Evans, Arthur J.: The Palace of Minos: a comparative account of the successive stages of the early Cretan civilization as illustred by the discoveries at Knossos (Band 1): The Neolithic and Early and Middle Minoan Ages (London, 1921)

NEOLITHIC STAGE: THE 'TELL' OF KNOSSOS 49

prototypes in clay of this class, the existence of which may eventually be Clay
ascertained in other parts of the Aegean area. Very remarkable squat- Type"1118
ting figures of alabaster, preserving in their front aspect a curious parallel to ^"y^^3
these Cycladic fiddle-shaped types, have been recently discovered in Bronze shaped
Age ' Kurgans' of the Caucasus (Fig. 13, n d)? No. n is to be regarded as idols',
a truncated offshoot of the same family. This last-mentioned type, more-
over, is also included in the Trojan group (Nos. 13, 14, 15) where, however,
we find a tendency (No. 15) to reproduce the owl-shaped features of the
Adalia figurine (No. 17). The heavily formed limestone ' idol' (No. 16) from
the site of Sykeon (Sarilar)2 carries these parallels into Galatia.

Interesting, too, is the recent discovery of a limestone figurine of kindred Mesopo-
type (No. 18), at Serrin on the Mesopotamia!! bank of the Middle Euphrates/5 ^J^"
The 'idol' itself, with its eyed physiognomy, fits on to the Anatolian 'Idol',
group and suggests derivation from a squatting type parallel with that
from Adalia. Stone figures of a closely related form extend, however,
as far afield as the South-Eastern shores of the Caspian. A specimen
executed in a flesh-coloured stone with the breasts clearly modelled (Fig. 13,
19) in fact occurred in the rich early treasure found in 1841 in a mound near
Asterabad,1 together with a copper spear-head of a Sumerian type that goes
back at least to the middle of the Third Millennium B.C.

In view of these phenomena, there can be little doubt of the original
prevalence of the squatting or seated type throughout this wide Aegean
and West Asiatic region. The female clay images from the Neolithic deposit
at Knossos, of which remains of at least a score have now been found, are
all of this kind, and the single example of a flatter form (Fig. 13, 2) is itself
only a transitional version of the same class.

1 N. L Veselovsky, Izvjestiya Imp. Arch. as 'Middle Hittite', i.e. not earlier than
Komm., Petrograd, 1910, pp. 3, 4, and Pis. I, c. 1750 B.C. Unfortunately, however, the
II. From Kuban. evidence as to the tomb-group is by no means

2 J. W. Crowfoot, Explorations in Galatia clear.

as Halym. J. H. S., xix (1899), p. 34, 1 Archaeoiogia, xxx (1844), p. 248 seqq.,

Fig. 1. PI. XVI, 5. The spear-head (Fig. 10) with its

3 The objects are now in the Ashmolean characteristic tang, represents the same general
Museum, and have been published by Mr. type as that attributed to King Sharru-Gi of
C. L.Woolley (Liv. Ann.of Arch., vi, PI. XXIV). Kish {c. 2700?). Heuzey, Dec. en Chaldee,
They were said to have formed part of an PI. V, ter, N. 1 ; cf. King, Sinner and Accad.,
interment and to have been found in company p. 229, Fig. 58. Rostovtzeff, The Sumerian
with two bronze implements, a tanged dagger Treasure of Asirabad. Journal of Egyptian
and an elongated flat ' celt' marked with Archaeology, Vol. VI; p. 4 seqq.

twelve dots and classified by Mr. Woolley

I E