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<<Exhibitions
| Description | | Exhibits |

The permanent exhibition of the Heraklion Archaeological Museum

Frontside of the neolithic female idol
Female figurine

This stylized steatopygous figurine of a woman sitting with her legs crossed is one of the oldest examples of Cretan sculpture. It is made of brown clay and burnished. The ample bosom, protruding buttocks, raised arms and pubic triangle show clearly, while the head is undistinguished from the neck and has no facial characteristics. The body's anatomical details are rendered with incisions, the deeper ones highlighted with white paint. The spinal cord is rendered by a deep vertical groove, while similar incisions appear on the sides of the body. Two oblique zig-zags engraved over the body, both on the front and back, may convey the garment. This figurine is similar to other stylized Neolithic figurines from the Greek mainland, the Cyclades and the Near East, and may represent a fertility goddess.

Exhibit Features
Date: Neolithic Age, 5300 - 4500 BC
Place of discovery: Knosos, Palace
Dimensions: height: 0.092 m
Material: Clay
Inventory number: ΑΕ 2716
Exhibition hole: Hall I
Copyright: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
 
 
 
  Suggestive Bibliography
 
Σακελλαράκης Ι.Α., Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, Αθήνα, 2003, 13
 
 
 
  See also
 
Knossos
 
Palace of Knossos