Found on the island are many figurines carved out of marble. The purposes of these figurines are unknown, but I would like to weigh in on the issue. The smallest figurines are called Schematics or violin type which are believed to be some of the earliest.
To me it is clear that they had wooden limbs and probably a wooden bead that would slip over the long marble neck to make a head. It is argued that the long neck is a tribute to the divine, as their head is extending upward.. to the divine, and I think it is possible that the figurines were used as votives or offerings to the gods (thus the effort in cutting and carving the marble) but other than that it is unknown. I do think that there was more attached to the marble despite the lack of piercings that would hold the organic additions to the marble body.
The folded arm figurines I also had an opinion about. It was said in class that the figurines were to represent a pregnant women as she has a slight bump on her stomach. I do not believe that this is true, I think that women have a stomach, these figurines were not models of the twenty- first century, they represent women who have a stomach when they are not pregnant. As in Egyptian art men and women are represented with a stomach that droops over their linen garments. The fact that their arms are folded and they cannot stand but lie to me either says that they represent the dead for another religious purpose, or because they are women they do not bother to toil on them as much as those of the men who are sitting on stools doing things - such as the man playing the lyre.
