lemba lady," potteryfigurines exhibit a varietyof stances (standing, found in situ in a Middle Chalcolithic building at the seated on stools, squatting)that correspondto various settlementof Lemba-Lakkous,several kilometerssouth stages of pregnancyand parturition.Finally, wear pat- ofKissonerga (see Peltenburget al. i985:28i-82 andfig. terns differ,with broad areas of polish detectable on 8i). At 36 cm in height,it is considerablylarger than most of the stone examples and patches of flakedpaint the figurinesreferred to thus far.Its fiddle-shapedform observable on the ceramic ones. On the basis of these is incised and modeled to emphasize the breasts,hips, differences,Goring has proposedthat the stone figurines and pubic area, and its elongatedneck and flathead are were clutched in the hand, probablyduring childbirth, stylized conventionstraceable to the Neolithic period. while the ceramicfigurines very likely served a didactic The Lemba figurinewas foundlying on its back directly purpose,perhaps as part of pubertyrites. But regardless on top of a long radial groovein the plasterfloor of the of theirparticular forms, styles, and functions,the figu- building.The excavatorsnoted that the groovewas filled rinesare relatedcontextually and therebyrepresent cog- with loose soil, pebbles,and uprightsherds and possibly nate aspects of a single, unified set of concepts per- functionedas the beddingfor a lightreed screen; alterna- tainingto fertilityand birthingritual. The meaning of tively,it may have served as a channel forpouring liq- those concepts is embedded in the social construction uids (Peltenburget al. I985:36). Other unusual features of ritual duringthe Chalcolithic period,and their sig- of the building include a storagejar containinganimal nificance can be appreciated only by interpretingthe bones and a coarse-waretray filled with pebbles, ash, figurineswithin a largersocial framework. and shell. Given the unusual natureof this buildingand The repertoireof birthingfigures from sites like Kis- the uniqueness of the figurineitself, one could argue sonerga can be amplifiedby the inclusion of another thatthe Lemba lady is the best and indeed the onlypos- importantmedium, picrolite,a soft,bluish stone used sible candidate forthe representationof a deityin pre- in Cyprusfrom the Neolithic onwardsfor a distinctive Bronze Age Cyprus.This hypothesis,however, remains assortmentof figurinesand personal ornaments(Xeno- highlyspeculative. phontosI99I). Many of these figurinesare foundin In summing up all of the above evidence, attention graves,either as part of standardsingle inhumationsin must be paid to the wide rangeof symbolic images repre- sample pits or in multiple burials such as the elaborate sented in the Chalcolithic assemblage of figurinesand shaftgraves excavated at Middle Chalcolithic Souskiou cruciformpendants. They are manufacturedin a variety (ChristouI989) and the chambertombs of Late Chalco- ofmedia, and althoughfigurines made of stone are more lithicKissonerga (Peltenburg I99I:30). The mostcom- schematicthan those ofclay, virtually no two are identi- mon picroliteform during the Chalcolithic period was cal. The self-supportingtypes demonstratea varietyof the cruciform,which occurs both as figurinesand as posturesfrom standing cruciforms to squattingor seated small pendants;the latterwere incorporatedinto Denta- examples. Some give no clear evidence of pregnancyat lium shell necklaces. The Kissonergabirthing figurine all while others appear to depict a single stage of the (KMI45 i, describedabove) illustrateshow the pendants birthingprocess. In addition,they cover a wide rangeof were worn (fig.2, center,left); it also establishesan im- spatial associations,including both domesticand burial portantlink between cruciformfigurines/pendants and contexts. The range of symbolic imagerycollectively childbirth,since the pendant is worn here by a woman portrayedis matchedby the degreeto which the birthing in the act of givingbirth. On the basis of this associa- icon appears to have permeatedsocial life (and death) tion,as well as contextualevidence for the picrolitecru- in Chalcolithic times. String-holewear on the picrolite ciformsthemselves, the latter can now be regardedas cruciformpendants attests to theiruse in everydaylife birthingsymbols