This article offers a comprehensive survey of figurative finds from Neolithic northern Europe. The survey shows that the immediate absence of figurative representation in the region is real and that the almost complete lack of figuration stands out from the previous Mesolithic and the contemporary northern and northeastern European Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Furthermore, the absence of figurative representations contrasts strongly with the thousands of clay figurines that characterize the southeastern European and Anatolian Neolithic. The survey provides a well-documented basis for discussing the significant differences between a figurative southeastern European Neolithic and an imageless northwestern European Neolithic. We suggest that the absence of figurative representations indicates that severe socio-cultural and religious/ideological changes took place within the Neolithic communities as agriculture spread from southeastern Europe via central Europe to northern and western Europe.

中文翻译：

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北欧新石器时代的形象表征——存在吗？

本文对北欧新石器时代的象征性发现进行了全面的调查。调查显示，该地区确实缺乏具象表征，而且这种几乎完全缺乏具象的现象在之前的中石器时代以及当代北欧和东北欧新石器时代的狩猎采集群体中显得尤为突出。此外，缺乏象征性的表现与东南欧和安纳托利亚新石器时代的数千个泥塑雕像形成鲜明对比。这项调查为讨论象征性的东南欧新石器时代和无形象的西北欧新石器时代之间的显着差异提供了详细记录的基础。我们认为，象征性表征的缺乏表明，随着农业从东南欧经中欧传播到北欧和西欧，新石器时代社区内部发生了严重的社会文化和宗教/意识形态变化。