Corpus of inscriptions: Investigating the bodies of Neolithic Figurines

Edited by Joan Marler

The term “Neolithic” is usually applied to the earliest farmers throughout the world who produced ground stone tools and developed food producing societies within specific ecosystems. Quite often these societies are also typified by a great profusion of ceramic production featuring a broad stylistic range of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines. While many anthropomorphic figurines are ambiguous in terms of gender, the great majority of identifiable figures are female and in many cases their bodies are engraved and/or painted with signs, symbols and a variety of “decorative” motifs.

This issue of the Journal of Archaeomythology examines the practice of engraving the bodies of figurines in Neolithic Japan, Southeast Europe, and Northern Europe with ethnographic, mythological and sculptural analogies to traditional practices in the both Asia and Africa.