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Emma Lipkin: Final Paper Proposal

For my final paper I would like to continue my research on the Catalhoyuk figurines. I would also like to expand on some of the topics discussed in the preliminary readings from discussion to attempt to answer some of the questions left unanswered. For example, what were the figurines really used for? I am very interested to see what Lauren Talalay has to say about the use of the figurines in her book Deities, dolls, and devices: Neolithic figurines from Franchthi Cave, Greece. Also, I would like to look further into the composite anthropomorphic-zoomorphic figurines found at the site. The significance of animal symbolism might be an interesting angle to take in reading the human figurines. I would also like to look at Catalhoyuk in comparison to other Neolithic sites where anthropomorphic figurines have been found. I am currently doing research to try and compare the Catalhoyuk figurines to Greek, Minoan, Egyptian, or Israeli figurines. Hopefully, this kind of comparison will elucidate problems with interpreting figurines with a mother-goddess perspective.

Working Bibliography

Balter, Michael. The goddess and the bull. New York: Free Press, 2005.

Goodison, Lucy and Christine Morris. Ancient Goddesses: the myths and the evidence. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1998.

Hodder, Ian. The Leopard’s Tale. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2006.

Keel, Othmar. Gods, goddesses, and images of God : in ancient Israel. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.

Shankland, David. “Integrating the past: folklore, mounds and people at Catalhoyuk,” in Archaeology and folklore. Amy Gazin-Schwartz and Cornelius Holtorf. New York : Routledge, 1999.

Talalay, Lauren E. Deities, dolls, and devices: Neolithic figurines from Franchthi Cave, Greece. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.

Ucko, Peter J. “The Interpretation of Prehistoric Anthropomorphic Figurines” in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 92, No.1. (Jan-Jun 1962), pp. 38-54.

Bailey, Douglas W. “Reading Prehistoric Figurines as Individuals” in World Archeology, Vol. 25, No.3, Reading Art. (Feb., 1994), pp. 321-331.

SanKalia, H.D. “The Nude Goddess or ‘Shameless Woman’ in Western Asia, India, and South-Eastern Asia” in Artibus Asiae, Vol. 23, No. 2. (1960), pp.111-123.

Ammerman, Rebecca Miller. “The Naked Goddess: A Group of Archaic Terracotta Figurines from Paestum” in American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 95, No.2. (Apr., 1001), pp. 203-230.