as well (Peltenburgi992). They have beforethey were depositedin gravesas partof mortuary been foundexclusively in gravesof women and children rituals. As has alreadybeen suggested,the ceramic fig- at Kissonerga, Lemba, and Souskiou, the three main ures may have played important roles in life-cycle sites of the period which have yielded picrolites in eventsas teachingaids fortransmitting vital knowledge graves. At Kissonerga,all four tombs containingpic- about pregnancyand birth;the stone figurinesmay have roliteswere single burials of infantsor children,and at been clutched as fetishes;and the Lemba lady may rep- Lemba four of the five burials with picrolitependants resenta projectionof beliefsand ritualssurrounding the were single children's burials; the fifthwas disturbed birthingprocess into the realm of the supernatural. and contained no skeletal remains (Peltenburget al. The public nature of the use, display,and disposal of I985:I43-44). At Souskiou,contextual evidence is lim- figurines,the association of the Kissonergaset with a ited because of looting(Christou I989), but on the basis replica of a typicaldomestic structure,and the absence Volume 37, Number 2, April I996 I 369

duringthe Chalcolithic in general of special religious ies, chthonic cults, or other mortuaryrituals. As we structuresor precincts are widely documented in the have seen at Kissonerga,there are oftenreal, palpable ethnographicliterature of undeveloped,pre-state socie- links betweenthe livingand the dead,but in the absence ties, in which thereexists little or no divisionbetween of substantial settlementevidence we have not been public and private spheres.Accordingly, the systemof able to trace these links duringthe firsthalf of the 2d symbolswhich the figurinesincorporate must have had millennium.An even morepervasive problem regarding communitywidesignificance, profoundly affecting the contextconcerns the amountof unprovenanced material beliefs and practices of all of its members.The social fromtombs, oftenas the result of illicit digging.Here messages which the figurinestransmit emphasize the and elsewherein the Mediterranean,figurines have been femalerole in the biological processes of pregnancyand particularlyaffected because of theirvalue on the antiq- birth.This is importantboth because it helps to differen- uities market(see Gill and Chippendale I993). The vast tiate the Chalcolithic figurinesfrom similar figurines of majorityof known examples are thus of unknown or the BronzeAge and because it informsus about the na- uncertainprovenance, and interpretationsof theirfunc- ture of reproductiveritual among the island's earlypre- tion must in most cases be drawnfrom purely intrinsic state cultures. For Chalcolithic society, the pregnant evidence such as formaland stylisticattributes. and parturientfemale form was a symbolused to convey Most of the figurinesof Early to Middle Bronze Age beliefs deemed fundamental to communal survival date are of dubious sex, with few anatomical or decora- (BolgerI993). As a productof relativelyegalitarian soci- tive details. The most common types are the so-called ety, this symbol was unlikelyto survivein its original plank idols, which appear in a varietyof formsthrough- form,since the developmentof social complexityduring out the late Earlyto Middle BronzeAge (fig.3; complete the Bronze Age involved a markedshift to hierarchical corpus describedand illustratedin Morris I985 and V. rankingof sites and the emergenceof powerfulelites Karageorghis i99i). Females when identifiablehave who appropriatedand manipulatedreligious symbolism been distinguishedby the presenceof modeled breasts. to their own benefit(Knapp I986). It is not surprising, One ofthe most commonfemale types, and ofparticular then, that the symbols of reproductiveritual known importancehere, is a female holding an infant(fig. 3: fromKissonerga and other sites of the late 4th to the top, centerand right);these occur as free-standingfig- early 3d millennium B.C. were fundamentallytrans- ures and as attachmentsto potteryvessels. Compared formedduring the later 3d and 2d millenniaB.C. as older with the Chalcolithic figurines,they are highly stan- egalitariansocial structureswere graduallysupplanted dardized,consisting of flatfigures with shortarms. The by the forcesof