Female figurine

Female figurine with uplifted arms and a high "polos" (headdress). The surface at the back is roughly finished. This type of figurine is very common in Cyprus during the Cypro-Geometric III (900-750 BC) and Cypro-Archaic period (750-480 BC). According to some researchers, it has evolved from the type of the "Goddess with uplifted arms", a Minoan form of figural representation, which was introduced in Cyprus at the end of the Late Bronze Age (1650-1050 BC). It has been suggested that the latter deity was assimilated with the local goddess of fertility, perhaps identified with Astarte or Aphrodite, at the end of the Cypro-Geometric period, but no epigraphic evidence able to support such a theory is available as yet. Most of these figurines come from sanctuaries in the region of Paphos and from tombs. It is not clear whether they represent the goddess herself, her priestesses, or worshippers. However, the fact that such figures bear a high headdress and, sometimes, diadems, makes the case of a plain worshipper rather unlikely.