3. Cilt - Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı

the front. An upper torso fragment (7a) represents a fi gure with bent elbows andhands the on upper chest indicated by notching on the side and low relief. Asecond fi gurine (7b) is in the same pose, but without as much detail. The heads ofboth these fi gurines have broken off. A third fi gurine(7c) from the same level, maygive clues to what the heads may have looked like; this fi gurine is roughly carvedfrom a schist pebble.Güvercinkayası Figurines, Aksaray Museum 15 (Drawing: 8; Figs: 1, 2)Güvercinkayası is a middle Chalcolithic site situated in Central Anatolia, 29km northeast of Aksaray. The site is on a well protected rock outcrop, overlookinga wide river plain and was continually occupied for 400 years (Gülçur and Fırat,2005). All examples of fi gurines from this site excavated thus far were hand moldedfrom clay although some animal fi gurines have stone inlay.Two similar seated fi gurines (8c-d) sit without support on their bases leaningbackwards so that the heads, which have now broken off would have been gazingupwards. Both of these have arms that are reduced to arm stubs, perhaps suggestingbent arms (given the evidence from Aphrodisias). The lack of adult body-featuressuggests that this type may represent a young person, perhaps a bundled baby.This type of fi gurine has parallels in central Anatolia; however, other than the armstubs and fl at base, it has no clear connection to Halaf Mesopotamia.A seated fi gurine, (8b) found on the fl oor of a burnt structure is the earliestfi gurine found at Güvercinkayası and has parallels to examples in Mesopotamia.The wide thighs are molded together with a round bottom and a fl at base on whichit sits without support. The sharply bent legs are tucked up close to the lower torsowith incised fl at shins. A hole at the break in the torso reveals that this examplemay also have had interchangeable heads possibly of different materials, such asthose from Çavı Tarlası. The pulled up legs and rounded lower torso is very similarto late Halaf fi gurines from Tepe Gawra 16 and Arpachiyah 17 , in northern Iraq, aswell as several examples from nearby Köşk Höyük 18 .15 I thank Sevil Gülçur for permission to study the fi gurines from Güvercinkayası. Thank youalso to Yücel Kiper and the helpful staff of the Aksaray museum for facilitating my research.16 See for example Tobler 1950, plate LXXXI: c-d, amongst others.17 See for example Mallowan and Crukshank Rose 1935: fi gs. 47:2 and 3.18 See for example Silistreli 1989: Lev. V: 1-2, amongst others.240