the emergingstate. arms are bent, the leftholding an infantand the right Sometime around 3000 B.C., the contentsof the cere- holding the lower part of the infant'sbody. The infant monial pit at Kissonergawere gatheredtogether, depos- is usually contained in an arched cradle held eitherin ited in the pit, and coveredover with burntorganic ma- the figure'sleft arm or on her lap. Stylisticfeatures such terial (Peltenburget al. i99i:chap. I). Many of the as details of clothingand anatomy are also renderedin ceramic examples were broken or mutilated prior to standardfashion. In contrastto the Chalcolithic figu- burial. In the succeeding,Late Chalcolithic period (ca. rines, which focus on stages of the birthingprocess, 2500 B.C.), potteryfigurines are no longerin evidence, those of the BronzeAge emphasize the postpartumrela- but birthingfigurines in the formof picrolite cruciforms tionship between mother and child. Although the continuedat Lemba and Kissonerga.For the next phase mother-infanticon is not the only type of female figu- of reproductiveritual in Cyprus we must turn to the rineof the Bronze Age-there are femaleplank figurines, Earlyand Middle BronzeAge, when a considerablenum- for example, not holding infants-it is the only one ber of female anthropomorphicfigurines were included which depicts the relationship between females and in burialsin largecommunal cemeteriesalong the north theiroffspring. And in contrastto the Chalcolithic ex- coast. amples, it emphasizes the social role of mother(mater) Unfortunatelyfor our understandingof figurinesof ratherthan the biological role of birth-giver(genetrix). the Early and Middle Bronze Age, contextualproblems This is a significantdeparture and one that can be ex- abound. Virtuallyall of the figurinesof known prove- plained only by examining the fundamentalalteration nance duringthose periods have been foundin tombs, of genderconstructs within the trajectoryof social and most notablyat the largecemetery sites at Vounous and political change accompanyingthe emergenceof com- Lapithos (Stewart and Stewart I950, Gjerstad et al. plex society. I934). In contrastto the multiple burials in pit or shaft To judge fromexcavations of sites such as Erimi,Kis- gravesof the Middle and Late Chalcolithic periods,the sonerga,and Lemba, Chalcolithic societyin the late 4th rock-cutchamber tombs of the Bronze Age were sub- millenniumB.C. was composedof relatively small, egali- stantiallylarger and could thus accommodateadditional tarian groupsof village-basedsubsistence-level cultiva- burialswithout the need to exhume earlierones (Pelten- tors(Bolger I988; Peltenburget al. I985, n.d.).During burgI 99a2:3 I). Theseextensive cemetery sites with their the 3d millennium,social and economic factorssuch as rich arrayof burial goods made up until very recently populationgrowth, surplus storage, accelerated exploita- all thatwas known of the materialculture of the earlier tion of copper resources,and the acquisition of foreign phases of the BronzeAge. Consequently,interpretations prestigeitems contributedto increased social inequal- ofthe figurineshave been commonlylinked to sanctuar- ity. The unwillingnessof village-basedtribes to partici- 370 1 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

include typesknown throughoutthe Near East, such as snakes, bulls, and seated male figures. Evidencefor the changingrelationships between men, women, and childrenis to be foundin the many scenic compositions in clay fromCypriot tombs of the Early and Middle Bronze periods,which in the absence of ex- tensive settlementevidence furnishparticularly impor- tant details on the activitiesof daily life (describedand illustratedin Morris i985:264-90 and V. Karageorghis I99I:chap. 3). The most pertinentin this regardis a clay model froma tombat the largecemetery site ofVounous near the north coast (fig.4). Traditionally,because of its burial context,this scene has been intepretedas a sanctuary,a sacred enclosure, or a funeraryritual (Di- kaios I940; Frankel and Tamkavi I973; Rutkowski I979; Mogelonsky I988:e2I6-e22; V. Karageorghis 991I: I40). Given its uniqueness, however, and the lack of actual excavatedstructures with which it mightbe com- pared,we may never know its precise function.Pelten- burg(I994) has interpretedthis scene