Figurine Linked to Religion

A newly discovered prehistoric figurine of a woman giving birth, described by archeologists as Cyprus’s find of the decade, suggests that there was organized religion in the Mediterranean 5,000 years ago.

“It’s a find of exceptional importance for the development of religion and society of the old world,” said Edgar Peltenburg of Edinburgh University, director of the dig in western Cyprus.

The 5,000-year-old pottery figurine was found with 18 others inside or near a model of a building uncovered recently. The 6-inch figurine depicts a woman seated on a birth stool with the painted head and hands of a child emerging.

“This find shows that there were special buildings set aside for birth, associated with rituals,” Peltenburg said.

He said that while the model building could represent a birth hut, evidence of rites attached to it indicated religion in the making. Peltenburg said the find indicated religious organization in the Mediterranean some 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.