Figurine of a hunter or warrior Handmade carved limestine female Figurine on base.

The collection of Cycladic antiquities is one of the most important in the world.Cycladic civilization flourished on the islands of the central Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC).

The most characteristic creation of this culture is the marble sculpture and it is not surprising that the abstract forms of the figurines influenced artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Brancusi, Modigliani, Giacometti, Hepworth, Moore and Ai Weiwei.

The figurines of the so-called "post-canonical" type include a small group of male figures accoutered as hunters or warriors, as in this characteristic example.

A slightly raised area on the crown possibly indicates a kind of headdress, while a relief band with oblique incisions on the back of the head renders a hair braid.

The facial features are shown in relief, except for the eyes and the mouth, which are incised.

From the left shoulder hangs a relief baldric, while at the point of its buckle is an incised triangular dagger.

The genitalia are in sunken relief.

The short legs end in rudimentary feet, with six toes incised on the left one and five on the right. Another ten hunter or warrior figurines are known.

On most of them the baldric hangs from the right shoulder.

Some also feature a dagger, belt and codpiece, usually carved in relief.

Hunter/warrior figurines are dated to the end of the Early Cycladic II period.

Indeed, some researchers have linked their appearance with the upheavals observed in the Aegean region in this period, which were accompanied by violent destructions and the capture or abandonment of a significant number of settlements in the Aegean and Asia Minor.

Early Bronze Age.