[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c22.s2.1 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c22.s2.1 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c22.s2.1 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c22.s2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s2.1) The first human (female) figurines of the subcontinent have been found in the settlements of the agricultural communities of Baluchistan in the Zhob, Quetta and Kulli regions. Male figurines appear for the first time in the Indus civilization \[4.9\], but here too the female figurines outnumber them. Both in the Baluchistan and Indus cultures the female figurines seem to be associated with a cult of the mother goddess \[12.6\] either as images or as votive offerings. Typologically the figurines of each culture differ and have their own peculiarities, although technically they have a common method of hand-modelling and applied decoration. While those of Kulli, for instance, are pedestalled below the waist, the figurines of the Indus are full-size figures having a fanlike head-dress with horn and cup-like projections. The Indus type of female figurines have, however, not been reported from the Harappa sites of KALIBANGAN, LOTHAL and SURKOTADA. Pregnant women and mothers holding children (in some specimens with bear or monkey mask) have been found at Mohenjo-daro. The male figurines of the Indus civilization sitting with arms around the knees, similar to the ‘sorrowful god’ found by Marija Gimbutas in Old Europe and dated to \*c.\* 4500 B.C., could have been representative of the subordinate male partner of the goddess who was sacrificed during seasonal rites. There are representations of the Sumerian types at KALIBANGAN and Mohenjo-daro and of a miniature mummy at LOTHAL, as also miniature masks \[6.13\] with horns and oblique eyes produced by moulds. Some figurines seem to be secular, for instance a female kneading dough. - [Previous: v1.c22.s1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s1.12) - [Next: v1.c22.s2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s2.2) - [Up: v1.c22.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s2) ## Linked texts (5) - [Mohenjo-daro](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.mohenjo-daro) - [Lothal](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.lothal) - [Kālībangan](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.kalibangan) - [Surkotada](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.surkotada) - [Kulli](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.kulli) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c22.s2.1) · Pramāṇa