The “Malta Realism”: On Interpreting Siberian Anthropomorphic Figurines from the Upper Paleolithic

The “Malta Realism”: On Interpreting Siberian Anthropomorphic Figurines from the Upper Paleolithic

I.V. Schmidt.

This article revisits the meaning of Upper Paleolithic fi gurines from Malta. Anthropomorphic fi gurines show childlike proportions and lack mouths. Archaeological and ethnographic data suggest that the fi gurines in question represent children, and that the fi gurines of wingless birds relate to infants or rather, to their “souls.”

Keywords: Upper Paleolithic art, fi gurines, representations of children.