Images of motherhood in the votive deposit of Kirrha : identification and interpretation
Résumé
The votive deposit of Kirrha, excavated by the French School of Athens in the 1930s, has yielded quantities of terracotta figurines among which female representations largely dominate. The majority of them show generic types that are frequently found in both votive and funerary contexts: they are korai car- rying birds or fruits; seated women; and female protomes wearing a diadem, sometimes in association with the veil. These iconographic types are not always understood in the same way by researchers. We prefer to see them as generic images showing a woman in the different social statuses that marked her life. These very common types will not be discussed here, even if they still are subject to debate. Instead, we have chosen to focus on iconographic types and objects that are less common, that are also not always well identified, and whose place and function in their contexts of discovery also are not always understood. These comprise two representations of women with a pregnant belly, models of ripe figs, and models of breads and cakes. All will be viewed as images evoking maternity and testifying to a successful transition to adulthood for women.
