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.

本文对新石器时代北欧的具象发现进行了全面调查。调查显示，该地区直接缺乏具象表现是真实存在的，并且几乎完全缺乏具象与以前的中石器时代和当代北欧和东北欧新石器时代狩猎采集群体不同。此外，具象表现的缺失与东南欧和安纳托利亚新石器时代成千上万的泥塑形成鲜明对比。该调查为讨论具象的东南欧新石器时代和无图像的西北欧新石器时代之间的显着差异提供了有据可查的基础。我们认为，缺乏具象表现表明，随着农业从东南欧通过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。