symbolicallyand, ignoringthe event,drawn attention to the constellation of figurespositioned within the bowl. Only one female is present,a woman holding an infant.All but two of the otherhuman figuresare clearlymale, includingthe fourfigures seated against the wall, the six standingin a circle, and the large figureseated on the chair in the centerof the scene. On the basis of the clear separation of the sexes in this scene and the sizes and arrangement of the figures,Peltenburg argues compellingly for socio- political interpretation:that the figuresare united by a common theme,the idealized "good life." Prosperityis displayedby penned cattle,and the vitalityof the beasts is linkedto human fertilityby the intentionalplacement of a woman and child,the smallest figuresin the scene, beside them; authorityis representedby assemblies of FIG. 3. Cypriotanthropomorphic of the figurines men in solemn discourse or seated along the wall and Bronze Age. "plank idols": Lapithos; center Top, left, by a ritual in which a male, the largestfigure in the and right,unprovenanced; bottom, "Astarte scene, is seated on an elaborate chair above a celebrant left,Ayios Theodoros Soleas; centerand figurines": who kneels in the performanceof some ritebeneath bu- right,unprovenanced (Morris I985). pate in emergingsocial hierarchiesmay account forthe widespreadabandonment of sites at the end of the Chal- colithic period (Peltenburg I993). According to this model, settlement discontinuity,which is known to have occurredin Cyprus throughoutthe Neolithic and Chalcolithicperiods, may be attributedto repeatedcom- munityfission, a social responseto advancingcomplex- ityand the resultof the refusalof subgroupsto empower elites. At the end of the Chalcolithic period (ca. 2500 B.C.) and continuinginto the Bronze Age, Cyprusbegan to take part in a larger geographical and economic sphere, a development which can be inferredfrom changing demographicpatterns (including population shiftsand lower levels of fission),as well as froman increase in craftspecialization, trade in prestigeitems, and metallurgy(Muhly I985, Knapp I993, Manning I993). The style of the figurinesat this junctureattests to outside influence,particularly from mainland Ana- FIG. 4. Coroplastic scene fromVounous (the tolia, and the repertoireof ritualsymbols is expandedto "Vounous bowl") (MorrisI985). Volume 37, Number 2, April I9961 37I

crania, pillars, and snakes. The constellationof figures women's roles were increasinglyrestricted and social in the Vounous bowl thus communicates a particular and economic inequalities became institutionalized. view of a fittingEarly Cypriot social and religiousorder. The regulationof female access to the means of pro- Hierarchy is depicted spatially by the separation of duction and the controlof female reproductivecapaci- groupsinto differentgraded levels, with female,infant, ties have been linkedto the rise ofthe stateby a number and animals in the lowest orderand a seated male, per- of marxist and feminist anthropologists(Coontz and haps a deity,in the highest.The emphasis here is on a Henderson I986, Leacock I986, Lerner I986, Moore social orderin which men ratherthan women are the I988, Ortner I978, Sacks I979). This process involves active agents and in which "proper" male and female importantchanges in gender relations, especially be- behavioris clearlydefined and segregated. tween the social constructs termed "husband" and During the Late Bronze Age, Cypriotsociety under- "wife." Withinthe sociopolitical contextof the emerg- went anotherprofound set of transformationsthat sig- ing state, the cultural definitionof "husband" came to naled the emergence of full-fledgedsocial complexity involve the protection,restriction, and controlof wives' (Knapp I993:88). Excavationsat a numberof large settle- economic,reproductive, and sexual activities.Women's ment sites along the coast (Enkomi,Kition, Kalavasos, procreativerole was transformedfrom child-bearer,a Hala Sultan Tekke, Maa) have providedclear evidence role linked primarilyto female fertility,to mother,a forincreased levels ofpopulation, trade, militarism, and role restrictedby the ideologyof the partriarchalfamily. craftspecialization and the adventof a marketeconomy In this way, paternitycould be assuredand the legitima- based