Archaeologists have discovered an 8,000-year-old figurine at the Neolithic site of Ulucak in Izmir, western Turkey.
Ulucak plays a crucial role in studying the Neolithic period of the eastern Aegean and western Anatolia.
The site has a continuous stratigraphic sequence that spans from the early 7th millennium BC to the early 6th millennium BC, in addition to cultural layers from the Bronze Age, Roman, and Byzantine periods.
Since 2009, excavations have been ongoing under the direction of Prof. Dr. Özlem Çevik from the Protohistory and Near Eastern Archaeology Department at Trakya University’s Faculty of Literature.
Archaeologists have uncovered items linked to textile production, including seals, spindle whorls, and loom weights, indicating that Ulucak may be one of the oldest textile production centres in the Aegean region.
Recent excavations have uncovered an 8,000-year-old figurine depicting a female form, bringing the total number of such finds at Ulucak to six.
These figurines are believed to have been used in fertility rituals to ensure a good harvest, after which they were discarded in garbage pits once their ceremonial purpose was fulfilled. They may have also played a role in birth and death rituals as potent magical totems.
The latest figurine measures just under four inches in height and was found buried in a pit alongside flints and grinding stones in an ancient dwelling.
Unlike the previous examples that have only eyes and noses, the latest discovery has a mouth for threading string to be worn as a necklace.
Archaeologists suggest that the figurine represented a high status figure in the community, possibly a storyteller or oral historian which explains the large mouth.
Header Image Credit : Dha
Sources : Sonsoz
