Ancient idols like this were created in the Cyclades, the Greek Islands surrounding the Isle of Delos in the Aegean Sea. They represent the earliest and only known depictions in Greek art of nude females until the 4^th century B.C. With their arms folded across their abdomens and their legs bent at the knees, one assumes that these figures are to be understood as lying on their backs. Indebted perhaps to earlier Anatolian traditions of the mother goddess, these figures remain enigmatic, despite their contemporary aesthetic.