on the productionand distributionof copperand tion ofheirs closely controlled,and throughthe ideology prestigegoods (KnappI993:97). The concentrationof of purityand familyhonor kinship groups could forge surpluswealth in the hands of powerfulgroups of elites identities and acquire or maintain status (Schneider musthave been instrumentalin the breakdownof corpo- I97I). The femalereproductive symbol, which had been rate kin groups and theirgradual fusion under increas- in existence on the island forover two millennia,thus inglycentralized political authorities.Religious iconog- servedas a convenientvehicle fortransmitting the new raphy of the period reflects such changes, with the social messages of the emergingstate. It was simply a manufactureof new typesin metal and the adoptionof matterof pouring new ideologicalwine into old spiritual a new repertoireof figurineswhich, on the basis of style bottles.As a sacred symbol,the mothericon sanctified and findcontext, can more justifiablybe considereddei- new genderroles, includinga woman's role as mother ties than theirpredecessors (Knapp I986). The new ide- and perhapsits frequentcorollary, premarital virginity. ology accompanying these profounddevelopments is Moreover,the symbolicpresentation of these powerful epitomizedby the most famous of the Late BronzeAge messages as partof the "natural" world ordermay have figurines,the so-called ingot god fromEnkomi, a male helped to mediate,pacify, or even overridemany of the figurewith horns standingupon the chief symbol of social contradictionsinherent in the transitionto state wealth and power duringthe Late BronzeAge, a copper society, particularlythose regardingthe relationships ingot (Courtois I97I). Withinthe realm of reproductive betweenwomen and men. In a recentstudy of the entire ritual,however, the mother-infanticon remainsthe only corpus of plank figurinesfrom Cyprus, it has even been symbol known to us. It occurs in various forms,the suggested,following Talalay's (I987) work with Neo- most popular of which was the so-called Astartetype, lithic figurinesfrom Greece, that the Bronze Age figu- presumablyof Syrianinfluence (fig. 3, bottom). rines may have servedas tokens in patrilocal,exogamic Recent anthropological and archaeological studies marriagecontracts (a Campo I994). If so, this would fur- have focusedupon the role played by religiousritual in ther emphasize the differencebetween the concept of the legitimation of social hierarchy(Paige and Paige generalizedfertility represented by the Chalcolithiccru- I98I, Shanksand Tilleyi982, Brumfieland EarleI987, ciformsand its appropriationand transformationwithin Earle i 9)9 I. Ritual symbolsnot onlyreflect ideology but an emergingpatriarchal social system duringthe first promote political agendas when individuals or groups half of the 2d millennium. intent on gaining or maintaining power manipulate With the disappearance of birthingfigurines during them to servetheir own ends. Even duringthe Chalcoli- the Middle Chalcolithic and picrolitependants during thic period,within a relativelyegalitarian social frame- the Late Chalcolithic and with the attendantcollapse of workof incipient complexity (Knapp I993:89), it is un- communal modes of productionin the face of the grow- likely that the prerogativeof using and displaying ing dominance of political elites, conditionswere ripe birthingsymbols was open to all. The occurrenceof pic- at the thresholdof the CypriotBronze Age forthe con- rolite pendants in graves of only a few individuals,for structionof patriarchy.For women, the emergenceof example, clearly suggeststhe opposite. From the point social complexitymay ultimatelyhave resulted in an of view of gender,however, it seem equally clear that overallloss of social and economic status and a diminu- prior to the Bronze Age women as well as men took tion of prerogativesthat attendedtheir previously val- part.With the radical social and economic changesthat ued roles in procreationand subsistence. At the very accompaniedthe emergenceof social complexityduring least, we can inferan ideological decline of female sta- the Bronze Age, women may ultimatelyhave been ex- tus in the conceptual shiftfrom genetrix to mater so cluded from importantrituals as powerfulelites and clearlymanifested by the Cypriotanthropomorphic fig- centralized authorities created structures in which urines. When viewed in a genderedlight, the figurines, 372 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

