Minoan figurines

Popular religion in Minoan Crete was expressed through rituals open-air cult places, such as the so-called Peak Sanctuaries (cult places on the summit of hills or mountains with very few structures, if any). Peak sanctuaries were visited by the inhabitants of the surrounding areas, who brought as offerings human and animal figurines, as well as clay models of detached limbs probably representing parts of the body that needed cure. This suggests that the worshiped deities had healing properties.

The illustrated figurines belong to types which are common in Minoan Peak Sanctuaries. They are made of clay lumps which were shaped by hand. The fragmentary male figure wears typical Minoan loincloth and a necklace. The figure stands in the characteristic posture of a worshipper with open arms (which would originally bend and the hands would fold on the chest). The female figurine has swollen belly, perhaps indicating pregnancy. It might have been a wish for a successful birth. Animal figurines were probably offerings for the well-being and the reproduction of the flocks

Unpublished