Asia Minor, modern-day western Turkey, Anatolia, ca. 3200 to 2300 BCE. A carved white marble stargazer, with a faint nose, suggested ears, and neck. Marble is off white in color with some beige and russet deposits. Custom stand. Size: 2.375" W x 1.875" H (6 cm x 4.8 cm); 4.5" H (11.4 cm) on stand

Kilia idols can date as early as 4500 to 4000 BCE, and are precursors to Cycladic sculpture of ancient Greece. Their name derives from their place of origin, purportedly in the Gallipoli Peninsula from the Greek village of Kilia in modern-day western Turkey. These marble fragments of Kilia-type sculpture are usually called “stargazers” because the heads are tilted up toward the sky. Complete stargazer figures are exceedingly rare, records indicate only fifteen intact pieces throughout the world, which has led the Loyola University of Museum of Art to surmise that these figurines were involved in a ritual in which their heads were broken from their bodies. However, the meaning/symbolism of this ritual, perhaps a substitute human sacrifice, remains a mystery to be solved. Kilia types have been found from southwestern Anatolia up to Troy and Aphrodisias, suggesting that these figures may have been traded amongst small chiefdoms, rather than kept within one kingdom.

Provenance: private New Jersey USA collection, acquired over twenty years ago

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#121228

A fragment from the full figure, probably broken in ritual (see description). Minor nicks/losses to peripheries and mineral deposits.