farfrom representing vague, immutablenotions of "fer- . I993. Social complexity:Incipience, emergence, and de- tility,"serve as clear signpostsfor the emergenceof the velopmenton prehistoricCyprus. Bulletin of theAmerican patriarchalfamily, and theygraphically document some Schoolsof OrientalResearch 292:85-io6. LEACOCK, ELEANOR. I986. "Women,power, and authority,"in of the profoundchanges that resulted in the relation- Visibilityand power:Essays on womenin societyand develop- ships between women and men-changes that remain ment.Edited by L. Dube, E. Leacock,and S. Ardener,pp. fundamentallyembedded in the fabricof state-levelso- I07-35. New Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press. cietytoday. LERNER, GERDA. I986. The creationof patriarchy. New York: Oxford University Press. MAIER, F. G., AND V. KARAGEORGHIS. I984. Paphos: History and archaeology.Nicosia: A. G. LeventisFoundation. MANNING, S. I993. Prestige,distinction, and competition:The ReferencesCited anatomyof socioeconomiccomplexity in fourth-secondmil- lenniumB.C.E. Cyprus.Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of A CAMPO, ANNA LAETITIA. I994. Anthropomorphicrepresenta- OrientalResearch 29-2:35-58. tionsin prehistoricCyprus: A formaland symbolicanalysis of MOGELONSKY, M. K. I988. Earlyand middleCypriot terracotta figurines,c. 3500-I800 B.C. Jonsered:Paul AstromsForlag. figurines.Ph.D. diss.,Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. BOLGER, DIANE. I988. Erimi-Pamboula:A Chalcolithicsite in MOORE, HENRIETTA L. I988. Feminism and anthropology. Cyprus.British Archaeological Reports International Series Cambridge: Polity Press. 443. MORRIS, DESMOND. I985. The art of ancient Cyprus. Oxford: . I993. The femininemystique: Gender and societyin pre- Phaidon. historicCypriot studies. Report of theDepartment of Antiqui- MULHY, J. D. I985. "The Late BronzeAge in Cyprus:A 25-year ties,Cyprus, pp. 29-4I. retrospect,"in Archaeology in Cyprus: I960-I985. Editedby . I994. EngenderingCypriot archaeology: Women's roles V. Karageorghis,pp. 20-46. Nicosia: A. G. LeventisFounda- and statusesbefore the BronzeAge. OpusculaAtheniensia tion. 20:9-I7. MUKOPADHYAY, CAROL C., AND PATRICIA J. HIGGINS. BRUMFIEL, E. M., AND T. K. EARLE. I987. "Specialization,ex- I988. Anthropologicalstudies of women's status revisited: change,and complexsocieties: An introduction,"in Specializa- I977-I987. Annual Reviewof AnthropologyI7:46I-95. tion,exchange, and complexsocieties. Edited by E. J.Brumfiel NELSON, SARAH M. I993. "Diversityof the UpperPaleolithic and T. K. Earle,pp. I-9. Cambridge:Cambridge University 'Venus' figurinesand archeologicalmythology," in Genderin Press. cross-culturalperspective. Edited by C. B. Brettelland C. F. CHRISTOU, D. I989. "The Chalcolithiccemetery I at Souskiou- Sargent,pp. 5I -58. EnglewoodCliffs: Prentice-Hall. Vathrykakas,"in Earlysociety in Cyprus.Edited by E. Pelten- ORPHANIDES, A. G. I990. The meaningand functionof the burg,pp. 82-94. Edinburgh:Edinburgh University Press. Bronze Age terracottaanthropomorphic figurines from Cyprus. CONKEY, MARGARET, WITH SARAH H. WILLIAMS. I99I. Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus,pp. 45-50. "Originalnarratives: The politicaleconomy of gender in ar- ORTNER, SHERRY. I978. The virginand the state.Feminist chaeology,"in Genderat the crossroadsof knowledge: Femi- Studies4(3):I9-35. nist anthropologyin thepostmodern era. Editedby Micaela di PAIGE, K. W., AND J. M. PAIGE. I98I. The politics of reproduc- Leonardo,pp. IO2-39. Berkeley:University of CaliforniaPress. tive ritual. Berkeley: University of California Press. C OO N T Z, S., AN D P. H E N D E R S O N. I 98 6. "Propertyforms, polit- . I99I. Kissonerga-Mosphilia: A major Chalcolithic site in ical power,and femalelabour in the originsof class and state Cyprus.Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of OrientalResearch societies,"in Women'swork, men's property: The originsof 282-283:I7-35. genderand class. Editedby S. Coontz and P. Henderson,pp. 1i992. "Birthpendants in lifeand death:Evidence from I08-55. London:Verso. Kissonergagrave 563," in Studiesin honourof VassosKara- COURTOIS, J-C. I97I. "Le sanctuairedu dieu au lingotd'En- georghis.Edited by G. C. Ioannides,pp. 27-36. Nicosia: Soci- komi-Alasia,"in Alasia I: Missionarcheologique d'Alasia, ety of Cypriot Studies. vol. 4. Editedby C. F. A. Schaeffer,pp. I5I-362. Paris:Klinck- . I993. Settlement discontinuityand resistance to complex- sieck. ity in Cyprus, ca. 4500-2500 B.C.E. Bulletin of the American DIKAIOS, P. I936. Excavationsat Erimi,I930-I933. Reportof Schools of Oriental Research 292:9-23. the Departmentof Antiquities, Cyprus, pp. i-8i. . I994. Constructingauthority: The Vounousenclosure . I940. Excavationsat Vounous-Bellepaisin Cyprus, model.Opuscula Atheniensia20: I 5 7-62. I93I-2. Archaeologia83:I-I68. PELTENBURG, EDGAR, ET AL. I985. Lemba Archaeological EARLE, TIMOTHY. Editor.I99I. Chiefdoms:Power, economy, Project.Vol. I. Excavationsat Lemba-Lakkous,I976-I983. and ideology.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Goteborg:Paul AstrdmsForlag. FRANKEL, D., AND A. TAMKAVI. I973. Cypriotshrine models . I99I. Lemba ArchaeologicalProject. Vol. 2.2. A ceremo- and decoratedtombs. Australian Journal of Biblical Archaeol- nial area at Kissonerga.Goteborg: Paul AstrdmsForlag. ogy2:39-44. . n.d. Lemba ArchaeologicalProject. Vol. 2.I. Excavations GALE, NOEL. I99I. Metals and metallurgyin the Chalcolithic at Kissonerga-Mosphilia,I983-I992. Goteborg:Paul Astroms period.Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of OrientalResearch Forlag. 282/283:37-62. RUTKOWSKI, B. I979. "Religiousarchitecture in Cyprusand GILL, DAVID W. J., AND CHRISTOPHER CHIPPENDALE. I993. Cretein the Late BronzeAge." Acts of theInternational Sym- Materialand intellectualconsequences of esteem for Cycladic posium "The Relationsbetween Cyprus and Crete,ca. 2000- figurines.American Journal of Archaeology 97:6oI-59. 5oo B. C., " pp. 223-27. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities. GJERSTAD, EINAR, ET AL. I934. SwedishCyprus Expedition. SACKS, KAREN. I979. Sistersand wives: Thepast and futureof Vol. I. Stockholm:Swedish Cyprus Expedition. sexual equality. Westport,Conn.: Greenwood Press. KARAGEORGHIS, J. I977. La grandedeesse de Chypreet son SCHNEIDER, JANE. I97I. Of vigilanceand virgins:Honor, culte.Lyon: de Boccard. shame, and access to resources in Mediterranean societies. Eth- KARAGEORGHIS, v. I99I. The coroplasticart of ancientCy- nologyIO:I-24. prus.Vol. I. Chalcolithic-LateCypriot I. Nicosia: A. G. Le- SHANKS, M., AND C. TILLEY. I9882. "Ideology, symbolic power, ventisFoundation. and ritual communication," in Symbolic and structuralarchae- KNAPP, A. BERNARD. I986. Copperproduction and divinepro- ology. Editedby Ian Hodder,pp. I29-54. Cambridge: Cam- tection:Archaeology, ideology, and social complexityon bridgeUniversity Press. BronzeAge Cyprus.Goteborg: Paul Astr6msForlag. STEWART, J. D. AND E. STEWART. I950. VounousI937-38: Volume37, Number2, AprilI996 I 373

Field-reporton the excavationssponsored by theBritish approach. Subsequently,it describesthe testingof this School ofArchaeology at Athens.Lund. approachagainst samples of well-knownart. First, how- TALALAY, L. E. I987. Rethinkingthe functionof clayfigurine ever,it is necessaryto clarifythe terminologyemployed. legs fromNeolithic Greece: An argumentby analogy.Ameri- can Journalof Archaeology9I:I6I-69. UCKO, P. J., AND A. ROSENFELD. I973. Paleolithiccave art. New York:McGraw-Hill. SUBJECTIVE VISUAL PHENOMENA VAGNETTI, L. I980. Figurinesand minorobjects from a Chalco- As a consequence of recent debate, the term "entoptic lithiccemetery at Souskiou-Vathrykakas(Cyprus). Studi Mi- phenomena" has enteredthe archaeologicalvocabulary. cenei ed Egeo-Anatolici3 I :5 3-5 7. XENOPHONTOS, C. 1991. Picrolite,its nature,provenance, and The divisionof all "nonreal" vision into "entoptics"(ge- possibledistribution patterns in the Chalcolithicperiod of Cy- ometricor otherabstract shapes) and "iconic hallucina- prus.Bulletin of theAmerican Schools of OrientalResearch tions" (fullyformed images derivingin partfrom visual 282/283:I27-38. memory)causes problems. Lanteigne (I99 ia, b, i992; see also Scott I99I) argues a consensus of usage in neu- ropsychologyin which "entoptic" refersspecifically to phenomena generated within the eyeball, separately The Vision Thing: Diagnosis fromother parts of the visual network.Lewis-Williams of EndogenousDerivation and Dowson (i988:202; i992) argue, on etymological grounds, that "entoptic" should be a generic term in AbstractArts' (Greek'within vision'). This confusionstems from Tyler (I978), who argued that entopticphenomena originate in the retinaand the postretinal,subcortical visual sys- JEREMY DRONFIELD tem up to and includingthe lateral geniculatenucleus. Departmentof Archaeology,, The originof this classificationis in the mode of stimu- Downing St., Cambridge CB2 3D2, England. 