Questions of Gender Roles Site discoverer James Mellaart and other archaeologists believed that Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society — these early theories were based in part on clay figurines found in the settlement and believed to represent a «mother goddess.» (discovermagazine.com)
In 1517 a Spanish expedition led by Francisco Fernández de Córdoba arrived on the island, and found an abundance of clay figurines depicting women, most probably fertility symbols. (tripsavvy.com)