Cycladic spade-shaped figurine

Cycladic schematic figurine of the "spade-shaped" type. It has an entirely flat profile with long rectangular neck and a trapezoidal torso. It dates to the Early Cycladic I period (3200-2800 BC), more precisely to the Pelos phase, thus named after an Early Bronze Age cemetery in the island of Melos. The spade-shaped type seems to draw its origins from the Neolithic tradition. Along with the "violin-shaped" type, it is the most common form of schematic representation of the human body in the Early Bronze Age Cyclades. The wide range of schematic figurines produced during the Early Cycladic I period testifies to the increasing familiarity of Cycladic sculptors with marble. Although we have no direct evidence for the toolkit used by Cycladic craftsmen, recent research suggests the most tools were made of readily available stones - emery from Naxos, obsidian from Melos, flint, pumice from Thera - and only occassionaly of copper.