Shelf 6. Cyprus

This type of bull figurine has been found in many well-to-do graves from the late Bronze Age on Cyprus, and researchers are studying whether it might have been part of some kind of burial ritual. Some of these bull figures have an opening on the back, which suggests that they have been used to drink out of and are thus a type of vessel called a rhyton (ῥυτόν), which is characterized by looking like an animal or an animal head.

Because of the great many bull-formed figures and objects with bull motifs that have been found on Cyprus, researchers believe there may have been some form of religious, cult connection.