Seated clay figurines from the neolithic period, Israel

Abstract

Although early literary texts and documents as well as archaeological discoveries attest to the existence of fertility cults in antiquity, the identification of these cults in prehistoric periods still presents a problem (Ucko 1968; Cauvin 1972). The existence of such cults may, however, be seen in the abundant human and animal figurines in wall paintings, rock carvings, and significant groupings of particular objects. The carved bone sickle handles from the Natufian culture (l0,300 - 8600 B.C.E.), for instance, could be interpreted as objects in fertility ceremonies by their combination of the sickle and the animal carved on the handle, which may represent the two kinds of food consumption - that of cereal crops and animal flesh.