Sculptural Images of the Human Head in Ritual Practices of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in Northern Mesopotamia

The paper analyzes data on sculptural images of a human head from Northern Mesopotamia of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) taking into account the production material, morphology, preservation conditions as well as the findspot and the context of discovery. In order to understand better the meaning of these material symbols in ritual practices of the Early Neolithic in the iconography of the Upper Mesopotamia sites, the analysis identified typical figurative scenes and compositions featuring a human head motif and compared distinctive features of the human head motif based on figurative and osteological data in the ritual PPN assemblages in the region under study. The main types of stone sculptural images of the human head in Upper Mesopotamia, such as masks, reliefs and sculpture in the round, were mostly found within the boundaries of special purpose constructions. Available materials provide grounds to conclude that they were used in rituals as symbols of productive meaning, often combined/contrasted with phallus or pregnancy / vulva / female breast.