The Figurines from the 1982–5 Seasons of Excavations at Ain Ghazal

This article is a preliminary report on an assemblage of 126 figurines (43 human and 83 animal) from primarily Middle Pre-pottery Neolithic B levels at the Neolithic settlement of Ain Ghazal in Jordan. 40% of the human figurines are female, with depictions ranging from stylised ‘stalk figures’ to complex models assembledfrom ‘spare parts’ and decorated with impressed cord. Another group of cord-impressed objects has been interpreted as models of male genitalia, and one of the few human figurines whose head survives closely resembles some of the plaster statues from the site. 49% of the animal figurines represent aurochs, including females and calves as well as bulls. The majority of the figurines were produced in three episodes of activity, each with a tight spatial focus.