Kiliya-type idol head; Anatolian culture, Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age, c. 3200–2700 B.C.

Kiliya-type idol head. Anatolia, Late Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age, ca. 3200–2700 B.C.
White marble.
Provenance:
Private collection, England, 1980.
Provenance: Family bequest from Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Archaeological collection assembled beginning in the 1950s by successive generations of the family through purchases at European galleries and auction houses.
Measurements: 3.5 cm high.

Head of an Anatolian idol of the Kiliya type, carved from white marble and characterized by its pronounced formal stylization. It has a roughly triangular outline, widening at the bottom and gradually tapering toward the top, with gently modeled surfaces and no defined facial features. It survives as a fragment of a figure that was originally larger.

Kiliya-type idols, originating in western Anatolia, constitute one of the characteristic manifestations of anthropomorphic sculpture from the late Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age. These figures, generally female, are distinguished by their schematic bodies and disproportionately large heads tilted backward—a feature that has earned them the name “stargazers.” Their exact function remains a subject of study, although they are usually associated with symbolic and ritual practices of the region’s prehistoric communities.