Anthropomorphic figurines made out of phalanges are common in the Southwest Chalcolithic. Perdigões has the larger collection of these peaces in Portugal and possibly in Iberia (around a hundred). They are made of deer or horse phalanges, sometimes carved or painted with the attributes that also occur in other types of figurines of the period or in the "symbolic decoration" of pots (eyes, facial tattoos, zig-zag hair, arms, etc.).
(Photo copyright A.C. Valera / Era Arqueologia)
This is a shaped and carved horse phalanx, with the zig-zag hair represented at the back and the eyes and arms in the front, under a layer of concretions. It is broken in two halves, one collected at the surface of Tomb 2 and the other at the surface of Tomb 3, some 24m away.
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