The Neolithic stone figurines of Levant region

In the historical process, the depiction of the man together with animals to different media from time to time has been in various forms. In its most basic form, while depictions on different materials such as wall paintings and sculptures are present, figurines made of various raw materials are amongst the most well-known and common examples of this depiction style. The semantic context of the situation that the figurines reflect human and animals is one of the research questions of archaeology. Taking this research question as the reference, this thesis titled as "The Neolithic Stone Figurines of Levant Region" aimed to examine the stone figurines of a certain period of time, in a specified and on a particular material in detail. The Neolithic Age, which is defined by its own specific developments, and its process of functioning in the Levant Region, plays an important role in analyzing the subject of figurines in detail. Therefore, the geographical features and conditions of the region were investigated and the Neolithic period in the region has been studied in relation to human and geography. The region is divided into two as North and South Levant and as a result of the archaeological studies carried out thus far, the chronology of the Neolithic Period, which was created specifically to the region, was defined with detailed sub-phases. A total of 109 stone figurines that were unearthed from 26 different Neolithic sites in the region are the main focus of this study. After giving general information about sites, stone figurines were evaluated typologically according to their periods and descriptions. The human and animal figurines that are the two main typological distinctions were elaborated and the functions of figurines were scrutinized. In general, the figurines, which considered being the equivalent of the "Mother Goddess" concept, its relationship with this concept and its different meanings have been focused on. To ensure that the semantic context is consistent, excavation reports, case studies on figurines and ethnographic researches are discussed in detail. When considering the figurines in terms of region, period, typological distribution and the quantity, it is determined that they have different meanings in each phase.