2o IX 95 lus ratherthan a strictstructural one. Since Tyler was able to induce sensations originatingin the postretinal Everyso oftenin archaeology,an issue, theory,or meth- structuresby deep pressureon the eyeballs,he classified odology is broughtforward that takes debate to an ex- them as entoptic. tremepolarisation of opinion. Lewis-Williams and Dow- The terminologyused here (fig.i) is based on points son (I988) began one of these processesby claimingthat of originin the visual systemand relates more securely "entoptic phenomena" could be identifiedin Upper to currentknowledge of how the systemis structured. Palaeolithic art. This implied, the argumentran, that The most basic division is between vision generatedby the art was produced in connection with "trance" or patternsof light stimuli fromthe "real" exteriorworld consciousness-alteringpractices (cf. Bednarik I984, and vision generatedspontaneously by the centralner- I987). This argumenthas been a source of controversy vous system. "Subjective visual phenomena" is pre- ever since. Perceived flaws in the "neuropsychological ferredhere as a suitablybroad category for the inclusion model"-its ethnographicsource, theoreticalformula- of all "nonreal" visual experience.Although not an or- tion, and methodology-have led to its beinghotly dis- thodoxterm, it does have some precedenceof usage (e.g., puted and oftenutterly rejected. Georgeson I985, Knoll and Kugler I959, Young et al. The essence of the issue can be distilled into a se- I975) 2 quence of fundamentalquestions: Is the induction of There is no coherentand widelyaccepted neurophysi- ''visions" throughtrance or other means a frequently ological theoryof how subjectivevision arises.3Studies occurringpractice? Where such visions are graphically of "phosphenes" and hallucinations began in the igth represented,is thereany degreeof morphological unifor- century(Purkinje i823) and reached a peak in the late mity?If such uniformityis present,is it distinguishable I960s and early I970s. Partlybecause of the decline in from the morphological characteristicsof images de- acceptabilityof mind-alteringsubstances (along with rived fromother, nontrance sources? If so, would this simple loss of interest in other techniques), research make it possible to identifythe image sourcein a prehis- faded into almost total negligibilityin the early I980s. toricassemblage of art? By contrast,the studyof "normal" vision has made most This paper takes the debate a step fartherby answer- ing these key questions. It first examines Lewis- Williams and Dowson's neuropsychologicalmodel and 2. Some readersmay see problemswith thisuse of "subjective." identifiesthe fundamentalelements of a new diagnostic Since vision exists only as the neuralcoding and interpretation sensorysignals in the individualbrain, all visionis, in thissense, subjective.However, there is a directcausal relationshipbetween the propertiesof extrasomaticstimuli (shape, colour, movement, i. ? I996 by The Wenner-GrenFoundation for Anthropological etc.) and the activityengendered in the internalneural structure. Research.All rightsreserved OOII-3204/96/3702-0006 $i.oo. The Subjectivevision as definedhere thus consists of spontaneous ac- developmentof this paperhas benefitedfrom advice, comments, tivityin theneural structure which is not directlyrelated to extra- and criticismfrom Richard Bradley, Christopher Chippindale, Ian somaticstimulation of photoreceptive cells. Hodder,David Lewis-Williams,Colin Renfrew,and ArnoldWil- 3. However,see Asaad and Shapiro(i986), Horowitz(I975), Meier- kins. I am especiallygrateful to Heimo Ehmkefor discussion of Koll (I974), and Slade and Bentall(i988) forattempts to theorise the neurophysiologyof subjectivevision. hallucination.