Broken Idols

of Keros, that is.

The UKGuardian has this article explaining why there are so many broken Idols on that island.

Renfrew's theory is that Cycladic villagers would have used the figurines and bowls in a ritualistic way, perhaps carrying them in processions as icons are carried in Greek villages today.

"After they had been used for some time, perhaps decades, the time would come that it would go out of use," he said. So they were broken and fragments taken to "one remarkable ritual centre".

Or you can listen to Colin Renfrew's lecture:




Warning: Dr. Renfrew is usually interesting, but this lecture is a bit technical (from the Penn U Museum of archology).